385 Digging up an Ugly Pas

Damien eyed the heavy maroon curtain that Amelia was hiding behind. She was so close to the door but she was perfectly concealed that if he hadn't known she was hiding in there, he wouldn't even realize. His stare drifted between the door and the curtain, unsure of what he was supposed to do—his heart palpitated at the thought of her getting caught. 'Fûck!' he silently cursed.

Too late. The door opened and in came his uncle, Frederick Park, who looked surprised to see him in his study. "Oh, Damien… You're here. The servants told me you arrived. I was wondering where you were." He walked deeper inside the study with his back facing the door—facing Amelia.

As naturally as he could, Damien showed an impassive expression on his face as he nodded. "I came to talk to you. I should have called… but I didn't know I was coming here until I reached the gates." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I guess I just have a lot on my mind."

Seeing as his nephew came to him looking like he was in trouble, Frederick Park readily gave him his undivided attention. "You must be stressed with all the ruckus. What can I do for you? Come, sit. Do you want something to drink?"

Frederick still had his back to Amelia as he walked towards his desk. While he was distracted, Amelia took the chance to slip out of the study with light footsteps. She flitted through the curtains and the door that was left ajar. In a matter of seconds, it was only Damien and his uncle inside the study while Amelia sneaked her way out of the mansion.

Damien let out an inaudible sigh of relief when he saw that his mother managed to safely escape. He still didn't know what was going on but he had to keep up with his lie now. The last time that he came to Frederick Park for a talk was about Katherine's identity. For the longest time ever since he left the mansion, he and his uncle had their differences but as long as they could help it, they remained civil.

"No, thanks. I'm good. The company matters had already been taken care of. It wouldn't be a problem. But I was just wondering if it somehow affected Park Group as well? I hope you aren't put in a tough spot. I didn't read all of the articles but there was one that mentioned the company. I just hope the matter didn't implicate you. If it did, I apologize, Uncle."

This particular issue could be ignored but Damien showed concern that Park Group was still mentioned somehow.

"Ah, this is no big deal. I'll just ignore it," Frederick Park waved his hand in the air. "Is that all that you came here for?"

In order not to look suspicious of his sudden visit, Damien talked about the gala that his uncle was hosting which was scheduled the week after the auction by The Platinum Club. For each gala that the Parks hosted, Frederick Park made sure to assign them their parts or 'contributions' to the said event. It was important to keep up appearances that they were a united family. It was Damien's perfect excuse.

When their conversation was over, he went to see Nana who was so glad to see him. As usual, she asked about Katherine, so Damien had to promise her that he'll bring Katherine to visit her again soon. Later, Damien finally left Park Estate. He was dying to get some answers from Amelia.

He contemplated calling her phone but as he drove along the long road back to the city, he noticed a black motorcycle that was parked on the side of the road under a large shade tree. Narrowing his eyes, he caught sight of Amelia leaning her back against the trunk of the tree. That's when he realized that she used Katherine's motorcycle and drove it here.

Parking the Lexus next to the tree, he got out of the car and searched for words to start their conversation. Questions were swimming in his head and he didn't know what to ask first. Looking at Amelia, she appeared to be troubled as she hung her head low.

"I need you to tell me the truth… Please…" Damien's voice was low, sounding almost dejected that he had to plead to his mother. "What were you doing there?"

Amelia knew that she could no longer keep it from him. It was just impossible. Clenching her jaw, she closed her eyes, feeling her heart ramming against her chest as she tried to control her emotions. "The last time that I saw Edward… He told me something that… your father…" She was also still confused about what Edward told her, so relaying the information to Damien was hard for her. 

She cleared her throat and raised her head to look at her son in the eye. "There's a possibility that Frederick has something to do with your father's death."

Hearing the words from her, Damien felt like a bucket of cold water was dumped on his back. He never expected to hear that at all. It was mind-boggling, causing his brain to go fuzzy as he tried to make sense of what she said. "What are you talking about? Dad died in a car crash…" His voice trailed off as images of his father's accident played in his mind.

"I know… That's what I thought too… All these years that's what I thought…"

"So, why?" Damien furrowed his brows, a headache already forming in his head as he continued to be confused about the topic. "Did Edward tell you that? What did he say? It can't be… Uncle Frederick is dad's brother. Why would he do that?"

"That's what I want to find out… What Edward said didn't make sense either. So I had to try my luck and see if I could find anything on Frederick." 

Damien staggered, his back hitting the car and he slid down until he was sitting on the dirt with his hands on his head. His vision swirled and he felt like puking.

Not a second later, he turned to the side and hurled on the ground.

Amelia immediately rushed towards him, patting his back and taking out a handkerchief to clean him up. "I shouldn't have told you… I'm sorry…"

Shaking his head, Damien wiped his mouth with Amelia's handkerchief and got up. He was feeling all sorts of mad at the moment and all he wanted to do was to confront his uncle. He reached for the door handle of the car but his mother stopped him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to find answers! I need to go back."

"How? By asking your uncle? Do you really think if he was guilty, he would just tell you the truth?!" Amelia sighed. "Damien, we need to think this through. We can't be rash."