Chapter 6

Kennard stared at the television screen, a muscle ticking violently in his jaw. He pulled out a secondary, encrypted phone and dialed his head of public relations.

"Kill the TMZ story," Kennard ordered, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "I don't care what it costs. Buy the server farm if you have to. Scrub it."

He hung up and turned to Katherine. The hostility that had radiated from him earlier was gone, replaced by a tense, protective urgency. "We need to get back to the estate. The press will be swarming the main gates soon."

Katherine nodded once.

They bypassed the main lobby, taking the freight elevator down to a subterranean service tunnel where the Maybach was waiting.

By the time they pulled through the wrought-iron gates of the Blackburn estate, the afternoon sun was casting long, sharp shadows across the manicured lawns.

Katherine stepped out of the car and walked into the grand foyer, her stride firm but careful-the lingering stiffness in her knee forcing her to place each step with precision.

She stopped dead in the center of the marble floor. Her eyes locked onto a massive, neon-pink pop-art sculpture sitting on a pedestal where a priceless Ming dynasty vase used to be. The sheer vulgarity of it made her stomach turn.

"Alistair," Katherine called out. Her voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the air like a whip.

The head butler scurried out from the dining room, his hands clasped nervously behind his back. He looked at Katherine. The face was unmistakable-every bone structure, every feature was an exact replica of the late Madam. But the woman before him looked too young, too untouched by time, and the TMZ headlines screaming about a pregnant mistress had burrowed into his thoughts like a parasite. His mind warred with itself: his eyes recognized the mistress he had served for decades, but his rational brain, poisoned by twelve years of believing she was dead and by the morning's scandalous news, seized on the pregnancy rumor as the only logical explanation. The face must be a surgical forgery, he reasoned. A cunning imposter who had found old photographs and paid a surgeon to recreate the Madam's likeness. He had seen her reaction in the foyer the night before-but shock could mean anything. Perhaps he had simply been startled by the resemblance.

His jaw tightened. He darted a glance at Kennard, who was standing silently by the door, expecting the master of the house to reprimand this arrogant new mistress who had seduced his way into power.

"Throw that piece of trash into the incinerator," Katherine ordered, pointing a manicured finger at the neon sculpture.

Alistair's mouth dropped open. He looked at Kennard, waiting for the explosion.

Kennard didn't say a word. He simply unbuttoned his suit jacket and looked away, offering a tacit, terrifying approval.

Alistair's heart hammered against his ribs. The young master had never let anyone-not even Brittnie-touch the decor without her permission. This woman's control over him was absolute and unnatural. It confirmed Alistair's darkest suspicion: whatever she was, she had Kennard completely under her spell. He gritted his teeth, bowed stiffly, and waved two footmen over to haul the heavy sculpture away. He would play the obedient servant until the truth was known.

Katherine didn't stop there. She walked through the first floor, each step deliberate despite the dull ache radiating from her knee. She pointed at gaudy throw pillows, cheap modern paintings, and hideous velvet drapes.

"Burn that. Trash that. Put the 18th-century tapestries back in the west wing."

She was systematically erasing Brittnie's existence from the house, restoring the estate to the exact configuration it held twelve years ago. Kennard followed her like a shadow. With every order she gave, the tension in his shoulders lessened. He was watching his home be resurrected.

A sharp, sustained blare of a car horn shattered the quiet.

Outside the front doors, a cherry-red Ferrari California ignored the security checkpoint, bouncing violently over the speed bumps. It skidded to a halt directly in front of the main fountain, tires smoking.

The driver's side door flew open.

Brittnie Bass stepped out. She wore a skin-tight, sequined designer dress and massive Chanel sunglasses. Her hands were shaking as she clutched her phone, the TMZ article glaring on the screen.

She shoved past the security guards, who hesitated to physically restrain the boss's "girlfriend."

Brittnie burst through the double doors into the foyer. Her face was contorted with a vicious, ugly rage.

"Where is she?!" Brittnie shrieked, her voice echoing off the high ceilings. "Where is the pregnant whore you're hiding, Kennard?!"

Kennard's body stiffened. The script in his head flared, trying to force him to run to her and apologize. He dug his fingernails into his palms, fighting the compulsion. He stood his ground, his voice cold.

"Watch your mouth, Brittnie. You are in my home."

Brittnie ripped off her sunglasses. Her eyes were wild. She had never heard that tone from him before. Panic fueled her anger.

At that moment, Katherine walked out of the drawing room and stepped onto the landing of the grand staircase. She crossed her arms, looking down at Brittnie with the detached disgust one might reserve for a cockroach.

Brittnie's eyes locked onto Katherine. She froze for a second, taking in the face that was a flawless, younger replica of the dead matriarch. Then, a cruel, mocking laugh burst from her lips.

"Oh my god," Brittnie sneered, pointing a trembling finger at Katherine. "You actually did it. You found a plastic surgeon sick enough to carve you up to look like a corpse. You are a disgusting, pathetic freak."

Alistair stood in the corner, keeping his head down. The actress's words mirrored his own lingering doubts, but something in the way the woman held herself-the quiet, unshakeable authority-gnawed at the edge of his suspicion. He said nothing, waiting.

Katherine slowly descended the last three steps, her hand resting lightly on the banister to ease the pressure on her knee. She stopped on the marble floor, standing perfectly straight. She didn't defend her face. She didn't yell.

She looked Brittnie up and down, her gaze lingering on the sequined dress.

"That dress is from last season's ready-to-wear collection," Katherine said, her voice dripping with absolute, aristocratic contempt. "It makes your waist look thick."

The insult hit Brittnie's deepest, most fragile insecurity. Her face flushed a dark, mottled purple. The last thread of her sanity snapped.

She let out a feral scream. She raised her hands, her long, acrylic nails aimed directly at Katherine's eyes, and lunged forward with all her weight.