The Duke's Masked Wife

"You can go inside to see your daughter," Mark said to Katrina who was sitting outside the room Kate was in, biting her nails out of worry.

Katrina stood up, not giving Mark a response since he made her wait so long to see her daughter, and went inside the room to finally see Kate. Katrina opened the door and felt her heart immediately sink because of Kate's state. She closed the door behind her to get some privacy for her and Kate.

"Kate," Katrina rushed to the bed. "Kate, wake up. Your mother is here. Kate," she called once more when she stood at the side of the bed.

Katrina bowed her head and bit her lip to hold back from crying. Kate should not see her crying now. She had to be strong to help Kate get past what happened with Simon.

"Mother?" Kate responded. She felt relieved to see a familiar face here in the court. "Mother," her eyes quickly filled with tears. "My face."

Katrina looked at the left side of Kate's face which was bandaged up. The wound was near her left eye so the bandages almost covered her eye. "It will be fine, Kate. I will find you the best doctor in this kingdom or elsewhere to fix your face. If Alessandra can recover, so can you."

"I don't want to hear her name right now," Kate said, looking off the side. Hearing Alessandra's name made her think of how her life crumbled, but Alessandra was continuing to enjoy being a Duchess. It was embarrassing that Edgar of all people was the one to come save her and Bella.

She reached so close to being close to where Alessandra was, but it all crumbled before her eyes. Kate did not get to properly enjoy her new title.

"Okay. I won't mention her again. Are you alright with telling me what happened? How was Simon the person taking those young women and why did he hit you? I shouldn't have let you marry him. I should have paid attention to him more," Katrina said, becoming angry now that she looked back at how kind she was to Simon. She treated him like a son and was willing to let him call her mother.

"We spent too much time focusing on his title," Kate softly spoke. She couldn't help but think if she wanted Simon because she loved him instead of getting his title, she might have noticed the truth behind his words from the beginning. "Simon. He said that I am like him. That I am worse than him."

"Do not listen to that bastard's words. You are nothing like him," Katrina replied, angered by Simon trying to make Kate out to be a bad person.

"I don't know what to think anymore. I had to hide something terrible so Bella would not leave me behind," Kate said.

"You did what you needed to do to survive," Katrina said, not seeing her daughter as a bad person. Kate was the victim here.

"What am I to do now, mother? They will take away Simon's title. I cannot go through that again after what we endured with my father losing his title. People will talk about it. Call me the wife of a murderer. And my face," Kate said, wanting to touch her face, but she could not bring herself to. "My beauty is ruined. No one will want me. I don't have anything."

"Do be ridiculous," Katrina sat down on the bed. "You are still beautiful and there is so much about you for-"

"Like what?" Kate raised her voice. "What do I have besides my looks? Simon's money?  What happens when it starts to run out and no one will want to do business with me because they will curse my name for marrying Simon? Without my beauty, I will be left with nothing. It is all I had," Kate muttered.

"That is not true-"

"It is!" Kate yelled, frustrated with her mother denying the truth. "My beauty is all you and father said that I needed. It is all you complimented me for.  What else do I have to take away from this?" She angrily pointed at where the wound was. No one wanted someone they could not show off.  "I had a chance if my face was still perfect."

"Don't be so negative, Kate. We had no idea what Simon was like. We will say you were tricked like all the other women and you tried your best to warn others about him, but got caught and was hit in your face. You will be named a hero for helping. We only need to find you a good doctor to fix your wound and make it less visible if there is a mark. If Alessandra can-"

"Stop calling her name!" Kate yelled and ruffled her hair as hearing Alessandra's name riled her up. "What can't you understand about the fact I don't want to hear about her? Why would I want to hear about her face looking better? That took years of healing. I don't want to hear about her face looking normal when mine is ruined. Do you have any idea how many people will take joy in seeing my face like this?"

"Kate," Katrina said, taken aback by the outburst. She was only trying to help Kate feel better about the situation she was in. Katrina would do whatever was necessary to help Kate get past this. Kate could marry again or just grow the wealth Simon left behind. Katrina would always find a way for Kate to be taken care of.

"For years you said all a woman truly had was her beauty. That was what made me become father's favorite when Alessandra's face was ruined. If he were alive, he would not care for me anymore."

"Do not cry Kate," Katrina said, wiping away Kate's tears with her thumb. "I never realised how much I placed your worth on your beauty. I'm sorry, but you are far from worthless now, Kate. You know you can always trust your mother to make things work for you," she smiled, holding back her tears. "I just wanted you to be a better version of me. You were never supposed to get hurt."

"You were never supposed to get hurt by any man," Katrina bowed her head to hide her face from Kate. She blinked her eyes repeatedly to try to stop her tears. "I will do whatever is necessary to make sure you recover from this. Please believe in your mother."

Kate felt angry with herself for yelling at her mother. Her mother was always just trying to give her what she wanted and at the end of the day, it was Kate's fault she got tangled up with Simon. She chased after his title and ignored everything else. Her mother just went along with whatever made her happy.

"I'm sorry," Kate apologized, covering her face with her hands. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. I just...I just don't know what to make of myself right now. Do you think this is my punishment for the way I behaved-"

"Nonsense," Katrina interjected and looked at Kate once again. "You're no different from everyone else in town. Everyone would have to be punished if that were the case. You are going to come out of this loved by all. Listen to me well, Kate. I need you to do everything I say from this point onward."

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