I'm Guilty, My Beauty[COMPLETED]

Cathy was so angry, but she felt helpless, too. Why was life so unfair? She only had one wish, and that was to be noticed by Clarence—giving her a chance to show him she could make him happy.

When she was just a child, her parents sheltered her well with love and care. Her life was full of happiness and contentment with her father and mother until her 10th birthday. The mother she thought who loved them went with another rich man who promised her a life of riches in another country. She knew her mother had been a spendthrift; however, she didn't know this was the very cause of her parents' arguments. They were neither poor nor extremely wealthy, but financial difficulties stemmed from her wastrel mother.

The next thing she knew, her father gave up a lot of his business' shares to his brother and lived as a vagrant. That's his way to forget his adulterous wife. From then on, Cathy had lived with her Uncle Terry. The latter didn't withhold anything when it comes to money matters but love and attention—these were what she wished for in life.

During her father's wanderings, he met Clarence and was impressed by him. He told his daughter to try to meet this boy, and he gave her false hope that he could be the man for her. His father thought in this way, his daughter would be happy from now on.

Since Clarence's hobbies were into food and cooking, Cathy tried to join in the culinary organization. Being a daughter of a hotel owner gave her certain privileges, making joining easier. There, she met him for the first time in one of their gatherings.

As a new member, she felt left out in a gathering of rich kids; yet this boy noticed and invited her to join their discussions. He grabbed an empty chair at the back and placed it next to him for her.

A young and lonely heart misinterpreted a simple gesture done as a basic courtesy of the club's vice president. Starting that moment, in her eyes, Clarence was the man she wished to spend the rest of her life with.

She tried to get closer to him, but the other kept her at arm's length. This frustrated her and thought ways to remain in contact with him. Still, the guy won't spare her a time of his day. Without her realizing, she slowly fell into extreme attention obsession.

Later, she learned Clarence was courting a famous girl in the culinary circle, Sheila Hernandez. This compelled her to learn more about cooking; she hired chefs and paid them handsomely just for an hour of teaching. She wasn't a bad learner herself; in fact, they had high expectations of her that she would excel in culinary arts.

She made sure to be in the constant news about Clarence's whereabouts. After hearing that Sheila went with another man, she was elated—believing her chance had come. If possible, she joined every competition Clarence would join.

Cathy made some manipulations during their clubs' election to become the president. Maybe in this way, this man would give her importance. Sadly, the other learned of it and confronted her.

"Why are you doing this?" Clarence asked with impatience in his voice.

"Allow me to get near you. If possible, make me your girlfriend; and I would stop." She was almost begging, hoping even pity could be a path to love. "Allow me to prove to you that I'm worthy to stay by your side."

"To be a friend is fine, but being in a relationship with a girl I don't have feelings for is totally out of the question."

"I won't mind if you don't have any feelings for me! T-That will grow in time!"

"I'm sorry, I'm not that kind of man." Clarence shook his head, believing that he could stand firm with his principle. "I prefer to go after a woman I like—not the other way around."

"What do I lack to meet your standards?" If she could throw herself at his feet, she would. "What must I do to make you look my way, even for once?"

"I don't know of such standards. I really haven't thought of you in a romantic way." He could only stare at her, asking her to stop with his gaze. "There is a lot of men out there for you, but I'm sure it's not me."

"But I only want you and no one else!" Cathy desperately shouted her innermost feelings for him.

"Can't you see? You can't get all you want." A glare replaced his gaze filled with pity. "You've been spoiled well that you can't hear yourself. I'm sorry, but you're certainly not my type of woman."

His words crushed her to the extreme, but they didn't stop her. Rather, her obsession got worst.

"If I can't have you, then no woman can." She promised this to herself, engraving her words deep in her heart.

. . . . .

Back in the present, Cathy was contemplating on why Clarence chose Beauty. "I have everything that she has. In fact, I have more. Why her?" She rolled in her bed. "Why am I this unfortunate in life? My parents left me, and now even the only man I want can't be mine? Am I born just to suffer?"

As night came, someone knocked on her door. She checked the visitor's identity through a peephole and saw Jack. The door was partly opened. She spoke in a dispirited voice, "What do you want? You're not supposed to come here?"

"Let me come in, and I'll explain."

"No, wait at the garden near the lobby. I'll go there myself."

She closed the door and changed from sleeping wear to a simple shirt and shorts.

. . . . .

In the garden, Jack was standing behind a tree, his face shrouded in the darkness.

"Why are you here?" Cathy asked as she sat on a bench near the tree.

"Where're my men?"

"What do you mean by that? I'm not your men's keeper." She sighed, holding her forehead in headache.

"Two of my men are nowhere to be found. The rest told me Jasper didn't come back this time. What happened?"

"You tell me what happened. I was expecting an accident to happen this morning, but it was so peaceful." The girl snorted, feeling fed up by disappointment.

"Don't you think this is odd? Does that girl have some capabilities to spoil my plans?"

"What's odd? What capabilities did she have when she's just a poor girl with nothing but her looks?" A growl was building.

"Maybe, she's really a rich girl hiding her true identity and has men looking after her."

"..."

"Or, someone else is looking after her without our knowledge? Maybe, that Clarence. He's a rich kid and had the capability to hire men to protect her."

"Ugh, don't waste my time." Cathy roared lowly as she just wanted to take a break. "I really don't know anything about your men. Search for them yourself. I paid an enormous amount, but there's no progress at all."

"Fine, just make sure you're not involved in these failures and of my men's whereabouts."

"Why would I foil the plans I paid dearly to happen? Bye, and don't come to my room again. Just send me a message next time …" She recalled losing her phone lately and made her desperate all the more. "Let someone deliver it to me." Cathy got up with the last of her energy and dragged her legs back to her room. She left with heavy steps and complicated emotions.

At this very moment, Clarence was standing at the airport lounge. The bulky man and Jenna came to get him with expectant smiles to welcome the master.