534 Uncovering 2

Damien lifted his keen dark eyes from the paper in his hands and questioned, "And these are the safety risks when taking the supplement?" He pointed at the specific table on the paper.

"Yeah..." Jeffrey glanced at the paper and skimmed as he continued, "It may cause dizziness, dry mouth, headache, irritability, nausea, personality changes, insomnia, anxiety, and other symptoms. The individuals who took high doses of the drug had increased risks—well, I mean, too much of anything can kill you, right? It's true for most drugs anyway…" Jeffrey took another sip of his wine and probed, "Where did you get the stuff? It's not available in the U.S. because of the ban. Although I'm sure anyone with money can find it in the black market."

Just as Damien was about to answer, Caleb and Alianna arrived, interrupting their conversation. They greeted each other with hugs and kisses and the two women immediately gushed over their dresses.

"Oh, my god! Is that an engagement ring on your finger?" Ali exclaimed, her voice was so loud it caused a few heads to turn their direction.

Katherine swore that either Alianna was just excited, or she actually intended to catch everyone's attention—what with her overly dramatic gasp. Katherine could only chuckle and allowed the other to 'inspect' the shiny jewelry on her finger.

"Eee! I'm so excited for us. We're both brides-to-be!" Alianna pulled Katherine for another hug, giggling like a little girl who's excited for a tea party.

When they pulled away, they looked at the three men who had a very simple and fast conversation regarding the engagement of Damien and Katherine—a total contrast to the women's gushing.

"Back to being engaged? Nice!"

"Congrats!"

Katherine and Alianna shook their heads, clearly disappointed at the men's 'lack of enthusiasm'. They sighed in unison.

While Caleb, Jeffrey, and Alianna were debating whose turn it was to grab some food, Katherine turned to Damien and told him what she had been thinking since earlier.

"I don't have any idea why the pills were in my aunt's drawer, and why she needs it in the first place. She's obviously in good shape and doesn't need to lose weight—"

"So you think it's Caroline's?"

"I won't deny that it crossed my mind. But it makes me wonder how she got her hands on a banned supplement—I doubt the kid even knows where to buy a cough syrup if she needs one. She's very sheltered—which is why I think it may not be the case… The point is, we don't have a concrete reason why my aunt has it. However, I have an idea of how she gets her hands on it..."

"We'll look into it further… Great job," he complimented, pressing a kiss on Katherine's forehead.

Just then, his phone beeped when he received a message from Wallace White. It was the list of guests from the restaurant which Damien had been waiting for since yesterday. But due to some personal matters, Wallace was only able to give it tonight. The couple excused themselves to the corner of the room where no one could peer through their shoulders or hear their conversation.

Scrolling through the list on his phone, Damien showed Katherine his screen, checking the names one by one and seeing some familiar names. But it wasn't until they caught sight of a particular person's name that they stopped scrolling.

"Wait—" Damien's finger paused on the screen, and it hovered over the name 'Josiah Connor'.

"Who?" Katherine probed. She was familiar with the name but for the life of her, she couldn't remember where she had seen it.

"It's the NIA director's husband," he responded.

"You mean Hughes? The same NIA whom Chris was meeting in the restaurant?"

He nodded, his stare shifting to the side as he thought about the possibilities. "In the past, Hughes used her husband's name to make reservations at the restaurant. During those times, she met with Chris." 

Damien was baffled at the information that he slightly shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts, his brows knitted as he did. "This doesn't make any sense."

Meanwhile, Katherine chewed on her bottom lip. Her head churned at the thought of Hughes meeting with Parker. "Do you think Hughes met with Parker directly? Have they been allies all along?"

"I don't know. It's possible that she could have been testing Chris the whole time. But didn't Chris say that he and Hughes had been in contact for years? If Parker was testing Chris, why would it take him this long to make a move?" he wondered.

"True… Also, if Hughes and Parker were allies, she should have already gotten in touch with Chris to make him come out of hiding. But she hadn't contacted him for a week now."

Damien agreed with Katherine, their doubts only made them even more confused. He lifted his gaze and looked at her as he muttered, "We need more information. Maybe we're looking at it too narrowly."

His attention was called when William strode towards them. Raising a hand, he signaled for his cousin to wait for him, and then he turned back to her, saying, "I'll forward this to Styles. You call and tell him what we think. I have to talk to William."

"Okay," she agreed without questions and smiled when Damien kissed her temple before walking away.

Katherine watched Damien and William heading towards Frederick Park by the stage. A small sigh left her lips as she whipped out her smartphone and dialed Styles's number. Tonight was definitely a busy night.