Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

Chapter 558: Stop Hating Your Imperfect Self

Friday December 7

Katherine and Damien continued to be vigilant, thus staying at the Young Mansion since Sunday. Maverick Security made sure of their safety.

At one point, they thought staying in Park Mansion would be the safest but Katherine also wanted to keep an eye on her grandfather, so her best option was to stay here. And she loved that she's able to spend time with the old man.

It was four in the afternoon when she and Grandpa Theo were out in the garden, sitting in soft armchairs at the patio overlooking a small pond. The two were playing crossword puzzles and riddles on a book that she picked up one day when they were out. Some riddles were great, and some were so funny that the two got a good laugh out of it.

"Here's one, Grandpa," Katherine called his attention. "What can you break even if you never pick it up or touch it?"

"Ah That's easy. A promise!" Grandpa Theo smiled, looking so confident in his answer.

His smile was contagious. She smiled back at him and held her hand up, spreading her fingers apartFivetheir little secret code that meant: "Can you keep a secret?" And then Grandpa pressed his hand to hers like a promise.

"Next one. What goes up but never comes down?" she asked.

"Simple! Your age."

Katherine snorted. Her grandfather was too smart. He had figured out all the answers to her questions since the start. How was he doing this?

"What can you catch, but not throw?"

"A cold.

"What is cut on a table, but is never eaten?"

"A deck of cards."

"What building has the most stories?"

"The library."

"Where does today come before yesterday?"

"The dictionary."

"Oh, my god, Grandpa! I'm starting to think you wrote this book!" She slammed the book shut and tossed it onto the side table between them. They were sent into a burst of laughter. He was too good. She would have probably answered the riddles after much thought, but Grandpa Theo was on fire, answering everything within ten secondsmostly less. 

"You used to ask me so many questions when you were very young. You're an inquisitive child. So many good memories You ask the servants and the people in the kitchen about anything. You're so curious. I guess I got good practice from all that, Pumpkin."

"What" Katherine's mouth hung open. "I don't know if that's a compliment or you're just calling me out"

He laughed once again. "Oh, of course, it's a compliment. It's a good thing to be curious. Just as long as you don't hurt people, then it's okay."

Pulling her knees up on the chair, she turned her body to the left so that she was angled towards her grandfather. "Grandpa Would you hate me if you knew I did some bad things?"

Grandpa Theo glanced at her, a small smile forming on his face when he answered, "You're my little angel. How could I hate you?"

"Even if I had hurt people?"

"Did you know you were hurting them?"

She shook her head.

"Then, did you feel good when you hurt them?"

She shook her head again.

"Katherine The world is bleak and full of sins. Yet it is the peoplewho had witnessed the sinswho decide what to do with what they had seen. We're at a crossroads even if we don't mean to, which doesn't only lead to one or two paths. It can be a long and lonely road. A high and mighty one. Or it can be both. We don't always know what we see at the end of the tunnel, even if it shines so brightly while we walk through it. It can be deceiving, or it can be pure and clean. 

"We cannot judge a person just because they stumbled on a rocksame way we don't judge a rock for causing the person to stumble upon it. Because what if that same rock actually caused another person's success? What I'm trying to tell you is that A person is never perfect. We have so many flaws, yet we learn to live with it and love it. So you have to stop hating yourself."

The last sentence caught her off-guard. She instantly straightened. "Why do you say that? I" She couldn't even say it. She herself knew that her grandfather was right. She had hated herself for the thing she did.

"You still haven't visited your parents' graves," he stated. His tone was gentle and laced with concern that she knew was purely innocent.

And it gutted her that she didn't have a good explanation of why she hadn't gone there. She tried. She really did, but the closest she got was several meters away, even after telling Damien that she finally wanted to do so. Katherine thought that it was because she hadn't found justice yet. It was why she felt unworthy to see them. She knew her parents wouldn't blame her for what happened, but that didn't change the fact that she still felt awful.

Seeing that his granddaughter had gotten quiet, Grandpa Theo pursed his lips into a thin line and reached for her hand, squeezing it as he told her, "Whatever it is, it's not your fault. Keep that in mind. You should go and visit them when you can. I'm sure they'll be happy to see you."

Katherine consoled herself and nodded in agreement. "Soon, Grandpa. I will. And when I do, will you come with me?"

"Of course, Pumpkin. Anytime Just not during the evening. I'm brave for other things, but ghosts in the graveyard scare the hell out of me."

The two of them ended up laughing once again. Grandpa Theo surely knew how to bring the mood back up.

The ringing of Katherine's phone interrupted their fun session, and she excused herself to pick up the call when she saw that it was Styles.

"Queen, you need to come back to the safehouse. There's something you need to see," Styles informed her as soon as the line connected.

"Okay, I will be right there with Damien."

Aunt Deborah came to the patio, bringing a tray of freshly brewed tea while she was on the phone. When Katherine ended the call, she told her grandfather that she had to leave for an errand. 

"We'll be back for dinner, Grandpa. You should get inside to take a rest soon," she said after kissing Grandpa Theo on the forehead, leaving him and Deborah to chat while she went to get Damien.