The Duke's Masked Wife

228 A mother’s betrayal (1)

“Look at you, acting like everything is in your hands.”

“Clark, when are you going to stop insulting me and just admit that most of your animosity towards me comes from the fact you want to fuck me but you can’t,” Katrina smiled and looked at the reflection of the man standing behind her while she sat at her desk. “You have always been jealous of Desmond. The house, the title, the money, his children, and both of his wives.”

Katrina remembered clearly the first time she was introduced to Clark and how his eyes scanned her body wanting to take her away from his brother. To have her, Clark tried convincing Desmond not to let her in his life. Clark was a fool to think Desmond would get rid of the young beautiful woman holding onto his arms and listening to his word. Katrina was far different from his first wife who liked to rebel against his orders.

“You are just angry that out of the two brothers I did not go for you. Now you have resorted to calling me a whore, user, gold digger, and whatever insults that struggling brain you have will come up with.”

Katrina rubbed cream on her chest, exposing more skin than she needed to mess with Clark. “Did you think after Desmond died I would be so pitiful to run into your arms? That I would be so desperate for a man taking care of me that I would want you to take over and provide for me? I’ve evolved, Clark. I no longer need a man in my life.”

‘Well, James is different,’ Katrina touched her lips as she recalled how he had taken her when everyone had gone to bed. James finally knew how to take advantage of what was before him. ‘I should have bought him a gift for his hard work last night.’

“Are you listening to me?” Clark asked.

Katrina looked back at Clark’s reflection in her mirror once again. She thought their conversation was over after it was clear his insults did nothing to her. “No, I wasn’t. Please see your way out of my room. I feel threatened to be alone with you,” she replied.

“Ha! You need to stop with this crazy theory that I want you. My brother was stupid-”

.....

“Desmond told me about many things you said about me. He was well aware you wanted his wife but how could he yell at the brother he loved so much? Not like you would ever be able to sleep with me so he never bothered to address it. He was a lot smarter than what people thought which is why I am certain his will does not have your name on it. Return home and give up,” said Katrina.

“You bitch-” Clark’s words were cut off by a fit of coughs. He disliked the weather in Lockwood as it had been making him seriously sick.

Katrina tapped her index finger on the table as she watched Clark cough away his life. Little by little since she allowed him into the house, James had been diligently poisoning Clark and it was only a matter of time before he dropped dead. If she wanted him dead by nightfall, she would need to increase how much James was giving Clark but that would be suspicious.

‘Slow and steady,” she reminded herself. It was best to make it look like he died from a serious cold. ‘I should prepare to have his body burned instead of wasting money on a funeral for a lowlife.’

Clark coughed into a rag he carried around with him. When he went to put it back into his pocket, Clark was taken aback by the sight of blood staining the rag. This could not have been an ordinary cold. He had been to Lockwood many times before and never once got sick like this.

An answer came to mind about what was happening to him. Clark glared at the woman feeling herself in front of the mirror. “You did something to my food, didn’t you?” He calmly asked as he clenched the rag with blood.

Clark inspected her reaction which left him confused as Katrina looked offended and taken aback by the claim. She had not paused for a moment like she had been caught. He was certain it had to be her doing. As the days went by he had been feeling weak. One morning he found it hard to sit up and blamed the weather for his condition but it could not have been the weather.

“You have been doing something to me,” Clark said with confidence. He was sure that whatever was happening to him was because of Katrina. “What the hell did you do to me?” He yelled out of frustration.

Katrina’s bedroom door swung open revealing Greta. She looked back and forth between her son and daughter-in-law. “What the hell are you two doing alone in a room with the door closed? My son has not been in the ground long enough for you to move on to someone else and worse of all his brother,” she pointed at Katrina with her cane.

Greta promised to let Katrina be in charge of the household but she would not allow Katrina to ruin Clark more than he already was.

“I told him to leave but he barged right in. Now he is accusing me of poisoning him. Are you crazy, Clark?” Katrina turned in her chair, putting on her grand act to take suspicion away from herself. “My daughter just lost her father and you think I would burden her with the loss of her uncle? You and I have been at odds since you arrived so I have been avoiding you. I did nothing to you, Clark.”

Clark did not believe a word of what she said. “It must be the food then, mother. She is the one in charge of what goes-”

“The cook has taken charge of what is being cooked as I have been so wrapped up with my husband’s death to even think straight. There are days when I hardly leave my room. Hate me all you want but whatever is going on with Clark was not my doing,” said Katrina.

“Mother,” Clark whined.

Greta thought it over for a moment. She didn’t put it past a vixen like Katrina to try poisoning her son. Though Clark screwed up many times he was still her son so Greta did not take too kindly to Katrina trying to harm him. “I will inspect the matter. Baroness, I have already lost one son. Do not underestimate what I will do to you if you have been messing with the other one.”