Chapter 510 Her Own Space
Katia’s POV
“Remember how Tessa kept saying that the real Catwoman has been around everyone during the races?” Sam asked. “She said Catwoman was someone close to the people involved and that she’d been listening while everyone tried to figure out her identity.”
“Yes, I remember,” I answered.
“Do you think she was talking about you?” Sam asked seriously.
I thought about the last race and everything that had happened afterward. Gail had stepped forward and claimed to be Catwoman while I stood nearby, watching. Everyone had been shocked by her announcement, and the cameras had captured the entire moment. If Tessa had been paying close attention, perhaps she had noticed something about my reaction. But I couldn’t be certain.
“I think Tessa suspects someone close to Gail,” I finally answered. “It could be me, but she hasn’t given us enough information to know for sure who she’s talking about.”
Sam slowly nodded, considering my answer.
“Then we need to find out what she knows before she discovers anything else,” Sam concluded.
I picked up my pen again and forced myself to concentrate. I signed the Meridian distribution agreement and approved the remaining supplier terms. I tried to return to my normal routine, reminding myself that I still had a company to run.
But I knew this wasn’t an ordinary morning. Nothing had been normal since Gail stepped forward and claimed to be Catwoman.
Still, this was my life, my family, and my company. I had worked too hard to let Tessa Sterling destroy everything simply because she wanted attention. Whatever she was planning, I wasn’t going to make it easy for her.
I turned the car onto the long driveway leading to Grandma Celeste’s house and kept both hands on the wheel, even though the road was empty. The radio was off, and my phone was face down on the passenger seat. I did not want any more noise. Tessa’s live video had been running through my head since I left the office, and the silence in the car was the only thing stopping me from repeating every word out loud.
She had stood in front of her camera wearing that deep red top and told her viewers she had a source. A real one this time. Someone who knew the difference between telling the truth and covering for someone else. She said Gail Windsor was not Catwoman.
She claimed that Gail had stood in front of everyone after the race and pretended to be Catwoman to protect someone else. She also promised to keep investigating until she discovered the real driver. She had not mentioned my name or Julian’s. But she had looked straight into the camera and smiled as though she already knew the truth and was simply waiting for everyone else to figure it out.
I had watched the whole thing at my desk with my office door closed. Sam had knocked once, but I told her to come back later. When the live video ended, I sat there for a full minute, staring at the dark screen. Then I picked up my keys and left. Julian was still in meetings. Aiden was at school, and Clara was with Gail.
I could have gone home and waited for Julian, but the thought of sitting in our kitchen while constantly thinking about Tessa’s accusations made my stomach tighten. So I drove here instead. To Grandma Celeste’s estate. To see the only other person who knew exactly what it felt like to publicly claim to be Catwoman when that identity was never supposed to belong to her.
The gates opened before I reached them. Someone inside must have seen my car approaching. I pulled up in front of the house and sat for a moment with the engine still running, staring at the front door. The house looked exactly as it always did. Wide steps, white columns, and the garden on the right side where Gail used to sit whenever she wanted some peace and quiet. Looking at the house, no one would have guessed that Gail had stood in front of cameras and lied to protect me. And no one would have known that the lie was still causing problems for her.
I switched off the engine and got out. The air was cooler here than it had been in the city. I walked up the steps and let myself inside. The entrance hall was quiet, but I could hear Clara making little sounds somewhere deeper in the house. She always made those sounds whenever she was trying to get someone’s attention and they weren’t responding quickly enough. I followed her voice into the sitting room.
Gail was sitting on the sofa. Clara was lying on a blanket on the floor in front of her, resting on her stomach and pushing against the rug with both arms. She was trying to crawl, although she had not yet figured out how to move her arms and legs together. Gail had a book open on her lap, but she wasn’t reading it. When she looked up and saw me, the expression on her face told me she had already watched Tessa’s live video.
“You saw it,” I said.
“I did,” Gail answered.
I sat on the edge of the sofa and reached down to touch Clara’s foot. She kicked once, hard, then went back to trying to lift her head. Her hair was sticking up at the back. Gail must have been carrying her around earlier.
“I am not pregnant anymore,” I said. “There is no reason for you to keep covering for me. I will tell them who Catwoman is and clear everything. I do not want you being dragged into this again.”
Gail closed the book and placed it on the cushion beside her. She did not look surprised by what I had said. I suspected she had been expecting this conversation ever since the day she stood in front of everyone and claimed to be Catwoman.
“If you are not ready to come clean about it, I can pretend to be Catwoman for you,” she said calmly. From the way she spoke, I could tell she had already made up her mind about what she would do if I asked her to continue protecting me.