416 Birthday ball (3)

"Mother, keep an eye out for Simon. I want to be seen by his side as soon as possible," Kate said, giving the room a quick look over to see if she could find him herself. Kate had a good feeling that by the end of tonight, she and Simon would take their growing relationship to the next step.

Regardless of her father losing his title and her mother finally moving along with the divorce, Simon had sent her a letter to cheer her up. He did not care like everyone else which was a big relief. Kate feared she would have to start all over again trying to make a man fall in love with her.

"Kate, stop looking around for him. You are starting to look desperate. Let Simon search for you. In the meantime, if there is anyone who wants to dance with you, do not turn them away. A little jealousy might push Simon to make things serious," said Katrina. Just like Kate, she wanted the night to end with good news.

If not for Kate potentially getting engaged soon, Katrina would have stayed home as the town was still talking about her not having a title. It wasn't enjoyable to go from Baroness to just Katrina. Their words didn't get to her but it was frustrating to deal with their fake concern.

"I know but I don't want to upset him. What if dancing with someone makes him leave? I want my first dance to be with Simon. I have everything planned for this to be the perfect night for us. Trust me."

"Fine. Do things your way," Katrina backed off. Kate had grown a lot since the days she used to chase after Edgar. Kate made a lot of progress with Simon on her own so there was no reason for her to be watching over Kate tonight. "Do not get distracted by anyone else tonight, Kate."

"I won't," Kate lied. She had not forgotten her plan to make a fool out of Alessandra tonight. She was anticipating the sweet moment when she would get to see Alessandra crumble again. "Mother, have you heard from Lila's parents?"

"I visited her mother but she does not want to talk. I told you many times to watch who you surround yourself with. I doubt they are going through with the marriage or maybe they are hiding her because she was pregnant all this time and that was why she got engaged out of the blue. She is the most boring one in your group. There is no way she would get engaged before you even if the man was of low birth," Katrina muttered.

Kate snickered as she found her mother's words to be true. It would make more sense if it was Grace but not boring Lila who went along with everything they say. "Now that you mention it, her stomach looked odd the last time I saw her."

"Did you see Duchess Alessandra?"

Kate overheard Alessandra's name from two young women passing by her. She liked that Alessandra was present so she could go through with her plans.

"The Duchess is beautiful," she heard the brief conversation as she walked by a group of men.

Now that Kate was no longer thinking about Simon, she noticed how much she was hearing Alessandra's name the further she got from the entrance. Alessandra and beautiful didn't belong in the same sentence.

"Mother," Kate started but something caught her eyes and made her words become lost in her throat.

"What is wrong, Kate?" Katrina asked when she noticed Kate appear shocked and then it was quickly replaced by a look of horror. "Kate? What are you looking at?" Katrina asked, trying to find what had startled Kate.

Just like Kate, most of the people around them were looking in the same direction.

"Mother," Kate muttered, trying to process what she was seeing. "Why doesn't she have her mask?"

Katrina stared at the young woman she despised just as much as the mother she resembled. Alessandra was the spitting image of Melanie, the woman Greta liked to compare her to and the woman Desmond continued to love though he denied it.

It was as if all the attention was back on Melanie. It was the only thing Katrina saw when looked at Alessandra, standing around in expensive clothing with the entire room fascinated. Katrina spent years competing with a woman she never met and now, her daughter would be forced to compete with Alessandra.

Kate found it hard to breathe the more she looked at Alessandra. There was a tightness growing in her chest and for a moment, she felt like she could pass out. What upset her more than Alessandra not wearing her mask was the necklace around her neck.

Kate wanted nothing more than to go over to where Alessandra stood, yank the necklace off, and force Alessandra to cover her face. The tightness in Kate's chest grew as she could already hear people around comparing the two of them. "Mother," Kate covered her ears with her hands.

Hearing Kate called out to her snapped Katrina out of staring at Alessandra. It was only now Katrina noticed how heavy Kate's breathing had become. "Kate," Katrina panicked, rubbing Kate's back to calm her. Now was not the time to be making a scene.

"Make them stop comparing us," Kate pressed her hands against her ears to stop the comparison. She was not ready to be forced back into second place and be forgotten.

Katrina looked around to see who was talking about Kate but everyone looked occupied in speaking about Alessandra alone. "No one is comparing the two of you but they will start to talk if you do not calm down Kate," Katrina whispered, to avoid bringing too much attention to Kate. "The music is too loud," Katrina explained to the people who started to look at Kate.

"I can hear them," Kate replied as the comparisons filled her ears. She could even hear her father's voice telling her to be more like Alessandra.

"Enough of this," Katrina angrily pulled Kate's hands away from her ears. She understood why Kate was upset but there was no need to cause a scene. There was already enough being said about them because of the title and divorce. "Listen Kate. No one is comparing you. You are still better than her."

Kate looked away from Alessandra and tried to listen to what the crowd was saying.

"What's wrong with Kate? She looks like she will pass out."

Kate steadied her breathing as she realized what she heard was all in her head. She almost made a fool out of herself because of Alessandra. 'That's right. I am still better than her,' Kate thought, glancing at Alessandra who continued to pretend like she didn't notice the attention.

Kate quickly tossed out her plan to knock off Alessandra's mask but there was still one thing she could do to ruin Alessandra.

"Kate!" Simon called to Kate as she came to her side. He touched her arm to make her notice him. Simon didn't miss the look she gave her own sister like if she had the chance to be alone with Alessandra, Kate would kill her but when she realized he was present, she smiled as though she had never once had an evil thought.

She was too perfect to just discard despite what the town was saying about her family.