The Duke's Masked Wife



"My family was poor. My father was always away working whatever jobs he could find and my mother worked as a maid. Life was a struggle back then as there were times when there wasn't much to eat on the table. I thought that life could get no worse than that, but then my father left us. My mother had to try to take care of the two of us. I remember having a job picking berries for the couple she worked for. I was five when I started to work," Katrina said.

Even now as she spoke about it, she remembered how tired her arms were then when she would pick the berries that the owners would eat with their breakfast. She was scolded when she tried to eat any. 

"The money from picking berries was taken by my mother. She said it would be used to buy food for us, but at dinner, there was still nothing for us to eat. I don't know what she was doing then. I remember one day she came home with a messy appearance and placed a small bag of money on the table. Saying she had a new way to survive. She stopped working as a maid and would go out at night, returning with a lot of money."

Kate was surprised to learn that her mother came from this life. How did someone with that background marry a Baron?

"My mother had a habit of spending money faster than she was making it and in the end, we were left without anything when she had to pay back the people she owed. My mother was desperate and unable to care for both of us. She decided to sell me for just a hot meal," Katrina chuckled. It was funny that was what her mother thought she was worth.

"Randall was the one who bought me. I was worth more than what he paid her but she happily handed me off to him. She filled her stomach and then told me to make a lot of money to take care of myself. I was too shocked to call for her to take me with her when she walked away.  If I ever saw her again, I would have killed her. Filled her mouth with the food since she loved it so much," Katrina said, picturing herself doing just that. 

"By law, I wasn't of age to take any customers in the red light district. Children could only work cleaning or serving food. I did that for a few years while men bid money to be my first.  Men like your father. Men who had daughters at home, but revealed their true nature to me. I had to be careful to not be alone with any of them. They would not miss the chance to take me and then pay Randall. Young girls who had never been with a man were sought after," Katrina explained.

Kate felt uncomfortable hearing about this. She did not wish to know about what happened to young women in those businesses. She knew her father was not like those men. 

"The court likes to think nothing happens to children but they are wrong. I've seen girls, even boys I worked with, be harassed by those customers. They pleaded with Randall. Said there was no need to wait long since girls once married young. They spoke so much about wanting the age to marry to fall instead of rise. Randall always kept me close to him. Saying I would one day make him a lot of money with my beauty. I don't know when, but at some point, he made up his mind that only he would have me. Called me to his room one day and said it was either him or take customers the next day like all the other girls. I did not want to be with those men so I laid with Randall."

Katrina grabbed a handful of her dress as she remembered how painful the night was. It hurt more than her mother and father leaving her. 

A teary-eyed Kate squeezed her mother's hands to comfort her. "I'm so sorry."

"I think I was fifteen by that time. After a few nights with Randall, I worried that he would get bored with me and I would have to serve those men. I wanted out of the red light district so I proposed to him that I would sleep with men of my choosing and steal whatever I could find when they were sleeping. Randall never wanted me to be with other men, but he let me do it after I begged. There were times when he wanted to make me happy. Like he believed we were in love," said Katrina.

"I went after an Earl and returned with several of his rings. Randall could not believe it. He started to set me up with more men I pointed out and I earned money for him that way. That started to end one day when I entered the home of one of my customers while his family was away and saw the portraits of his family. His children did not know what it was like to suffer. They had it easy. On the second visit, I poisoned him and cleaned out everything valuable. Hiding a few items for myself."

Kate was shocked to hear that her mother had killed someone. 'To take someone's life. How could she?'

"I really hated seeing those men with their children. It just pissed me off that this was what I had to be doing while those children grew up happy. I did it once more. I just remember after we finished having sex he threw money at me and told me to get out before his daughter woke up. How dare he," Katrina said, angered by the memory. "As I poured him a drink, he came behind me trying to have his way one more time, but I convinced him to drink."

"He dropped dead before he could touch me again. I took what I could but made sure to wake his daughter before I left. Let her know what he was doing. That got Randall angry since I became wanted by the guards. I had to leave and I ended up here. I didn't want to sell my body here where no one knew me. I wanted so much more."

"I convinced Randall to help me find a man of status who I could marry and then dispose of to take his wealth. My real name was Ida. Randall used his connections with his customers to get rid of Ida and make Katrina. Put me in the right place to meet-"

"My father," Kate released her mother's hand and stood up. "You were going to kill him."

"I was," Katrina admitted. "Him and Alessandra who I would have to share his wealth with. Then I realised I could control him. Let him grow his wealth while I stole it. Along the way I had you. The greatest gift the world has ever given me," Katrina said, reaching out to hold Kate's hand, but Kate stepped back from her mother. "Kate. Do not judge me. I was doing what was necessary to get a better life for myself."

"Did you ever love my father?"