The Grand Mistress

Hawk was lost. He was torn between his ego and the truth. His ego was like telling him that this was all nothing but a lie, that he did not create a mistake yet the truth was waving and fluttering in front of his face. 

Wanting to have some redemption, he went to clear up things with Feather and to ask for the truth but knowing that the girl might not be willing to give him anything at all, he chose to not demand it outright. Instead, he went to Feather and checked with her for anything that might help him with his dilemma.

"Hawk…." Feather called for his name weakly when he entered her hospital room. She looked so weak and pale but her eyes glimmered with so much brightness when she saw him. 

"How are you feeling?" Hawk asked, unsure how to treat her. For many years he had treated the woman as his fuzzy Cat, giving her almost everything he could offer and all his devotion only to find out at the end that she might not be the one.

"I'm okay now," She smiled weakly. Hawk's calm behavior assured her that he had gone there out of his worry and that there was nothing to worry about him knowing the truth about Simione. "Have you dealt with that woman?"

"That woman…" Hawk repeated in an odd tone and Feather immediately became guarded the way he said it. It was like he was reminiscing about something, something that might push her into the pit. "That woman Feather….what's her name again?"

"Si…Simione…" She replied, shaking a bit. "She's not related to me. Our grandfather once bring her to our home as an adopted granddaughter but before she can officially become part of our family, she got evicted because of her bad deeds,"

Feather tried to thread a good convincing story for Hawk to believe and added, "Well I had always known she's going to turn as a bad egg but I took pity on her so I did not make any protest when she was brought to our home,"

"Where is she from?"

"I don't know. My grandfather never told us where but as per my assessment before, she might come from a remote poor area. You see she had rather bad habits then and her demeanor wasn't pleasing. We all had a hard time because of her, even my parents suffered for her mischiefs,"

"Where did she go after she was kicked out from the Han's?" Hawk continued to ask but he had already noticed that Feather was faltering and realized she was hiding something.

"I don't know…she just went away," She answered wanting to end the conversation because she felt like she was sitting on the hot seat and Hawk's eyes were searing through hers like a hot radar. 

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure, Hawk. You see, I never got to see her after she left. Besides, I was taken abroad to Voltaire Ballet Company and I got so focused on ballet I didn't have time to care where she went," Feather explained.

"So you haven't seen each other since when?"

"Since she was like a teen,"

"That long? Then how come you recognized her earlier?" Hawk's questions got Feather nervous. What is this man trying to get from me? Was Hawk Monsanto cross examining her? 

"Well, we have the same eyes….that's what I remember so when I saw her, I assumed it was her," Feather lied on it. God! The conversation was getting intense at each moment that passed and Feather just wanted to scream for help to save herself because the face of Hawk Monsanto while questioning her was really terrifying. He was like a hawk on a hunt.

"Feather….." Hawk called her attention again as if he was giving her a clear warning.

"Hawk, I promise I knew nothing so much about her. All I knew is that if she seduced you, then she did it to get even with me. Perhaps she had not moved on from the fact that she almost became a Han and before things could be official, she messed up and lost such a chance. Being the only heiress of the Han's, she must have been upset for not having a part of it when she almost did when we were young," Feather gave another conversation a go hoping that the problem will just clear off without giving it much of a thought.

"I promise you, she's nothing but just a jealous bitch," Feather pleaded for him to believe her.  "I had been your lover for a long time, you must believe me Hawk. You know I loved you so much and I don't want anything to be ruined just because someone choose to revenge on me,"

"Alright," Hawk wanted to end there. From what it looked, Feather was always consistent with her words but things just didn't sound right on him. With all the complications that took place, all he ever wanted was to finally end his search which seemed to have not ended when he found Feather Han.

"Do you believe me now?" Feather wanted to clear it all. "You remember what she said, right? She made this scandal to get back at me and also, she intentionally ruined us. Therefore, I won't blame you for having an affair with her because I knew for a fact that she was good at making schemes as she did that previously when she still lived with us. I know that you are just one of his victims, so don't worry about the scandal, this would not make me back out on the wedding,"

"There is actually something that I wanted to ask you, Feather," Hawk got to her eyes this time and it made Feather swallow a big lump in her throat.

"If its about Simione…"

"Fuzzy Cat," Hawk cut her off.

"Huh?" Feather did not understand why he said that. She knew it was something he used to call her but months have passed already that he had not mentioned such a word to her, nor called her that name anymore. 

"When we were young, you always wanted to be called Cat," Hawk started, eyes still with hers. "You even forced me one time to call you fuzzy Cat…however, I could not find in my memory the reason why….the reason why you wanted to be called fuzzy Cat,"

"Oh…" Feather thought of it. She did think that the world fuzzy Cat was something Hawk created for her, so it turns out it was something that the orphan wanted to call herself. Fuzzy Cat? The Heck! Such a cringey name!

"Can you tell me now perhaps….I had always wondered why you wanted such a name so badly when we were young," Hawk lightly pressed her.

"Well…." Feather's mind was in panic. What could be the reason why that orphan wanted such a name? God! The question surely was a trap! Hawk Monsanto surely was trying to check whether she was the real Cat or she was just a fake one!

"Well…." Feather wanted to evade the question as her mind couldn't find a good answer to his questions but while she was roaming in her mind of the past memories she shared with Simione and all the stories the orphan told her about Hawk and their adventures together, she somehow found an answer.

"It was because of my dear pet that died," Feather's eyes glittered with victory. She couldn't be wrong! This should be the answer as she remembered that day so well.

Few years ago Don Benedicto brought her to the white mansion of Somerset Village where she met Simione. When they first met, they clicked right away probably because they were the only children in that house and so they played everyday and shared stories together. As each day passed by, they got closer and closer that they ended up sharing secrets. 

Feather told Simione about her crush for the Tang's young master while Simione shared stories about her friend Spin outside the white walls of their mansion. They used to be super close and inseparable until one day, Feather found out that Simione was going to become a Han and share her title as a Han's heiress.

Feather got so pissed off that she started resenting Simione for it. One day, as Don Benedicto was to bring both of them to a socialite party, Feather refused to go with Simione. She didn't want her to be a part of their family, of course she didn't want her grandfather to bring that orphan to the elite parties too. 

So, on the day that they were about to go, Feather poisoned Simione's pet Cat. She asked their gardener to do it and blackmailed him so the man could do nothing. When Simione found out about her pet, she cried endlessly and wanted to hold a burial that Don Benedicto chose to not bring her to the party as she was so miserable that day.

That must be it! That Cat was a fat one so it does fit the fuzzy Cat description clearly! 

THIS CHAPTER UPLOAD FIRST AT NOVELBIN.COM