The Duke's Masked Wife

"Goodbye. I will come again tomorrow after I visit the dressmaker for my wedding dress. I wish I could show it to you now but we can wait a few more days. Get some rest," Kate tiptoed to kiss Simon's cheek.

After a long eventful day,  it was time for her to return home with her mother. This didn't make Kate happy as she was ready to start living here with Simon but she only had to hold out for a few more days.

"I will take care of things here. You should focus on your wedding dress tomorrow," Simon said in hopes she stay away from his home for one day. There was much he needed to get rid of and so much more he needed to prepare for Kate staying with him forever.

Kate was constantly at his home which stopped him from carrying out his plans. Only when they were married and she was living here did he plan to show her what his world was truly like. He wanted to test her and see if she could continue her act. She better if she wanted to live. He was not going through the trouble of marrying Kate just for her to disappoint him. She would anger him more than the others had if she failed him.

"Trying to get rid of me already?" Kate joked. "I suppose we have seen each other too much these past few days. I should give you some space as my mother said to get used to the big change. I won't keep you standing here and my mother must be annoyed with me for keeping her waiting in the carriage so goodbye Simon. I cannot wait to see you again," Kate bid goodbye before walking away.

Her smile fell when her back was turned to Simon. The corners of her mouth hurt from constantly forcing herself to smile around him.  The future she wanted being so close in her hands was what kept her going with her act of loving Simon. She would learn to love him one day. She would put up with his boring personality and fall for something about him. The bright side was his kindness. It made it easy for her to get along with him.

Simon waved as Kate got into the carriage and Katrina looked out at him. Unlike Kate, Simon's smile did not hurt. He had gotten used to the persona he showed to everyone. "About time," he muttered when their carriage started to leave his home.

Having someone inside his home all day was annoying but Kate had saved him once. The King started to request houses for everyone in Lockwood to be searched for any clues for the missing girls. Kate was present when the guards came and stated that she noticed nothing odd here when they started to look around.

Simon closed the front door and instead of going to rest, he had someone he wanted to speak with. He had not fully decided if he wanted to keep or discard her to rattle the town. The game he played was starting to become boring since no one pointed fingers at him. He was almost tempted to reveal himself and make the game a chase, running away from the guards.

"He's disappointing," Simon whispered, referring to Edgar. He thought the man everyone boosted about his skills would have figured something out by now.

This could not be the same Edgar that Simon wanted to befriend as a child. Edgar who had issues with his parents just like Simon. They were the same in Simon's eyes which was why it only made sense for Edgar to be the one trying to clean up the mess Simon was creating. They were connected to the point they would be married to sisters. This was another benefit of marrying Kate as she tied him to Edgar's wife regardless of their bad relationship.

Simon was curious to know what happened between Kate and Alessandra when Alessandra could not leave their father's home. It seemed like Kate was not good to her sister and judging from what he heard about when the women gathered at the ball, Kate might be the reason Alessandra had to wear a mask. Perhaps Kate was just like him.

Simon exited the door near the kitchen and walked out to the area with tall trees like always. The snow would soon be gone which meant he had to cover the opening of his secret room with something else. Simon opened the secret door and jumped down inside, quickly finding a torch.

"Bella," he called to the young actress who should consider herself lucky for being alive when all her peers were dead. "I'm sorry I could not come to visit you as of late. I hope you are not angry with me," Simon said, spotting the light in the corner where Bella liked to curl up. "Did you enjoy the food the servants bought you? I heard you were a good girl and did not plead to be released unlike this one," Simon kicked Lila's lifeless body.

Her body reeked as it started to decompose in this very room long ago. The smell did not bother Simon but Bella was tortured by it. She did not understand why Simon had not sent out this body as he did with the others. Why was he keeping this one?

"I am not angry with you," Bella answered before Simon could get angry with her. She came too far to die from upsetting him when she knew what he was like. Bella was holding onto hope that since she was the one to survive this long, she would get out of there. "Thank you for the food."

"Good girl. I might not be able to come to feed you for a little while since I am getting married," Simon said.

Bella's eyes widened at the news of Simon getting married. The poor unfortunate girl who was getting married to him did not know the kind of monster he was. Whoever was marrying Simon might end up with her in this darkness or maybe Simon will continue his madness without his wife ever finding out.

"Congratulations on your wedding," Bella clapped for him.

"I haven't tossed out this body yet since it's a wedding gift for my bride. This one was no fun," Simon walked around Lila's body. "Her parents took so long to report her as if they didn't care. No point in giving her back if they aren't desperately looking for her.  She would still be alive if she minded her business. I was aiming for her friend and she ruined it. If you ask nicely, I can have her body placed somewhere else. Maybe cleaned and placed with my parents. I am thinking of digging up my father-in-law, Desmond Barrett."

'He's marrying Barrett? Kate?' Bella wondered. She wouldn't count on Kate to help her out of there.

"Bella, I enjoy your company. You understand me well and know how to avoid annoying me but I still can't help thinking this should be the end of the road for us. You must want to bring your mother some peace," Simon said.

"No," Bella shook her head. "I wish to stay here with you."