Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

Chapter 585: A Loss or a Win?

The doctor made his visit and checked on Katherine's condition. He gave them many orders on how to care for her wounds and bruises to ensure they would heal properly, reminding her to take it easy and take plenty of rest to recover fully.

Damien fed her soft food. She had been on IV for days, and she was hungry too, but he didn't force her to eat plenty. Once she was done, he sat on the bed, facing her as she leaned back on a pillow against the headrest. He made sure she was always comfortable.

Katherine looked better now that she was awake. The colors on her face came back. Although she was still a little pale, at least she didn't look so ashen anymore.

"I'm so thankful that you woke up. You have no idea how worried I am that you had been asleep for a long time." He reached for her hand, his thumb gently stroking the knuckles.

His hand felt warm on her skin. She offered him an apologetic smile when she saw the concern in his eyes. It was so good to see Damien. It felt like she hadn't seen him in forever. "I'm sorry I worried you. I did sleep for a long time, huh? It feels that way too." She sighed. "When can I go home?"

"The doctor said you can go home tomorrow. They'll need to monitor you tonight just to make sure."

Nodding, she looked at his hand and stared at it for a while before meeting his eyes again. "Tell me what happened"

Damien smiled at her. He had been wanting to tell her the news. "They got Parker. He's no longer a problem."

Katherine's eyes widened. She was surely surprised at what she just heard. Shifting her stare here and there, she tried to recall what happened when they arrived to save her, but her memory only gave her fragments. "I don't understand How?"

"With Director Hughes's help." He then told her about the container they were following that had children inside, how they received news of her captivity, how they tried to search for her everywhere but came up short. 

She was shocked to hear about the children. Her heart ached at the thought of those helpless kidshow that was Chris's and Emma's story. Then her heart throbbed some more. The reminder of Chris being gone was painful. She wiped her eyes and tried to brush away those thoughts, so she continued to listen to Damien's tale about what happened.

Director Hughes was able to gather enough information from her husband who was in custody. Damien, Styles, Chris, and Amelia worked together, finally putting an end to Shadow once and for all. She learned that the organization behind Shadow was 'The Company', and they also found their secret meeting place.

It was a massive movement, but everything was planned in conjunction with their goal, which was to save Katherine. Teams were deployed to raid Castle in Cona, Florida, the secret meeting place, and of course, the old Castle that was in ruins where Katherine was kept. Apart from that, the members of the organization were all arrested.

"What about Parker? Didn't he escape?" she wondered. She still couldn't believe that the man was really captured.

"NIA was able to secure the area where Parker and his men came out of. There was bloodshed, but they were still outnumbered."

Letting out a long sigh, she ran her fingers through her hair. "I can't believe it's...over. Is it really? They got Parker? II don't know what to say. Just yesterdaya few days ago he was in front of me. He left trying to blow up the place with us in it and I swore I thought I lost the chance to end him and his sick organization." Katherine's brows drew together, her expression told him that she was in doubt. "It feels surreal."

Inching closer, Damien rubbed her arms and then cupped her face. He understood why she felt that way. After all, it seemed like they had done so much, yet it also felt not big enoughbut in the end, Parker was captured. "It's thanks to Director Hughes. They've had this very long project to end Shadow for years. Now it's finally time to close it. I can't believe it either. But it really happened."

Right. Katherine nearly forgot that while she lost her memories for five years, NIA had been working so hard on putting an end to Shadow and The Company. Everything just came together this time.

"Where is he now? Parker. Where is he?" she wondered.

"He's...currently in this buildingin a cell. He'll be transported to a maximum-security prison tomorrow that's separate from the commoners. He won't be seeing the sun for a long time."

Katherine was speechless. She began to clutch the blanket tightly, looking like she was in deep thought. He couldn't read what's on her mind at the moment, so he asked, "What are you thinking?"

After a moment of silence, she finally looked up, and amidst the heavy pounding of her heart, she told him, "I want to see him. I need to see that he's locked up."

"Are you sure?"

She hesitated at first but eventually nodded. Seeing Parker being detained would put her mind at ease.

"Okay. I'll ask if they can spare us a bit of time tomorrow. But I'm coming with you," Damien answered. Suddenly remembering something, he shifted his gaze away. "I'm sorry I did something without your permission."

"What is it?" Katherine probed in almost a hush.

"I told your grandfather I had to." He looked down as he elaborated about the things he confessed to Chairman Young, feeling guilty for what he did. "I'm really sorry, Katherine. I should have waited, but I couldn't lie anymore about you being here. And with Parker being arrested, I figured it was okay to tell him, thinking that his worries would be lessened."

She was indeed surprised that her hand flew to her mouth. "How is he? How did he take it?"

"He cried. He was mostly quiet. He didn't even ask me anythinghe just listened. I don't know what he was thinking, and I should have asked, but I was afraid that I would make him fall ill. Your grandfather came by the other day to see you. He promised not to tell anyone and told me he wanted to speak to you when you wake up."

Katherine sniffed, wiping the tear that fell on her cheek. "I'm not mad at you for telling him. Actually, I was going to. I planned to tell him once this ended. I'm just sorry you had to go through that. I imagined it would be hard to tell him one day You must have been so stressed."

"How could you worry about me in your condition?" He huffed. It caused his heart to quiver. She was the one in the hospital bed, but she still worried that he was under stress?

"I can't help it." She shrugged, still sniffing. "Thank you, Damien. You're always here for me."

Instead of responding, he smiled at her as he pushed a strand behind her ear. Pulling her to him, he kissed her forehead and then softly on the lips. It felt so good to have her in his arms again. 

And that's why it was difficult for him to be the bearer of bad news.

Reluctantly, he pulled back and looked at her in the eyes. "There's something else you need to know"

Perhaps she sensed his nervousness because she didn't say anything and only waited for him to continue.

He spoke calmly and hesitantly. "We...never heard back from Gus."

"What What do you mean?"

Damien looked up and took a deep breath before he responded, "Styles said that when we requested for helpthat time when Chris was shot, Gus was heading in our direction. But we never saw him on our way out. The explosion was huge. We thought he had escaped and somehow gotten somewhere safe, but we hadn't heard anything from him. I'm sorry"

Not only Chris...but Gus too? Katherine broke down. This didn't feel like a win at all.