Chapter 12 The Damage
Evelyn's POV.
I walked into the Denklings studio with my chin lifted and my smile in place.
A man in black led me down a quiet hallway toward the showroom, where the lights and cameras waited.
Right outside the door, I took one breath and reminded myself…
I wasn’t here to impress anyone.
I was here to ruin Adrian Kane’s day.
“I think Mrs. Kane is entering now,” the interviewer announced.
I stepped in like I owned the room, my hair flowing in deep waves over my shoulders. I slowly pressed my lips together, perfecting the wine lipstick I had on.
The room went still.
And when I looked at Adrian, his eyes were already on me.
Unreadable. He neither looked pissed nor pleased.
“Welcome, Mrs. Kane,” the interviewer said standing, her brows still lifted and eyes widened.
My outfit was a transparent black dress that had a deep blue sheen under the studio light…like midnight ink
It clung to my skin, revealing every adorable feature I had. It stopped high on my thighs. The thin strap sat on my shoulder like strings and the back was dipped so low, it left nothing but my butt cheek to imagination.
And that was the goal.
Something that would leave everyone talking, because the world would be expecting Mrs. Kane to appear in a Maxi elegant dress.
“Please take a seat,” she gestured beside Adrian and I did without hesitation.
I expected Adrian to make some eye contact or give me signs that he's uncomfortable with the dress I was putting on but he did nothing.
The interviewer's voice snapped me back to the room.
She faced me, a smile on her face. “I never heard about you liking dresses like this, Ms. Kane”
“What?” I chuckled. “Did I not meet your expectations?”
She laughed. “Not really. I'm just a bit surprised you wear things like this.”
“I wear worse,” I replied immediately but that wasn't for her to hear, it was for Adrian to react.
“Then I guess we'd be seeing a lot of this whenever Mr. Adrian accepts to honour our invitation,” she said.
She turned to Adrian. “Any words on that, Mr Adrian?”
“My wife…” Adrian turned, locking eyes with me. “She's extremely beautiful,” he continued, before turning away.
My cheek turned red instantly, but I maintained my cool.
“And her dress?” The lady asked.
I knew she was trying to get him to talk on the dress and I liked that because I also wanted him to.
He turned back to me and his gaze stayed longer this time before he spoke.
“Anyone would look sexy in that dress, wouldn't they?” He said.
The interviewer let out a low chuckle before she continued.
“For someone marrying the most eligible bachelor , one would expect press announcements of a grand wedding but we only heard about it on the day of the banquet, with no news of a wedding. What prompted your decision?” She asked.
The interviewer's gaze was fixed on me. She was asking me the question but I had no answer because I was only a prey to Mr Adrian's game.
Before I could make an attempt to say anything, Adrian's voice rose.
“The banquet was the only announcement the public deserved,” he said. “Anyone who needed an invitation got one. The rest can read about it.”
Pure Savage.
The interviewer nodded. “Moving on to the next question from our viewers.”
“Everyone knew you had a fiancee, Cassandra Vale,” she paused.
Cassandra. That was the lady who approached me on the night of the banquet.
“No one heard about your breakup and we only got news that you got married. Do you have anything to say on that?” She asked, directing her question to Adrian.
He released his crossed legs and leaned his back on the sofa.
“We were done. I didn't need to announce that too, to the public, did I?” He raised a brow at the interviewer.
The woman suddenly started looking nervous. She cleared her throat and looked at the list of questions in the paper in her hands.
“I think that's all. Thanks for showing up.” She said.
“Until the next interview. I'm Elena and this is the Denklings show,” she added with a broad smile, facing the camera.
I could see glimpses of the questions on the paper from where I sat. I knew that wasn't all, she just became too scared to continue.
A few minutes later, Adrian and I left the showroom and headed towards the hallway that led out of the building.
“Take her home,” he instructed David. “I’ll be leaving in my car.”
It was now obvious my outfit was hitting hard, because he sounded furious.
He opened the car door for me, his gaze telling me to get in before he forced me inside.
I slid into the car with no words and David drove away while I watched from the mirror how Adrian got into his car.
Did it work? Did he get angry or not? I couldn't tell.
Minutes later, I was in the house and hurriedly changed into a casual gown.
I was walking back down the stairs when Adrian entered the house, taking me by surprise.
I paused on the stairs as I watched him.
He was calm, walking slowly into the sitting room but his face was hardened, his eyes threw daggers at me.
“Go bring that dress,” he commanded.
I didn't need to ask before I knew the dress he was talking about. The black-blue dress.
“And why should I?” I retorted.
“Fuck!” He growled.
He charged towards me and for a moment, I got scared that he was going to drag me by the hair and push me to the floor but he walked past me, heading upstairs.
I knew where he was going. My room.
He walked into the room, slamming the door after him.
I rushed after him. When I got to the room, he was already searching through my wardrobe.
“Give that back! It's mine!” I yelled.
He didn't respond and tried to move out of the door but I rushed in front of him.
“Move out of the way, Evelyn.” His voice was dark. “You don't want me to burn your room along with this dress, do you?”
My eyes widened.