Chapter 5 - Case Accepted
1149 Kata
The fashion show, which was on the brink of failure, finally concluded successfully. Puri was greatly relieved that she managed to overcome the problem that had threatened her career.
In the backstage, Aira and Alden had already been asked to enter the changing room. However, Aira chose to sit in a chair outside the room, waiting for the other models to change first, so she could avoid the crowd.
Alden, who had been beside her the whole time, suddenly walked away. Feeling curious, Aira decided to follow him from behind.
She took off her fifteen-centimeter high heels and tiptoed cautiously, afraid of being caught. Alden headed toward the car park.
Aira regretted following him as the long gown she was wearing made it difficult to walk. She remembered how expensive the gown was and considered turning back.
But unfortunately, she had followed Alden too far, and her curiosity outweighed her fatigue.
Just as Aira turned slightly to adjust the train of her gown, Alden grabbed her hand.
"Why are you following me?" Alden asked while glancing around warily.
He didn’t seem to wait for an answer, so Aira stayed silent, more intrigued by what Alden was observing.
Alden pulled a handkerchief from his suit pocket and wiped the window of a car they were hiding behind. Aira tried to read the situation, standing quietly so as not to be a distraction.
In the distance, she spotted a man she vaguely recognized and a woman standing in front of him. The man handed an envelope to the woman.
“Do you have a phone?” Alden asked without looking at her, his focus still on the mysterious pair.
Aira pulled her phone from her small purse, opened the camera feature, and handed it to Alden, guessing what he might do.
She surprised, Alden also took out his phone. He snapped photos with his phone while recording the scene with hers.
Moments later, the woman they were watching, leaving the man in the black suit alone.
Alden ran toward the man, shouting, “You’re caught red-handed, Jay!”
Aira suddenly remembered—the man in front of them was Jay, the assistant of Maiden, the fashion designer whose dress she was still wearing.
“What do you mean?” Jay asked Alden while nervously rubbing his palms on his pants.
Noticing his unease, Alden continued, “That woman was the lead model who resigned, wasn’t she? You bribed them to withdraw a day before the show.”
“You have no proof,” Jay said confidently.
Alden pulled out his phone, showing the photos from earlier. Jay grabbed Alden’s phone and smashed it to the ground.
Aira gasped in shock, finally understanding why Alden needed her phone to record the scene.
“How dare you!” Jay grabbed Alden’s shirt collar, shouting, “Those photos prove nothing!” Alden just squinted at him, unfazed.
“I found this in the trash,” Alden said, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper that looked like local newspaper scraps.
Jay searched his own pockets and found nothing inside.
“You set me up!” Jay growled, his face filled with rage.
“You made a threatening letter sent to Puri by cutting out words from a newspaper. You’re not good with technology, which is why you didn’t use a computer to type the letter. You even opted to pay in cash instead of transferring the money via phone. If you’d written it by hand, you’d be caught since Maiden is very familiar with your handwriting from the notes you often leave,” Alden explained analytically.
“W-why did you do it, Jay?” A woman’s voice suddenly broke the tension.
Maiden and Puri were standing behind them, witnessing the intense situation.
“I... I’m sorry, Maiden!” Jay pleaded desperately.
Maiden ran away, and Jay chased after her. “Shouldn’t we call the police?” Aira asked.
“There’s no need. This is just a matter of love,” Alden replied briefly.
“Alden already told me that Jay was behind all this. He asked me to find out how Jay had been treating Maiden all this time,” Puri explained.
“And what did you find?” Aira asked curiously.
“Jay behaved very romantically and was very attentive to Maiden. Maiden, in turn, treated Jay with great respect, not like an assistant. Maiden once told me she planned to replace Jay with a woman as her new assistant,” Puri explained.
“And I deduced his motive was that Jay didn’t want Maiden to replace him as her assistant. But unfortunately for him, Maiden was going to replace him anyway,” Alden continued his analysis, loosening his tie and revealing a glimpse of his collar.
Aira gulped slightly at the unexpectedly exotic sight before her.
“Why will he still be fired?” Aira, now even more curious, looked at Alden with bright eyes.
“Because they love each other,” Alden and Puri answered simultaneously.
In the end, Maiden forgave Jay, and they confessed their feelings to each other. Jay learned that Maiden wanted to replace him because she saw him as more than an assistant.
After the case was resolved, Aira and Alden finally entered the now-empty dressing room. Even the wardrobe staff had left. Aira looked around, searching for Puri, whom she wanted to ask for help.
“Puri is talking to the VVIP guests,” Alden said, guessing Aira’s thoughts. Aira then closed the door to the dressing room, approached Alden, and said, “Then you do it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Undo the ties on my gown. They’re at the back, and I can’t reach them. I can’t wait for Puri to finish. I’m already struggling to breathe.”
“Do you realize I’m a man?”
“So what? Are you lusting after me?”
“You’re seriously insane!”
“Just do it, or I’ll pass out in a moment.”
Aira lifted her long hair to reveal the gown ties, unintentionally exposing her graceful neck and back.
After a few moments of hesitation, Alden finally dared to hold the tightly knotted ties.
“I’ll take your case,” Alden said as he loosened the ties on Aira’s gown.
“What did you say?” Aira asked.
“Isn’t this why you helped Puri? So I would take your case,” Alden replied.
Aira shocked but very happy to heard that, she turned her body to face Alden, forgetting one important thing. Her now-loose gown suddenly slipped, slightly exposing her bra.
“Ahhh! Don't look! Get out now!” Aira screamed in embarrassment.
Alden left the room, his legs weak and his heart racing.
“Finally, I can breathe,” Alden thought to himself with relief. He felt like giving himself an award for managing to hold back all day.
- Penulis
