The Billionaire's Plaything

Chapter Twenty One: fierce

You look as stunning as always” Claire said with a broad smile as she hugged me with a side hug. Years of working with me side by side made us share a fondness for each other.

“Thank you for the exclusive opportunity again, it made my boss very impressed, especially since that last interview with Joe.” Claire said, her expression falling noticeably and I put it in mind to ask her out for dinner or something after the interview.

Now, there were a lot of people and it could bring a lot of tongue wagging if we weren’t careful. I couldn’t act like I had seen anything.

“The company arranged the best recording room for you. I’m sure Cynthia will be waiting in there for you already.” Claire said, making me furrow my brows.

However, Kyle talked before I could say anything. “Cynthia? Why aren’t you the host?” He asked, his tone laced with dissatisfaction which wasn’t exactly far from how I felt.

“Things aren’t really looking well for me at the moment, but Cynthia is really good too. You just have to be careful because she can be very diggy.” She warned her and I nodded in understanding.

“Next time, I’ll make a specific demand for you,” I told her and she nodded with a hopeful smile.

The three of us walked to the top floor and Claire led us to the last door in the hallway.

“I’ll take my leave now.” She said and sent a flying kiss my way as she left.

“I’ll be here, don’t worry.” Kyle assured me as he opened the door, leading the way.

“Elena!” The woman who I assumed was Cynthia squealed excitedly as she rushed towards us. The recording room was the usual room I was always given and there were about four to five technicians in the room already.

“How can you look even better than you do on camera?” She said with a surprise that seemed too real to be good.

Did she think I was some hyped-up beauty? I smiled, hiding my real emotions while she turned her attention to Kyle.

Kyle was attractive. But something about having Carlo and having my brother made him look kind of normal to me that, often times, I really needed to see how women reacted to his looks to be reminded that he was a stunner.

“And you are?” She asked curiously, looking between us. I could see her eyes swirling with a thirst for gossip like most journalists I had met.

“Nirvana's chief designer and second to only me. Since the interview is about my dress, I thought it was only smart to have him here with me.” I said and she nodded.

“The more the merrier.”

“Okay, let’s get the cameras rolling.” She instructed as she led us to the stage seats.

Without wasting time, she went ahead to do her opening and I wondered why their manager had thought this girl was a better choice than Claire.

As a host, it was very important to be casual enough to make it fun for your viewers.

“So today, we decided to invite the national heiress to our station. If you saw the news, she had once again broken a record with her first public appearance in a while.” She said with a pause that was intended to let viewers soak in the information.

Since it wasn’t going to be aired live, she had to be careful of things like that.

She turned to me and I suspected that Kyle wasn’t being carried by the camera. She was supposed to introduce him also.

“That dress was a masterpiece. Are you saying you really made it in less than ten hours?” Cynthia asked me as she looked at me with feigned incredulity.

“As hard to believe as that could be, I really did.” I said, smiling at the breath she took in.

Regardless of what I thought, I wasn’t going to let that show on screen. Mother could disown me for such a silly mistake.

“However, like every kind of dress of that caliber, I had the help of my team at every stage of the making.” I was used to this scene and I understood that she could very well twist my words into something else later on.

“I think that’s still a record breaker for that dress you made Elena.” She said and I could tell she was trying to warm up to me. Get me to relax and perhaps say something I definitely wasn’t supposed to.

“Well, you can say I had the right motivation.” I said with a shrug, allowing her to want to fish for gossip.

I was certain she would rush after it and I smiled in contentment at her next question.

“As good as your husband looked yesterday, people feel it’s conflicting that he was wearing Tusk instead of your brand.” She said, sitting up in her seat.

“You have to understand that we are newly weds and I didn’t trust myself enough to not have Carlo dressed in some sack that would make him the most unappealing to any other woman.” I said with a shrug while making sure there was no change in the sickly sweet smile on my face.

“Ohh really?!” She said as she turned to Kyle.

“Just in case you were wondering who this hot gentleman is, well, he’s the chief designer in Nirvana, which means, other than Elena, there’s no one else better than him there and I would sure as hell be taking a wild guess when I said he designed this outfit he has on.” As soon as she said that, my heart took a low dive.

This was not a session to partner with me. This woman was definitely out for blood and I sure as hell knew what she was going to spin next.

“Do you mean he could not have designed the outfit for your husband?” Her emphasis on the husband was unsettling and if I had not made up with Carlo, I would have suspected she knew things weren’t rosy between us with her tone.

However, before I could reply, Kyle spoke up.

“Considering this is an exclusive interview, I happen to also have a pocket camera, meaning there’s no way your studio editing things would make things go well for you. Now, moving on to the important part.” Kyle shot me a look, a blank look which I could tell was intentionally blank.

“The main highlight is Elena designing this dress in less than eight hours. Do you by any chance think that she had ten days to make her first public appearance dress and decided to wait till the last day?

We only knew about the fundraiser yesterday, meaning we needed all hands on deck including mine.” Kyle’s tone was fierce and scolding and anyone could see he was dissatisfied with her questioning.

“So if you would like to know why her husband had to wear Tusk, then it’s simply because there was no enough time for her to make something that was deserving of his identity while making hers.”

I was resisting the urge to laugh while warmth flooded me from Kyle’s protectiveness and wits. I was going to say something similar but there was no way it would have clapped the way it had when he said it.

Watching Cynthia’s face turn several shades redder was satisfactory and I used that opportunity to finish the work.

“Well, if you must know my motivation, earlier yesterday, news about our latest collection was leaked without my approval, which was disturbing.” I allowed my face to show some sadness and frailty before continuing.

“When I sat in front of that drawing board, I wanted to give Nirvana one final piece to her collection. I wanted to nail in that news. And really, I think I did.”

Cynthia coughed slightly while trying hard to get her composure back.

“Well, that’s surprising. Do you have any idea about how it was leaked?” She asked and I nodded negatively.

The interview went by quickly and after seeing we weren’t ready to be pushed in her direction, she ended the interview after thirty minutes.

“Mr Kyle, I meant no harm when I asked about you not doing the work. Sometimes, being outside an industry will not allow us to really think like the people that really do the work.” Cynthia said as we made to leave and Kyle shot her a cold look.

“I understand, with how dumb you are, making such a deduction is definitely beyond your thinking abilities. However, if you intend to cut that part out, you have to be ready to bear the consequences. That will be all.” Without saying anything else, Kyle turned to leave and I followed after him, unwilling to have any conversation with her.