533 Uncovering 1

Entering the function hall, Katherine casually combed her hair with her fingers. "Do I look okay?" she faced Damien and asked. Her hair was slightly disheveled but she easily brushed it back to style.

"You look well-fucked," he answered, wiping the small smudge of color on the corner of her mouth with his thumb. "Incredibly beautiful." He pulled his mouth into a knowing smile—it was handsome and devilish.

She squeezed her thighs together, trying to ease the sweet feeling—remnants of her orgasm from just a few minutes ago. With her racing heartbeat, she was still slightly breathless. If Damien's phone hadn't constantly rung, they wouldn't have had to chase their climax like a horse race. But she didn't complain because they finished the deed. She only wished they could have stayed out a bit longer.

Katherine's hand reached for his forehead to fix a stray hair in place, her fingertips lightly sweeping his skin that was still moist with sweat. She grabbed the handkerchief from his hand and wordlessly patted it on him, ignoring the curious stares that they were getting from the people nearby. At this point, she really didn't care anymore. People can talk all they want.

They caught sight of Jeffrey Evans approaching them from across the room, taking his time sauntering towards them. Damien grunted and scoffed when he laid eyes on his friend, feeling a bit annoyed because Jeffrey was the one who called him and interrupted his little detour with Katherine a few minutes ago.

Leaning towards Katherine, Damien whispered to her ear with a voice low and rough, "I'm not done with you yet." His hand possessively held her waist, gently squeezing her as if to show how serious he was.

She couldn't help but chuckle at the warning. A bold and charming smile plastered on her face as she wrapped her fingers around his arm, and then she stared right at him when she answered in a raspy tone, "And I have yet to quench my thirst, President Park."

Damien's cock bobbed in agreement—it was painful. Her seduction tempted him to drag her back out of the hall for 'round two', and his jaw ticked upon realizing that they were trapped at the moment.

Katherine could feel his stare burning her skin. Her cheeks were still flushed, giving her a natural glow and making her look even more beautiful. Fixing his tie in place, she added, "Let's fix your tie… It's crooked. We don't want them thinking you were doing something strenuous just now."

Ever so subtly, his palm lowered on her ass, resting it there without a care that someone could see. "Naughty, Kitten. You better be ready once this party ends."

Sliding her hand over his chest, her cheeky smile brightened her face as she confidently answered, "I can't wait."

"What girlfriend?" he snorted before casually sipping his red wine. He wouldn't meet Katherine's eyes—probably afraid of getting caught. But the redness of his ear was evidence that he knew what she was talking about even as he replied, "I don't have a girlfriend."

"Right…" she drawled, unconvinced with his answer. She exchanged brief knowing looks with Damien who only shrugged when she arched a brow. Then Katherine asked Jeffrey another question, "How's Jessamine? Why didn't you bring her with you?"

He shrugged, scanning the room with disinterested eyes as if he was nonchalantly checking the entire room. "She has surgeries today. I didn't want to trouble her."

Katherine narrowed her eyes. Jeffrey was pretty obvious and he looked silly with the way he was acting, so she decided to stop fishing for answers because it seemed as though he didn't want to talk about it.

Seeing as his woman was done interrogating his friend, Damien nodded to Jeffrey and prompted, "What did you find?"

"Oh, right." Jeffrey carefully took out a piece of paper from his inner suit pocket with one hand while balancing the glass of wine with the other. Then he handed the paper to Damien as he explained, "The pill you had me checked from the lab is a dietary supplement which was used for weight loss. However, it has long been banned by the FDA for over a decade—"

"Banned? Why would they ban it?" Katherine's brows furrowed as she folded her arms in front of her chest. All her attention was focused on Jeffrey's explanation when he responded promptly. It wasn't what she expected at all, and the new finding piqued her interest. Meanwhile, Damien quickly examined the information about the pill on the paper.

Jeffrey pointed to a portion of the paper and answered, "The supplements had a chief ingredient called Ephedra—it's actually a botanical plant that's native to Mongolia, Russia, and Northern China. For a long time in China and India, it has been widely used to treat certain ailments. The pill, among many others, were over-the-counter dietary supplements containing Ephedrine Alkaloids—the stimulant compound found in Ephedra—and it is promoted for weight loss, enhanced athletic performance, and increased energy.

"The supplement is somewhat effective. A lot of people swore by the pills' 'magic' and relied on them whenever wherever. However, after substantial research has been done on the short-term weight loss experienced by some subjects while on the drug, the FDA found out its harmful effects which pushed them to ban the sale of the supplements. Ever since the ban, dietary supplements containing ephedrine have been illegal in the U.S. and other countries."

Katherine's stare darted around the room, looking for her aunt, and she found her at the same table where she sat earlier with her daughter, Caroline. Deborah Young was not overweight at all. Her build was normal and she appeared to be in good health too.

On the other hand, Caroline was skinny. Katherine learned that her younger cousin was too afraid to gain weight, so the latter ate very little all the time. In fact, she often skipped meals just so she wouldn't gain any weight. Could it be that the pills were Caroline's?