421 A Cleanup

Park Mansion

Damien parked his car in front of the mansion's entrance with the butler and servants greeting and welcoming him as he entered. 

To get to the study room, he walked past the living room and morning room where he did a double-take when he heard some sobbing. He peeked through the morning room and found Alianna in an armchair. "Ali?"

She looked up and quickly wiped her tears with her fingers and went to greet her cousin with a light hug. "Hey… I didn't hear you come in."

"What happened? Why are you crying? Did Caleb—"

"No. No… It's Mom. She's mad that I'm here. She just called me a couple of minutes ago and said some stuff that made me upset too. It's nothing. Don't worry about me."

Damien could see how upset she was with how puffy her eyes were though she tried to brush it off. Nodding, he gave her a shoulder a squeeze. "If you need anything, just let me know, okay? Any time."

"Thanks, Damien. What are you doing here this early?"

Just then, Frederick Park came in and called Damien's attention. "Come up to the study," he said and disappeared from the morning room.

"I have something to discuss with Uncle. I'll see you later?" He and Alianna bid farewell and he followed his uncle up to his study.

When he stepped inside, he could feel the heavy atmosphere from his uncle's mood. He looked at him and all he could think of was whether his uncle was responsible for his father's death, but he brushed it aside and focused on the matter at hand: Katherine. "What happened?" he asked.

"Park Group was infiltrated last Thursday night," Frederick Park sighed as he poured whiskey into a glass. "Want one?" he asked Damien, who shook his head to decline.

"Infiltrated? What did they want?" Damien carefully observed his uncle's reaction, but all he could see was how pissed Frederick was.

"I don't know. The security system was overridden externally. I have no clue what they want and why this is happening now. She's quite skilled and even managed to knock out my men," Frederick scoffed. 

Damien tensed his jaw. 'Katherine,' he thought. "She? You recognized her?"

"No, but my men reported that both of them were very skilled in fighting. My men ended up in the hospital."

"Wait, both? You said 'she'? There's more than one?" Damien's brows knitted at the same time that his heart raced.

"Did I?" Frederick rubbed his forehead and finished the rest of his whiskey before pouring another shot. "Well, there's two of them. Both women. You think one of our competitors sent them—Gu, Chen Enterprise, Feng Group?"

Running his fingers through his hair, he shook his head and went to the shelf where his uncle kept the liquor, then poured himself a shot of whiskey. "I don't know. It could be possible… Chen Enterprise had done it a few years ago. What's stopping them from doing it again?"

"I need to get to the bottom of this. It's why I called you here."

"What do you need?" Damien's hand suspended mid-air just before he could take a swig of the alcohol.

"My team tried to recover some of the footage but it's no use. Whoever they were, this time, they did well wiping out any traces. Fûcking assholes."

Damien didn't respond, the headache that was just mild earlier had somewhat penetrated into his skull, drilling a hole that he couldn't patch up.

"I will hire Maverick Security. I need to get this done and over with. I need your team to work solely for recovering the data that was lost. You don't have to provide the security detail, I'll just add more of my men in the main office building for now. That would compromise the warehouse but we've been quiet for a while, so I don't have to worry about that at the moment. You'll lend a hand, wouldn't you?"

Did Damien have a choice? Of course not. "Of course. Whatever you need." After all, Park Group was a legitimate business—his father worked hard to bring it to new heights while he was still alive. And as far as Frederick Park knew, it was one of the company's competitors—Damien just had to keep it that way to keep him away from Katherine and Amelia.

"Did you lose something from that night?" he asked.

Frederick shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. "I don't think so. But who's to say that I didn't until I won't be able to find something later. I just hope they didn't get anything valuable…"

Damien glanced at his uncle and he wondered if his mother got something useful when she broke in. At this point, he guessed that it must be her who planned this as it was for his father's death after all. 

His thoughts brought him back to Katherine's expression from earlier. He was so mad when she admitted what she did. Thinking about it, he must have been too harsh when he left like that. But what was he supposed to do? He was disappointed when he learned about it. Why was she covering for his mother? He didn't know whether he should be thankful that she tried to protect her or be mad that she lied.

He would have to ask the two women about that later when he goes back to the penthouse. But he would have to take care of this matter with his uncle first and then that thing at the Naughty Bunny Club. He had received information from Felix that morning that he was able to locate the owner of the club and Damien planned to give him a visit that morning while he was in town. 

It was only eight in the morning and he was already busy. He just wished that the auction tonight wouldn't be a problem. It would be a peaceful night, right?