Chapter 240
The press conference was scheduled for this afternoon.
I’d been pacing around the estate since morning,my steps messy,like a little bird trapped inside a room.”
With every circle I made,my heart pounded faster and faster.”
Ronald sat on the sofa,quietly watching me fuss,a faint smile tugging at his lips.\
Only when I was nearly dizzy from my own pacing did he speak softly.“Callista.”
I stopped and looked up at him.
“Don’t be nervous.“His voice was as gentle as ever,carrying a power that seemed capable of soothing every emotion. “I’ll go with you when the time comes.”
I froze.“You…you’re going to go with me?”
Ronald nodded slightly, his tone so natural that it was as if there were no question at all.“Of course. This is your honor–I want
to witness it.”
My heart skipped an uncontrollable beat.
I opened my mouth,but didn’t know what to say.
In the end,I just lowered my head and murmured a quiet“mm,” while the tips of my ears burned with heat.”
On either side of the press conference red carpet, the flashbulbs went off in rapid succession and reporters and media swarmed in.\
Perhaps because Ronald and I weren’t lacking in looks,the moment we appeared,we immediately drew the attention of a large group of journalists.[
Some people mistakenly thought we were celebrities and surged forward,raising their cameras.”
The crowd was chaotic,pushing and shoving relentlessly.”
Ronald almost instinctively half–embraced me,holding me close as he guided us forward through the throng.
His hand was steady,the warmth of his palm pressing through my clothes,calming my wildly racing heart just a little.”
But just as we were about to break free,a reckless reporter suddenly pushed forward.”
Ronald stumbled slightly and the arm that had been protecting me tightened completely,turning into a full embrace.
I was held firmly within his arms.
As! breathed,the familiar,cool scent of him washed over me.”
In that instant,! heard a heartbeat–thumping like a drum,so rapid it was almost unreal.
But I didn’t know whether it was his,or mine.
We pretended nothing had happened and quickly joined the directors.”
I had no idea that this scene had already been captured by a pair of eyes not far away,staring at me intently.” Jason froze completely.
He came today for the press conference before the film festival’s opening.”
For some unknown reason, the Corvin and Whitlock Family companies had been repeatedly suppressed by foreign giants,leaving him nearly overwhelmed.”
To find new investors,he had no choice but to set aside his pride and come in person.
But he never expected to see me here. The woman he believed dead for a year,now alive and standing right before his eyes. It wasn’t a dream.
It wasn’t a hallucination.[
In front of everyone,I was held in the arms of another man.
The sight stabbed his eyes,sharper than any blade.
His breathing faltered instantly,his chest feeling as if it had been torn open,blood surging wildly.
This past year,he hadn’t been well Night after night,he woke from nightmares,only to see my smile, my tenderness,haunting him.
He couldn’t sleep. He drank,scrolling endlessly through the few remaining photos on his phone.
Each time he looked,it only reminded him–I was already gone.N
But now,here I was,very much alive and not in his arms,but in another man’s.
Jason felt all the blood drain from his body.his throat tightening,his chest suffocating as if it might burst.
The noise of the press conference faded into the distance,leaving only the image of me in a pale–colored dress in his eyes.\
8:32 AM
I smiled,nervous yet calm,securely held by Ronald, as if I had found a new place to belong.
Jason’s hand clenched into a tight fist,veins bulging.
