Chapter 251: Manipulation
Catherine lowered the phone only slightly.
She forced herself to swallow every lingering emotion before hurriedly wiping at the corners of her eyes.
Too late.
There was no hiding the fact that she had been crying.
Fortunately, she had prepared for everything else.
The second phone was the same make, the same model, even the same color as the one Dorian knew she carried.
That part could be explained.
The tears...
Those were another matter.
She picked up a tissue from the coffee table, placed the phone face down beside it, and quickly dabbed at her eyes just as he stepped inside her bedroom.
"You’re back," Catherine said, turning with a gentle smile. "I was waiting for you."
She walked toward him.
"You look exhausted."
Without hesitation, she reached up and gently straightened the collar brooch that had shifted during the day.
"And you’ve been crying," Dorian observed.
His eyes lingered on her face.
The past several days had been nothing but setbacks. Every lead he chased dissolved into another dead end. Even Fitzgerald had been unable to identify who was orchestrating the attacks against BioQuant.
Nothing made sense anymore.
Neither did Catherine.
Was it truly that bracelet?
Had it really been enough to make her despise him before?
Now...
Now she looked almost exactly like his Katerina.
Gentle. Quiet. Yielding.
The woman he remembered.
A faint unease stirred in the back of his mind. It always did whenever Catherine was involved. He had never completely trusted her. Perhaps he never would.
Still... He reached up and cupped her cheek.
To his surprise, Catherine leaned into his palm. "I was talking to my niece," she said softly. Fresh tears welled in her eyes. "She told me..." Her voice trembled. "...that you’ve resolved all the problems my family was facing."
She looked up at him with grateful eyes.
"Thank you." Her lips quivered. "Back then... and even now..." She smiled weakly through her tears "You’ve always been the one helping me."
The tension between Dorian’s brows gradually eased.
There it was. The look he had been waiting for... Dependence, trust... She believed he had rescued her.
The irony amused him.
She had no idea that he was the very reason those problems had existed in the first place. Yet she thanked him for solving them.
Just like before.
Perhaps... She truly hadn’t changed. Perhaps she had always been his Katerina.
"All right," he murmured.
He took out his handkerchief and gently wiped the tears from beneath her eyes.
"Look at you." A faint smile tugged at his lips. "Your nose is all red." He lightly tapped the tip of her nose. "I’m starving."
He offered her his arm. "Let’s have dinner."
Catherine nodded obediently. "I’ll freshen up and join you."
As Dorian leaned closer, intending to kiss her forehead, Catherine suddenly sniffled so hard that he instinctively paused.
Instead, he simply patted her head. "Don’t take too long."
After he left, Catherine immediately picked up the second phone and exchanged it for the other one hidden inside her luggage.
Only then did she enter the bathroom.
A few minutes later... The bedroom door quietly opened again. Dorian stepped inside. His eyes immediately settled on the phone resting atop the coffee table.
He picked it up. The screen lit instantly. There was no password.
His thumb moved straight to the recent call history.
One call.
Sammy.
He studied it for several silent seconds before placing the phone exactly where he had found it. Then he walked out.
From the narrow gap in the bathroom door, Catherine watched the entire exchange. She quietly rolled her eyes.
He’s still suspicious. Good!
A suspicious man kept looking in the wrong places. She intended to make sure he never looked in the right one.
-----
At dinner, Catherine continued playing the role of the grateful woman who had finally found someone she could lean on. Every smile, every glance was all carefully measured.
If she wanted Dorian to lower his guard completely, she would have to give him exactly what he wanted. A woman who depended on him. A woman who would never suspect him.
"My queen, is the food not to your liking?"
Dorian’s voice pulled her from her thoughts.
Catherine heard him but deliberately remained motionless, her gaze fixed on the untouched food before her.
After a moment, Dorian reached over and rested a hand on her shoulder.
She flinched.
Only then did she slowly lift her head to look at him.
"I..." Her fingers drifted to her temple. "I remembered something." She pressed a hand against her forehead as though trying to steady herself.
"I’m remembering so much lately, Dorian."
Across the table, Dorian glanced at his dinner with faint disappointment. He was hungry. He almost wished he had ignored her silence and continued eating.
But...
If Catherine was recovering memories of their previous life, he needed to know how much she remembered.
"What did you remember?" he asked quietly.
Catherine slowly looked up. Her eyes were red from earlier. Her breathing had become uneven.
"I..." She lowered a trembling hand to her stomach. "I died from poison, didn’t I?"
The words hung heavily between them.
This was not the first time thoughts of her death had surfaced while sitting before a meal.
But tonight... She intended to use those memories.
Dorian’s hand froze halfway toward her. Not because of guilt. Guilt was an emotion he had never truly understood. His mind moved only toward consequences and calculations.
"I remember..." Catherine whispered. Her face slowly lowered until her forehead rested against the edge of the table.
"The burning..."
Her fingers tightened against her abdomen.
"The taste of blood."
"My head hurt so much..."
"My vision..."
She squeezed her eyes shut.
"It became harder and harder to see."
Her breathing grew ragged.
"And in those final moments...I was so alone."
Her voice cracked. She shook. She did feel alone, knowing she was dying. If not for the presence of Maximilian... she would have died alone in her suffering and her hatred.
Maximilian made even death bearable.
She shook as she cried, silently.
Silence settled over the dining room.
After a long pause, Dorian stood and walked around the table. He placed a hand against her back, slowly rubbing soothing circles.
His expression remained taut. He felt no remorse. Only necessity.
He needed Catherine to feel comforted. To believe he was the only person she could rely on.
The previous life had already taught him something valuable.
Even if he made mistakes... There would always be another chance. That was why he chose poison.
Catherine had begun getting too close to secrets she was never meant to discover. Rather than repair the situation, he had simply ended it.
They would meet again in another life.
He would start over. And this time...
He intended to keep her.
But if Catherine remembered the poison... What if she remembered who had given it to her?
No.
He needed someone else to bear the blame. His thoughts searched rapidly. Then they settled.
Of course... The perfect scapegoat.
"I failed you, my queen," Dorian said softly. "I should have protected you."
His hand continued gently stroking her back. "The knight you trusted..." His voice grew quieter. "He betrayed you."
"I didn’t discover the truth until it was already too late."
Catherine clenched her teeth so hard her jaw ached.
Sebastian.
He was blaming Sebastian.
Even now...
Even after two lifetimes...
Dorian still chose to stain the loyalty of the man who had never once abandoned her.