Royal Penthouse
Katherine had been feeling stumped since she arrived at the penthouse. She spent a good few minutes on the sofa curled up like a fetus, wondering where Damien had gone and if he was okay.
Not wanting to dwell on her worries anymore, she got up from the sofa, quickly changed into comfortable clothes and started cleaning the place. There wasn"t much to clean but because she didn"t have anything else to do, she vacuumed, wiped, and cleaned the kitchen counter just so that she could keep her mind off it.
Only roughly three hours had pa.s.sed since Damien dropped her off at the hotel and she was worried that she would run out of things to do before he comes back. Just as she was thinking about this, she heard the main door open. Hoping that it was Damien who arrived, she walked out of the kitchen, entered the living room and saw him standing by the door with an emotionless expression.
Wearing black trench coat, Damien was staring at her and she was unsure what was going on in his mind.
"Damien…"
Katherine watched as he took long strides towards her and in an instant, his arms snaked around her waist while he nuzzled his face on her neck, causing her to stiffen.
"My… hands are soapy," she uttered while her hands were still awkwardly raised, but he didn"t say anything.
She could feel him inhale and exhale, his breathing tickling the skin on her neck that her hair stood.
"Um… I"m also… a little sweaty." She wanted to push him away but she didn"t have the heart to do so. She loved that he was being adorably clingy at the moment but she was also starting to feel conscious.
Sighing, she swiftly removed the soapy gloves from her hands, tossed it on the floor and her hands found the warmth of his back. She stroked and patted them there as though she was silently telling him: "You"re okay. I"m here."
"Is everything okay?" she voiced out.
Damien finally found his words and he replied softly, "I don"t really know."
After staying in the same position for a couple of minutes, Katherine led him to the sofa and gave him a gla.s.s of water. She noticed the dark circles under his eyes and she felt bad that she might have caused that.
"Did something happen?" she started when she sat next to him.
He leaned his head on her shoulder as he began to tell her about his visit to the Park Estate where he saw his grandmother and learned the truth about his father"s marriage to Miriam Zhao, the woman whom he thought was his mother, and about his biological mother Amelia Silva.
He found it devastatingly comical how he grew up knowing his mother left him without knowing the reason why, only to find out that she wasn"t even his real mother, yet she hurt him when he was still a child and even broke his heart. Now he even came to know about Amelia, and the funny thing was - he wasn"t sure if he was even happy about this revelation.
Damien showed Katherine the envelope, in which she gingerly received it. She took out the picture of his mother and a smile broke across her face. "She"s really beautiful. And you have her eyes too." She found it really nice to see the picture of his birth mom. Knowing the truth about this side of him, she thought that it had brought them closer and she liked the feeling.
Noticing that he did not respond, she held his hand and added, "I"m sorry that you only had to find out today. How are you feeling?"
He shrugged his shoulders, feeling like he was still in a daze because of everything. "Overwhelmed, I guess? I"m still feeling stupid about the whole thing from earlier. But this… I don"t know if I"m relieved — or disappointed. What am I supposed to feel, Katherine?" He closed his eyes as if closing it would make everything okay again, but all he saw was the image of the two "mothers"- Miriam and Amelia.
Katherine raised her hand and caressed the side of his face. "It"s okay if you don"t know what you"re supposed to feel. Everything must still be a shock to you. But I guess it"s better that you know now. Are you going to look for her?"
Damien did not respond because he was still thinking about it too.
Was there a need for him to look for her? If he does find her, what then? Did she even want to be found? Amelia had thirty years to look for him… heck-she probably already knew who he was… they probably had already crossed paths yet he didn"t recognize her… she had a lot of chances, but she did nothing. So, how was he supposed to know if she even wanted to see him?
"Oh?" Katherine moved, catching his attention. She noticed a folded paper inside the envelope which looked like a letter. Tapping Damien"s arm, she handed the old envelope back to him and asked, "There"s a letter inside, have you read it?"
Damien clutched the envelope and shook his head as he put the picture back inside. He placed it on the coffee table and sighed, "I don"t wanna read it."
"Why not? Don"t you want to know what she has to say? Maybe it has a clue about where you can find her."
"I don"t think I"m ready to know that yet. I just learned about her a couple of hours ago. I still have to wrap my head around this whole thing."
Understanding his sentiments, she nodded and stroked his arm. "Take your time." Katherine curled her lips upward and brushed the hair away from his face. "Are you hungry? I can make you something real quick."
"I don"t feel like eating."
"Why don"t you get some sleep then? You look tired."
Just as Katherine said those words, he got up from the sofa and pulled her with him as he walked towards her bedroom.
He took off his coat and dived onto the bed, dragging her with him. She yelped in surprise but did not protest, allowing him to act like a baby when he made her lay next to him and then he laid his head on her tummy.
Katherine softly chuckled but placed an arm around him, stroking his back as though she was coaxing him to sleep. If someone had told her months ago that she would be in bed with a billionaire who would cuddle her and act like a big baby, she would have laughed at their faces and called them crazy.
Yet there she was, in bed with Damien Park.
Not long after, she noticed his slow, regular breathing, an indication that he had already fallen asleep. This man… He just showed her his vulnerable side. And all she could think of was - she liked all shades of Damien.