I DO NOT OWN BATB!

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Here is chap 20. Hope you enjoy.

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As Catherine wandered through the halls of Vincent's villa, she couldn't help but feel the emptiness in her heart. The last 5 days, she had been spending a lot of time with Heather, her dad, JT and even Calinico. But Vincent was nowhere to be found. She hadn't seen him much lately and that was slowly driving her mad. She missed him so…

After they arrived from Galya that late afternoon, he told her that he had to take care of some business and hadn't spoken to her properly. She had a feeling that JT and Calinico knew what was going on with Vincent. JT would talk in a corner with the butler, but the second they saw her, they would go their separate ways.

Heather and her dad advised Cat to just ask Vincent what was up, but she hadn't been able to get in touch with him properly. Of course he texted and called her, but he always sounded like he was in a hurry to end the conversation. One time she even asked who Xylia was, but Vincent answered her vaguely, saying that she was a family friend.

"Family friend, really? FAMILY FRIEND?" She mumbled, very annoyed by Vincent's very odd behavior.

At one point, she even barged into his bedroom around midnight to ask him what the hell was going on… but he wasn't in his room. So where was he? Or… with whom was he with?

That was 2 days ago. And now… now she and Heather just received an invitation. One of Vincent's business associates has organized a ball. And not just any ball, but a masked ball. Wow. Well that's a first for her. Heather was bouncing up and down and ran to her bed room to look for the perfect dress.

Catherine massaged her temples with her fingers with closed eyes. Does she want to go to this ball? Or shouldn't she and just stay at the villa? Will Vincent be there? She mentally slapped herself and decided to go shopping. No, no. No man was going to ruin her first masked ball experience.

She walked towards her sister's room and saw her diving in her closet.

"Sis, you wanna go on a shopping spree?" Cat asked, a wide smile gracing her gorgeous face.

Heather ran and leaped into her arms."Oh definitely!" she said.

()

Heather had picked out a gorgeous red dress with matching shoes and earrings. She was on cloud 9 and twirled around.

"You look amazing, sis." Cat said.

"Thank you. So now it's your turn. I'm gonna get out of this and we will find you your perfect dress, okay?" She said and walked back to change.

As Catherine browsed through the dresses, she heard her phone buzz. She pulled her phone out of her bag and read the text.

V: See you at the ball tonight.

Cat huffed and texted back.

C: What ball?

V: The one we received an invitation of.

C: I am not going.

V: I know that I have been busy lately, but I will make it up to you at the ball. Promise.

C: I am not going.

V: Please? I left a present for you in your room. Wear it to the ball. Please, Catherine?

Cat rolled her eyes and ended the text conversation with.

C: I will think about it.

She looked up from her phone and saw Heather smiling at her.

"Trouble in paradise over?" she asked.

"Nope. Not in the least." Cat replied.

()

Heather and Catherine were so tired. They had been walking through town, trying to find Cat's dress but with no success. Then the dress was too small or too big or she hated the color. With every dress, there seem to be something wrong. So Catherine decided to give up and convinced her little sister that she had a nice dress in her closet to wear to the ball. Cat was so lying about that…

As they entered the villa, Heather immediately went upstairs to take a shower. Catherine was thirsty, so she wanted something to drink first. She was about to call Calinico, when she heard him talk on the phone. She was just about to let him know that she was in the kitchen, when she heard him say a name.

Catherine didn't usually eavesdropped on other peoples phone conversations, but she was frozen at the spot at hearing Xylia's name.

"Sir, I know miss Xylia needs you to be there. I understand. But what about miss Catherine? I can see that your behavior is stressing her out, sir. I thought that you wanted her to have a stress free vacation. You haven't spend much time with her lately. Don't exclude her, sir. I think it would be best to tell her …" he began, but it seemed that Vincent cut him off.

"Okay, sir. Yes, sir. Understood." The butler said and ended the conversation.

At that moment, Catherine grabbed her chance and ran towards the stairs, through the halls and into her bedroom. She closed and locked the door, leaning onto it with her back and her eyes closed. Her breathing was shallow, her heart pounding erratically. She sank to the floor and shook her head, her eyes still closed.

She didn't know what to think anymore. At this point, all she wanted was to ask Vincent in his face who this Xylia person was! And he better tell her the whole truth! God, she hated to feel insecure. Did he like this Xylia? Was she an old flame?

At the moment, the infamous green monster was gnawing at Catherine. She didn't want to go to the ball anymore, but knowing that he'd be there was a good reason to go. Oh, she was so gonna interrogate him about his whereabouts and about that Xylia woman! Catherine felt very possessive over Vincent. She cared so much about him and… to describe her feelings in 3 words: He was HERS!

As she calmed down a bit, Cat slowly opened her eyes. It was then, when her eyes caught something on her bed. It was one of the most beautiful things she had ever laid her eyes on.

Catherine immediately got on her feet and walked towards it. What she saw was damn beautiful…

And just as she was about to touch it, Heather barged into her room and saw it too.

"Wow!" she exclaimed.

So, what are they looking at?

And oh oh, my muse has HUGE plans for the masked ball! It will be very exciting and eventful! :D

So, if u want to read the 'masked ball' chapter by tomorrow, PLEASE leave me countless reviews?

Ruby

:)