389 Identity 2

Katherine hadn't taken a peek at her phone since she pocketed it half an hour ago. At the back of her mind, she wondered who could have texted her that message but she forced herself to focus on the meeting and chose to deal with it later.

Crown Resort Group finished its announcement earlier and was now giving more details on how the new process would take place. Later, the bidders would have to draw lots in order to know the sequence of the presentation which will be held next week in front of everyone in the room. There were a total of ten bidders for the project. Initially, there were only six of them. However, after CRG's announcement last Saturday regarding the transparency of the bidding process, four more companies wanted to take their chances.

Before the sortition, Vice-President Caleb Yoo patiently answered several questions from the bidders regarding the project. During this time, Katherine felt stuffed. She never liked crowded places and knowing that this modified process was because of the scandal about her and Damien, she had been feeling eyes at her head the entire time. Wanting to get some fresh air, she excused herself and told Michael Price that she would be stepping out for a bit.

As soon as she exited the conference room, Katherine was immediately relieved. Seeing the familiar hallway of the second floor of the Crown Hotel, she felt nostalgic being there. The last time that she was there was a few months ago when she and Damien, along with a few main office employees went to perform an inspection. She was still a CRG employee then, now she was merely a hotel guest and it felt weird.

Knowing the hotel's layout, she knew where to go. She wanted to go up the third floor where there was an open balcony that was overlooking the garden. On her way, she decided to relieve her bladder first and went to the washroom before going up to the next floor. She didn't stay long and she came out after washing her hands. However, just before she was about to take the stairs, a female voice caught her attention.

"Hi, excuse me, do you know where conference room three is? I'm really bad at directions." A woman with a very amiable expression smiled at Katherine.

"Yes. It's just down the hall." Katherine extended her hand out, an open palm gesturing towards the direction of the room. 

"Ah, thank you!" The woman softly chuckled, her eyes twinkling as she did. "I'm actually here to see my husband. I heard he was going to have a meeting here and I wanted to cheer him up."

"I see… Good luck." Katherine returned a polite smile.

"Thanks for helping me. What's your name, by the way? I'm Margaret." The woman extended her hand out to Katherine.

"I'm Katherine. No problem. I'm sure your husband will be glad to see you're supporting him." Katherine shook hands with Margaret very briefly and her instincts were telling her there was something odd about the woman.

"Later. I just need some fresh air first." Katherine then headed to the third floor using the stairs and strolled towards the balcony.

When the fresh air hit her face, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. It had only been a little over an hour since the meeting started but she was already dying to get out of there. She wondered how Damien did it for years—constantly attending meetings and facing businessmen and other people must be exhausting. She didn't think that she was cut out for something like this.

Katherine stretched her limbs and thought to call her grandfather. Whipping out her phone, she dialed her grandfather's number and the old man picked up on the first ring, making her chuckle as she imagined that he must have been waiting for her call. Then she told him about the meeting, letting him know the updates on the process before she went out earlier which he already knew given that Damien had informed him last Saturday—when he was determined to ask for her hand in marriage out of nowhere.

Their call lasted for a couple of minutes more before it ended. Then she decided that it was time to go back to the meeting, so she walked back inside and headed for the stairs. Just as she landed on the second floor, she could sense that someone was following her.

Slowing down her steps, she clutched her purse and carefully looked over her shoulder and sure enough, a few meters from where she stood, there was a tall figure wearing an all-black outfit—a hoodie, black jeans, and combat boots—leaning casually against the wall just as she peeked. He was sort of out-of-place considering that the second floor only had conference rooms and didn't have any private rooms.

Wanting to see what that was about, she continued to walk forward—the path she took led to the washroom that she went earlier, and it was away from the conference room. Her senses were heightened as she kept walking and when she reached the end of the hallway just right outside the restroom, she stopped. In front of her was a decorative mirror that was placed above a console table.

She stared at the reflection on the mirror and saw the familiar face of her unwanted follower. Katherine could feel her heartbeat rise up her throat but she swallowed it down before she voiced, "Who are you? Why are you following me?"

The man did not respond and she kept her back facing him. When she saw him take measured steps towards her, she darted her gaze towards the security camera at the corner of the wall. A couple of seconds later, her vision went dark and her body went limp.