426 Silhouette 3

'Help me hide the body…' the words echoed in Jeffrey's head like a broken record.

He looked down at his clothes, and he frowned, realizing that he was wearing an all-white tux. "Bro, we chose the wrong day to bury a body. You should have told me, and I would have worn an appropriate outfit." He clicked his tongue.

Damien glanced at his friend, and he chuckled, feeling better knowing that even though they were only joking, he was sure that he could definitely count on Caleb and Jeffrey—even if it meant that they had to hide a corpse.

But was he really kidding? He looked back at Wallace and Katherine. The two seemed to be talking about something hilarious because she just laughed at something he whispered to her ear. Nah, Damien was convinced he could commit a crime tonight.

Putting away his flute, he sauntered towards the two on the dance floor. Just then, the music stopped, and an emcee appeared on stage, catching everyone's attention. The first part of the program was the red carpet where Damien had to walk with Wallace and even took a picture with him. While the guests were arriving and gathering in the main hall, the music, dancing, and drinking had already started. Now the second part of the program was about to commence—the auction. Damien had to be up on stage with Wallace soon, but his feet were taking him towards Katherine instead of getting ready to go up the stage.

Katherine and Wallace had pulled away from their dance and were facing the stage when Damien arrived behind them, and he all but unabashedly put himself in between the two, placing an arm around Katherine's waist protectively, who stood on his left. "Damien…" he heard her mutter. Wallace, who was standing on his right, softly chuckled, "I get to see a new side of you every second, Damien. It's refreshing."

Damien ignored what the other said as he tightened his hold around her and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "We need to talk."

"Those words… You're not breaking up with me, are you?" Katherine whispered back. When she looked up at him and met his eyes, she saw his brows slightly crossed, and she couldn't tell what he was thinking at the moment. "You… are? Are you that mad?" Her heart started racing, and she swallowed the massive lump in her throat. 'But I still have a lot to do for you…'

"Don't be ridiculous." Damien gently squeezed her waist. He scanned her face, noting that she only had light makeup on but was still glowing. She had her hair down naturally and styled it with soft waves, making her look even more alluring than she already was. His Kitten was so beautiful that he was conflicted. "I am indeed still mad, but I'm not irrational. However, we do need to talk about it."

She took it as a reassurance and it drove her fears away, so she nodded and responded, "We will. I was going to anyway… even if you didn't ask me. I'm sorry, I—"

"We're not on a date," Damien asserted, rolling his eyes. Facing Katherine, his hand was still resting on her waist when he told her, "Stay here where I can see you."

"Okay… Hurry back, or I'll get cold."

Damien felt tiny feathers tickling his heart. Damn it. Without thinking much, he started to unbutton his coat to give it to her, but she stopped him, and she chuckled, "No, don't. You look better with it up there."

"Oh, my god. Stop." Wallace did the biggest eye roll. "You two make me want to barf." He flung an arm around Damien's shoulder and eyed Katherine. "Sweetheart, I like you and all, but you're hogging my date." And then he left with Damien. Katherine was in awe, but she could only laugh at the situation.

…

The emcee on the stage gave a recap of the events that happened during the last six months about how much The Platinum Club was able to raise funds for various charity events. The purpose of tonight's auction was still for charity, and Wallace White was generous to donate the proceeds from the auction of his works. 

Damien went up the stage with Wallace as he received a recognition award for having the highest amount donated during those six months. Actually, he didn't like to receive the award—it wasn't as if he gave money just to be recognized. But Wallace insisted that he receive it, and Damien thought it was a better cover for him to be up there next to the man during the segment instead of being labeled as his date.

Apart from the award that Damien received, the committee gave him a surprise while he was on stage. A dozen college students came up and greeted him with a bow. He was shocked as he recognized a few of them—they were scholars, and he was their benefactor. The scholars shook hands with him, and some even hugged him. The smile on his face made Katherine teary-eyed.

"You'll ruin your makeup if you cry." A man came to her side and handed her his handkerchief.

Recognizing the voice, Katherine snapped her head, and her eyes widened. "Matty!"

"Hey, Kathy." Matthew gave her a brief side hug. "You look really nice."

"Thanks, you too! What are you doing here?" She gave him a once over and found his outfit of the night quite interesting. "Are you a member too? Why does your outfit look familiar?" she wondered as she carefully patted the tears on the corner of her eyes.

"Sort of. Long story short, I'm one of Mr. White's models tonight." He looked at her and casually fixed her hair away from her shoulder. "I didn't think I would see you tonight." Someone called him from a distance, and he nodded before turning back to her, "Show's about to start. See you later?"

Katherine watched as he left and entered the backstage. Shifting her gaze back to Damien, she met his intense, curious, and questioning stare. He must have seen Matthew just now. She smiled at him and mouthed, "I'm proud of you." Perhaps he understood it because there was a faint smile that formed on his face after that.

A presence on her right caught her attention, so she turned her head to look. A woman wearing expensive clothes stood next to her with a glass of champagne in her hand. Katherine didn't know who she was as she hadn't seen her before. She looked average—as in, nothing stood out of her appearance, but Katherine noticed a mole near her lips. 

"How do you know Matthew?" the woman asked.

Katherine was caught off-guard by her question. She suddenly felt uneasy with her. "I'm sorry?"

The strange woman turned to face Katherine, her brow arching as she looked at her from head to toe. "How do you know Matthew Jeong? I saw you talk to him just now."

The hostility in her voice was evident, and Katherine didn't know whether to laugh or cry with the way the woman was acting. What was her problem? "He's a friend." She kept her tone light.

"A friend?" the woman scoffed and eyed the handkerchief in her hand. "Does a friend act so nicely like that to you?" When Katherine didn't answer, she kept her voice down and she added, "You better stay away from him, or you watch your back." Then, she walked away.

Katherine found the whole conversation weird. Where did that come from? And who was that woman? She was so dumbfounded that she was speechless for a minute. "What the hell just happened?" she muttered to herself.

When she looked back at the stage, she saw Damien look at her as if he was asking 'What happened?' And because she honestly had no clue, she could only shrug her shoulders.