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Kathleen heard a knock sounded on her door and a maid, what was her name? Herty, opened the door at her command, "you have a visitor ma'am" she informed Kathleen with her head bowed and Kathleen frowned, she wasn't expecting anyone, "who is it? She asked
"He said he's a friend of yours, Stefan by the name" Kathleen's heart thudded, what was Stefan doing here? Derek would be back any moment from now and would think she went back on her promise, she glanced at the maid, "where is he?"
"In the living room," the maid frowned, "did I do something wrong, ma'am?" She asked unsure if she did the wrong thing by letting him in.
Kathleen took a deep breath and shook her head, "it's okay, you can go".
Kathleen got dressed and went downstairs, she had to tell him to leave and be firm about it, she doesn't want to offend Derek, in her haste, she almost ran into Marcella who was going towards her room from the kitchen with a glass of juice "watch out" Kathleen quickly apologized and went into the living room, she saw Stefan sitting on the sofa sipping wine which perhaps the maid had offered him.
"what are you doing here? I thought we came to an agreement"
He turned at the sound of her voice, "I'm sorry Kathleen, I had to come, It's important that I come to see you"
"What is so important Stefan?" She almost shouted, he showed no emotions but simply handed her a drink, she stared at the drink but made no move to take it, " drink up, you would need it for what I have to tell you".
Kathleen collected the drink and drank just so he would say whatever he had to say leave, she sat down staring at him but he didn't say anything, rather he was smiling smugly, her head suddenly felt light, what was happening to her? She tried to speak but her tongue felt tied, she found herself drifting into Oblivion, she fought it but was no match for it as her eyes dropped closed.
Stefan looked at Marcella who was hiding behind a door, "very smooth" her voice sounded smooth as she came out, she looked at Stefan pleased, " now we have to be fast, Derek must have gotten my message and should be on his way, nothing must go wrong, hopefully, this should work out fine and we'll both get what we want"
Stefan nodded, " I can't wait to see Derek's face when he returned, he'll throw her out and she'll come to me"
"Now let's take her inside, the show is about to begin," Marcella said with malicious glee, she had everything all planned out, the maids are in their quarters and the press are ready, it would indeed be a piece of big news. They quickly take Kathleen inside and undressed her, Stefan undressed himself, wearing only his brief while Marcella moved back to her room, the show was about to start.
*
*
Derek drove home but sat in his car for a while, he stared at the envelope on the seat by his side, he couldn't believe what he had just seen in those pictures, Kathleen better have a very good explanation for that, his eyes narrowed when he suddenly saw a familiar car packed just outside the Deloux castle, what was it doing here? His heart panted in anger, he quickly grabbed the envelope and walked in, he went straight to his room, he heard a male voice inside and he listened, the words he heard had his blood boiling with fury and his tongue tasting of betrayal.
Kathleen opened her eyes, her head felt wooly, what had happened to her? She recalled going to the living room to talk to Stefan and she remembered nothing else, She felt a slight movement by her side, was Derek back? She turned and her eyes widened at who she saw lying beside her, Stefan, what are you doing here, she quickly sat up and checked her body inside the blanket only to see that she was naked, she turned angry gaze on him, "how dare you"
"Shhhh, everything will be alright my love, Derek won't find out about our love for each other, when you take the property we want, we'll finally be together without him standing in the way of our love" Kathleen was confused at his words, what was he talking about? But before she could utter a word, Derek came barging into the room, his gaze cold as he stared from her to Stefan before settling on her, "I won't find out about your love? His tone was dark, he has heard Stefan's words and believed them, she opened her mouth but he quickly turned to Stefan and grabbed him by the throat, punching him, Stefan groaned and fell on the floor and Derek followed him down there still punching him, in as much as Stefan deserved all he got, at the rate Derek was going, he would kill him, she doesn't want him jailed for murder, there had been some misunderstanding, Kathleen was frantic, she had to call Marcella to help, she grabbed the quilt for cover and opened the door, lights flashed in her eyes, the press? Who had brought them here and inside the house, " please leave this instance, this is a private property"
"What's going on here?" Marcella's voice sounded, "I can hear all the chaos down to my room"
" I don't know, just get them out of here first"
Kathleen ran back inside, Derek and Stefan were still at each other's throats, Stefan was bleeding profusely, Kathleen ran to Derek in an attempt to stop him before he committed murder and in that moment, Stefan swung a blow, he missed his target and his punch landed on Kathleen's arm, she lost her balance and fell, hitting her stomach very hard on the floor.