Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

The drive back to Harbor City felt long for the Parks. Damien and William left the cabin an hour ago and rode in silence. Unlike going to the cabin earlier, Damien didn't drive fast. It was dangerous that he was both distracted and also relieved for some reason he couldn't explain while he was behind the wheel, so he didn't take the risk of driving fast.

William was in the passenger's seat and Damien thought his cousin was—wait, he wasn't his cousin anymore. A small scoff left his lips, realizing the shocking truth they both had learned not too long ago. William was Damien's uncle. How crazy was that? How did that happen?

The two had so many questions and Damien wanted to suggest going to Frederick for some answers, but seeing as William was still in shock at the moment, he put it off for now. Damien was also shocked by the discovery, but he knew William needed to process it in his head first more than he did. William hadn't spoken since they left the cabin.

Glancing over the passenger's seat, William was staring at the dashboard without actually seeing the thing. He was lost in his thoughts. There were only a few things that could cause William to go speechless. The secret about his birth probably topped them all.

Pulling up at the hospital, Damien put the car in park mode next to William's car and then turned off the engine. He ran a hand across his jaw as his mind went back to how they found the paper in the safe. It weirded him out that he found a secret so big that changed everything. Had he not recalled about the safe that night, they wouldn't have found out about that DNA result.

"That's why he hates me," William said in almost a whisper that pulled Damien out of his thoughts. William didn't have to say who he was talking about. Damien already knew it was Frederick. "All this time, I wondered what was missing in me; why he couldn't be happy with anything that I did. He should know about this right? It's the only explanation why he's always resented me in some way."

Damien didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry" didn't seem to be enough to make him feel better.

"I took his hits, thinking I deserved it, thinking I would never be as good as you—that I would never be good enough. I knew it wasn't right that he hit me because I never saw Uncle… I never saw Lawrence hit you even when you did something wrong when we were kids." A sardonic laugh comes out of him. "Remember when we stole the car when we were fourteen? We didn't get to leave the gates because we crashed into the guard house."

"I thought Dad was going to be so mad at me." Damien huffed.

"He wasn't though. I will never forget that day because he brought us back into the house and made sure we weren't hurt. He…hugged you."

"He hugged you too."

William's head fell against the backrest. "Meanwhile, when my father… Frederick found out about it, he went to town on the back of my thighs with his belt I couldn't fucking sit for two weeks."

"Jesus." Damien closed his eyes; his throat burned at the information. "You never told me."

William smiled but there was no humor in his eyes when he rolled his head to look at Damien. "What could you have done? Besides, I never wanted anyone to know. And it was my fault we crashed. If I hadn't encouraged you to come with me, it wouldn't have happened. I could've hurt us both seriously."

Damien wanted to correct the other. Although William was the one who suggested it and drove the car only to crash it a minute later, Damien was just as guilty for not stopping him, wanting to rebel against the rules. It seemed as though William blaming himself for what happened was the excuse he had to believe to "receive" Frederick's abuse as a sort of punishment.

William stepped out of the car, stretching his arms and rolling his shoulders. Damien got out too and locked the car behind him. "Tell Katherine I wish her grandfather a speedy recovery." He then lazily walked over to the driver's side of his car, clicking his keyfob to unlock the doors.

But before he could open it, Damien said, "You do know what this means, right?"

William turned sideways, cocking a brow in question and waiting for Damien to continue.

"We don't have to fight for more shares for the takeover. By birthright, you're entitled to have equal shares with your fath—with Frederick. Throw mine in and it's guaranteed."

Something passed in William's eyes as if he'd realized that just now. He scoffed, shaking his head as he looked up at the night sky like he was praying to his maker.

It was silent for a moment and something came over Damien's head that made his chest cave, he had to grab hold of the car. It seemed as though William had thought about it the same time he did because the two exchanged dark stares.

"Damien. This could be the reason why Uncle Lawrence died that night."

Damien squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't want to think his father died because of this, but no matter how he thought about it, that was a plausible reason. "We need to talk to Frederick soon."

William nodded as he turned back to his car. "We'll talk in the morning. I have to get out of here."

Shaking off the heaviness that settled on his stomach to collect his bearings, Damien asked, "Where are you going?"

"I need to think. Preferably outside of town before I regret doing what I want to do if I see anyone in my way tonight. I'll just probably drive." He got inside his car and started the engine.

It was all fucked up at the moment. Damien couldn't blame the other. He understood that William needed some time for himself. "Call me in the morning. Hey, Will?"

"Yeah?"

"You'll be okay."

William swallowed. "You too."

He watched as William drove off into the night, not knowing where he was headed, but hoping that he'd cool off enough to think straight tomorrow.

:crown::crown::crown:

Katherine was curled up in the armchair next to her grandfather's bed with a blanket over her lap. The light was warm and dim inside the room. It was calm, a nice reprieve from what Damien just went through tonight. He walked over to her and kissed her forehead. She stirred for a second and went back to sleep right away.

He then slid his stare to the lounge where Alianna and Caleb were. The latter nodded in greeting as he strode to them. Ali was sleeping on the sofa, her head on Caleb's lap while he was on his tablet—probably doing some work.

Damien felt bad for delegating more workload to his friend these days. Caleb was supposed to be busy preparing for his wedding in April, instead, he was doing more work than usual. As Damien took the armchair next to Caleb, he told him, "Give me two weeks—three tops. And you won't have to work overtime so much. Then you can focus on you and Ali."

"You and Will finally found your winning ticket?" Caleb smirked.

Damien leaned back against the chair. He didn't know if it was considered a win when what they discovered turned their world upside down. "Something like that."

"Good luck." Caleb stroked Ali's arm absentmindedly. "Your wedding gift better be worth it. And I'm reminding you that I'm taking a month off after the wedding. No work calls whatsoever. I'm blocking you if you do that."

For the first time since he left the hospital that day, Damien laughed. He'd give his best friend and Ali a generous gift. He'd pay for their month-long honeymoon without a second thought. They both deserved it. "Don't worry. I got you."