The Duke's Masked Wife

"And you wonder why I have never shown interest in you," Edgar shook his head disappointed with Kate's determined delusion. Still, he had to admire his charm to make a woman act this way.

"She will not bother you, Duke Edgar. I will make sure of it." Katrina planned to help Kate snap back into reality. Kate was not only embarrassing herself but Katrina as well. "Kate, leave right now."

To her mother's surprise, Kate turned on her heels and walked away. There was a lot of planning to be done if she was going to rise to Edgar's level. Today would be the last day she lost to Alessandra ever again.

"I'm sorry about her behavior. Kate is blinded by love right now but she would soon snap out of it. I raised a wonderful young woman and it's a shame you could not find it in your heart to love her back," said Katrina.

"The definition of wonderful must have changed since the last time I took a look at it," Edgar stated as he missed where Kate was a wonderful young woman.

"What on earth are you trying to say,  Duke  Edgar? My husband and I raised Kate to be the wonderful person that she is now. We spent money on the best tutors and dressed her up like a doll," Katrina failed to see what was not wonderful when it came to Kate.

"Which part of looking like a doll makes someone a wonderful person? Might I enquire what happened to Alessandra while she lived here? What was her relationship like with her sister? I picked up on bad blood the first time I saw them interacting."

"Siblings argue. They fight and makeup but that does not mean Kate is a bad person. You cannot listen to only Alessandra." Katrina became worried Alessandra might have spoken of the many things that happened in this home.

If Alessandra were to talk about how she was treated or the things she saw her father doing, their reputation might take a hit.

"Well, what happened to her face?" Edgar had been curious about it from the moment he saw Alessandra. He suspected Katrina and Kate but judging from how emotional Kate was, he knew it had to be her. Katrina and Desmond were just as bad as Kate for allowing it to happen.

"We are here to talk about my husband's death, not my parenting skills. You do not know me well enough to judge me," Katrina replied, attempting to change the subject.

"I know a lot about you, Baroness. The mysterious woman who showed up out of nowhere and was able to marry a Baron. Where did you live before Lockwood I wonder? It must have been an awful place," Edgar hinted to Katrina he was unto her past.

"You…" Katrina gritted her teeth. The one thing she hated about the people in Lockwood was their constant need to question her past.

"Don't get so riled up Baroness as I was only teasing you. As long as you aren't hiding any crimes, I won't do anything to you. Let's move on before your heart jumps out of your chest. Why did you call me here?" Edgar was ready to get to the point now that the entertainment with Kate was over.

Katrina took a deep breath, suppressing her anger because of her past. She called the Duke for one thing only and she planned to get it by the end of the day. "As I was saying, my husband was the breadwinner and you took him from us without reason. You have also gotten married to Alessandra and not offered us gifts. Don't you think we are deserving of money?"

"Money truly is the root of all evil. Did you spend last night calculating all the money you could collect from your husband's death? You're holding up better than I expected." Edgar half expected her to be dramatically crying over the loss of her husband.

Katrina might not have loved Desmond but couldn't she at least shed a tear when acting as if she cared? Wasn't her goal to act like a heartbroken wife to gain money and sympathy from others? Didn't Katrina know she had to at least look sad?

"I have to remain strong in front of my daughter so she knows we will be fine in the future.  My husband is dead and I have to worry about the expenses that will soon hit us.  Do not get the wrong impression of me," Katrina innocently smiled.

"To be frank, I never had a good impression of you. I know the kind of person you are," Edgar could see right through the persona Katrina showed to others.

Katrina was more dangerous than Kate. Kate wore her emotions on her sleeve and you knew the type of person she was. Katrina on the other hand was good at pretending.  Desmond had been blinded by his wife's beauty to notice how odd she was.

"I will not be compensating you for your husband's death as I killed someone who committed crimes. Request an audience with the King if you are in need of money. He offers a small fund to families with no males. In regard to Alessandra, I will send gifts by tomorrow. Are we done?" Asked Edgar. The Barrett house was still suffocating and unbearable.

"What kind of gifts will you send? Shouldn't we give you a list of things?" Katrina preferred money but the gifts could either be secretly sold or used to make others jealous. If she did the latter, others would want to be around the Barretts once again as they would think they had a close relationship with Edgar.

"Alessandra will be the one to pick out the gifts as she is the one to know you well," said Edgar. Whether they receive a good or bad gift was completely up to Alessandra.

"I see. Have you eaten yet? We are preparing breakfast. Due to your marriage, we are family and I hope we can spend some time together in the future. I wish to visit to make sure Alessandra is all right after losing a parent. Why are you laughing?" Katrina asked as Edgar's laughter started to fill the small room. "I did not say anything funny."

"Baroness, we are not in the theater. Drop the act as if you are a caring mother looking out for her child. You never cared for Alessandra and it infuriates me to hear you acting like you do because she is now a Duchess," Edgar's laughter slowly disappeared as his facial expression changed from playful to serious.

"Listen to the words coming out of my mouth clearly. First, I will not be stepping foot in your house after today unless I am coming to kill you. Run if you see me at your doors. Second, you will never step foot on my estate. I don't even want to see you loitering around my wife. She was a bother to you, your husband, and your daughter. She is no longer your problem so leave her alone."

"Whatever Alessandra told you-"

"She never had to tell me anything, Baroness. Do you see these two things right here?" Edgar pointed at his eyes. "They work really well. If these two things see you or your daughter within arm's length of my wife, I will kill you."

"You cannot kill me for wanting to speak to Alessandra. You would be thrown into a cell," Katrina confidently spoke as she saw through what she interpreted to be a bluff. "Fine, I will not go around Alessandra but mark my words, she will be back. You will one day realize how terrible her reputation is."

"For a woman who once used to work in the red light district, you sure love judging others' reputation," Edgar revealed the tiny bit of information he knew about Katrina's past.

It was something Edgar never planned to mention but he was annoyed with how she spoke about Alessandra. Katrina had no room to talk about Alessandra when she was fighting tooth and nail to hide her days as a sex worker before marrying the Baron.