Chapter 537: A Total Nutcase

Damien's voice rang in Katherine's ear, and her head snapped in his direction, seeing him approach her with a relaxed demeanor. Although his question sounded like he was concerned about the situation, the way he asked made her feel like he just wanted to know what the man did to her. The trust that he had in her was tremendous that he didn't question what she was doing; rather, he asked what had been done to her.

Without thinking twice, she told him right away, "This man touched me—slapped my butt. I'm just teaching him a little lesson." She pressed her heel once more and the man winced and coughed. Their voices and sounds were louder due to the narrow hallway.

The dark pools of ink that were Damien's eyes shot towards the man on the wall. His jaw tightened just as he narrowed his eyes, feeling the urge to snap this man's neck for touching his woman. How dare he touch her right here in his territory? This was why he never wanted to leave her out of his sight even for just a second because Katherine seemed to invite danger whenever he wasn't around.

"Have you no shame?!" he spat.

The man turned blue from the lack of oxygen, but the couple didn't feel any pity towards him even when he tried to speak in a disgruntled voice and failed to say what he wanted to say.

"Are you okay?" asked Damien. Reaching for her hand, he gently tugged her towards him, allowing her to release the man. Katherine reluctantly let go with a huff, stepping back to gain her balance as she let Damien hold her. "I'm okay," she answered.

Their heads turned towards the man when they heard him mumble incomprehensibly as he slid down panting. "...thank… Park…" were the only words Damien understood. This idiot was thanking him? It made Damien's blood boil that he clenched his teeth and punched the man on the face—the latter's body dropped to the floor as he got knocked out with just one blow.

Wanting to remove this man from his sight, Damien called his men to take care of the situation. Then he turned to Katherine and asked her several questions, making sure that she wasn't hurt—even if it was already obvious who needed medical attention.

Footsteps were heard from the side, and their heads turned to see Daniel Cho coming towards them, an amused expression dancing on his face as he glanced at the man on the floor, and then at them.

"Impressive. For a second, I thought we were filming a movie here or something…" Daniel remarked.

Katherine examined the man's face, trying to remember where she saw him before as his face looked familiar. Then Damien drew her closer as he introduced, "Katherine, this is a friend of mine—Daniel Cho from Mayne City."

"A pleasure to meet you," said Daniel as he shook hands with Katherine and exchanged pleasantries. The three engaged in small talk while waiting for Damien's men to arrive, ignoring the man on the floor next to them.

A minute later, Markus came with a few men from Maverick Security. He also informed his boss that he needed to go back for his speech, thus Damien and Katherine headed back inside after promising to meet with Daniel and his wife later.

…

The gala was still in full swing at nine in the evening, and the live auction would begin after Damien gives his speech. While Damien got ready with Markus by the stage, Katherine joined the others. Alianna was going to model some of the items for the live auction that would start soon, and because Ali was Ali, she persuaded Caleb to do it with her. So it was only Katherine, Jeffrey, and William left at the cocktail table.

Although Katherine was still feeling uneasy towards William, the latter didn't irritate her that night, so she didn't feel the need to be snarky as the three of them talked about random stuff.

Her phone buzzed, and she answered as soon as she saw that it was Styles. William and Jeffrey were busy talking about poker, so she only stepped back a little to answer the phone call.

"Yes? Did you find anything?" she asked as soon as the call connected.

"Not about Parker. But I received new intel from the digging I did about Margaret Hara from the other day," Styles responded in a clear and casual tone.

"Oh… that was fast. What did you find?"

"Well, I know someone who knows someone—nevermind. Just… trust me."

"I don't have a choice," Katherine muttered.

Ignoring her comment, Styles began to explain, "Get this—she was diagnosed with a mental illness when she left Esmea. Apparently, after having a miscarriage, she went into depression. I found old news articles stating that her father sent her to Japan to take care of their family business there. But upon checking their company records, there was no datum of her ever working in the company—even until recently."

Katherine's expression changed from curiosity to confusion; her brows knitted as she tried to make sense of what Styles said. "So they lied? Or… was she doing something else? Did she even leave the country?"

"Oh, she left alright," Styles answered with a sense of mockery. "For her first year in Japan, she showed symptoms of Psychosis, so she had been in and out of the hospital. And then for two years, she was confined in their own house. A doctor and a nurse would visit to check on her three to five times a week."

"Huh… so it was that serious?" she questioned.

"Yeah. Ms. Hara attempted to escape their home multiple times—I mean, if I would be locked up for two years even in my own home, I would most probably escape too."

"What happened after that?"

A sigh left his lips before spilling out the rest of the information that he found, "She harmed herself a few times, and the last one almost ended her life. That prompted Daddy Hara to send her to a private mental facility where she stayed for a few years."

"Oh, my god…" Katherine gasped. No wonder she had always felt a dark, lingering vibe whenever she met the woman. There was just something about Margaret that didn't sit well with her.

"I know right? It wasn't until a year ago that she was discharged from the facility because she showed great progress. Anyway, that happened, and then a few months ago, she came back to Esmea," said Styles.

"I can't imagine what she went through after that miscarriage. It really messed her up, huh?" she wondered. The memory of Damien telling her about his past with Margaret—that night felt like it was so long ago, but Katherine could still remember what he told her then.

~ "I learned to love someone who hasn't even been brought to this world yet." ~

Damien loved that baby even when it hadn't been born at that time. Although what Margaret did to him was nasty, she was still a mother, and losing a child must have hurt a lot.

Styles's voice brought Katherine back to earth when he answered, "You said it. According to her medical history, she had a delusional disorder and showed signs of bipolar psychosis with violent tendencies. When she's attached to something, she becomes obsessed with it that she wouldn't allow anyone to touch it. It says here that there was an instance where a male staff tidied up her room and moved one of her dolls aside, and when she saw it, she used a sharp object to slice his back—he stayed in the hospital for weeks. Jeez—she's a total nutcase. I find people like her scarier than you guys."

Just then, Jeffrey's raised voice called Katherine's attention, "Uh-oh… Trouble in town."

She followed the direction of his stare and found a woman she did not expect to see that night—Margaret Hara—and she was walking towards the foot of the stage where Damien was.

While she watched the woman from a distance, she could hear Styles still blabbing from the other line, saying, "If I were you, I'd be careful and stay away from her. Who knows if she's still a wacko and might go psycho on you—"

Before Styles could even finish the rest of his sentence, Katherine had already backed away and ended the phone call. She circled the function hall, leaving through the side door and entering through the other that was near the stage to avoid the crowd.

She quickly scanned the room in search of Margaret. As soon as she caught sight of the latter, Katherine's eyes darkened. The woman was already a few meters away from Damien.

Taking long strides, Katherine wrapped her hand tightly around Margaret's wrist and dragged her out of the room. A few heads turned their way, but she ignored their stares and continued to bring the other away from Damien harshly. She no longer cared about what the people would think.

Margaret struggled as Katherine held both of her wrists. She grunted and groaned as she tried to retract her hands, but Katherine was stronger.

A loud bang echoed when the second door from the function hall was burst open—it was an empty dressing room. Katherine shoved Margaret inside and locked the door behind her.

In the next second, Margaret whipped out a pocket knife and pointed it to Katherine. "Let me go!" she yelled.