What did she say?" A cold voice asked immediately Kennedy's secretary opened the door to a room in the penthouse.
"She agreed master" he answered with his head bowed down.
"And how about Calvin?" Kennedy added sharply.
"He rejected the money you offered him young master. But I made sure the mob i rallied scared him. It won't be long before he leaves the country. I've handled him sir" the secretary replied meekly.
Kennedy hurled the tumbler in his arm across the room and the glass exploded on impact.
What was he trying to prove by rejecting the money? Kennedy asked himself.
"Babeeee" a soft voice called out as the door creaked open.
"What took you so long?" Kennedy quizzed as the lady in the body hugging tight dress glide towards the bed where he sat shirtless.
"You need to forget about Calvin already" she purred with a coaxing tone. "He's already shown you who he is. Do you need to suffer another betrayal at his hands for you to realize that?" she convinced.
Kennedy smirked. Ofcourse she would say that. Afterall, her competition was out of the way.
She threw her bag on the floor and sat on his laps,her fingers trailing his chest.
His secretary, Kelvin, had once suggested the possibility that Calvin might be innocent. Calvin had loved Kennedy deeply, so there was no way he would have released those photos, not when they could ruin not only Kennedy's reputation, but his own as well.
But Ella had shown him photos of Calvin in a secret meeting with his step brother, Joshua Damian.
Calvin knew how much Kennedy hated Joshua. And when questioned, Calvin refused to explain the meeting. Instead, he claimed that Ella was driving a wedge between them.
Not that he was wrong. Ever since Ella Cordis entered the picture, Kennedy had considered breaking up with Calvin. He should have done it sooner before his sexuality became the internet's latest scandal.
"Babeeeee" Ella moaned into his ear with her fingers still grazing on his chest.
He wasn't giving her the attention she wanted and she knew too well that he was thinking of Calvin, his ex gay partner.
Kennedy wondered if Calvin had been right with his claims of Ella trying to break them. What if Ella was behind everything?
There was no way Calvin would have handed those nude photos of them to Joshua. But the more he had tried to indict and defend Calvin in the past, the more records of him meeting up with Joshua Ella had conveniently provided.
In the end, he had no choice but to believe Calvin was the traitor who sold him out to the media.
"Are you seriously going to marry that girl?"
Ella cut the chase and finally spoke on the reason she had come.
"You know why, Ella. I need to clean up my name. If I don't silence this scandal, I'll never get appointed as CEO of Damian Holdings. Marrying a woman is the only way to convince them I'm not gay."
" But Kennedy.... " She protested.
He sighed dismissively. Already exhausted by the conversation.
"No buts, Ella. She's just a placeholder. Six months, that's all. You of all people know why I can't marry you."
He turned to look at her now, his gaze cold.
"Your reputation on the internet is worse than mine. Do you really think marrying you would solve anything?"
Kennedy regretted how harsh his last words were but couldn't bring himself to apologize. He couldn't to against his grandfather's wishes.
Joshua had his mother who was a major shareholder in Damian Holdings backing him up but he just had the support of his grandfather who couldn't even make public his choice of candidate for fear of pitching his grandsons against each other.
Regardless, he couldn't loose the position to Joshua. Not in this life. Never.
Ella kept quiet. She had no answers. Afterall Kennedy was right, marrying her would only worsen the media's perception of him.
Her silence hung heavy in the room.
Kennedy stood, his voice low but firm.
"Six months, Ella. Just six."
He looked at her, a flicker of softness breaking through his otherwise hardened gaze.
"After that, I'll be yours again. Completely."
In six month's he'll return to me, she's only but a placeholder. Ella reminded herself as her red painted lips entwined with Kennedy's, causing Kelvin to look away as they shared a long and passionate kiss.
------------------------------------------------
Three days later…
The gallery smelled faintly of paint, perfume, and ofcourse the disappointment that coursed Nerida's veins.
She stood by the refreshment table, her arms crossed loosely over her chest, pretending not to notice how empty the room still looked. A few people wandered from one canvas to another but they observed like strangers peering into a window they had no intention of entering.
She forced a smile at one of the reporters she'd practically begged to come. He gave her a half-hearted nod and scribbled into a notebook without looking at the art. The second journalist was too busy on her phone to notice anything.
This was supposed to be her night. Her comeback. A tear threatened at the back of her eye but she was quick in controlling it.
It seemed like the world didn't care for rebirth stories unless they were attached to fame or scandal.
And then the double doors opened.
A sudden hush fell over the room.
Kennedy Damian stepped into the gallery, tall and regal in a tailored black suit, like he owned the building… like he hadn't been the subject of a thousand nasty headlines just a weeks ago.
Nerida couldn't deny the aura she felt from watching him walk in. She couldn't believe either that she was going to get married to this charismatic man.
More than six foot tall, a chiseled jaw and thick brows to go with his brown eyes, Nerida believed that If he were to contest for the most handsome man award, then it would be an error from the judges if he was not awarded the trophy.
He didn't come alone. Behind him trailed his secretary, Kelvin, and two silent suited men who looked more like shadows than security.
All eyes turned.
Phones rose. And Cameras clicked.
Nerida's breath caught.
She had been warned this would happen.Kelvin had emailed her the script the night before. "Smile," he'd said. "Trust the plan. It'll all be worth it."
But nothing could've prepared her for this moment. Nothing could have prepared her for the sort of attention Kennedy's presence would command.
She noticed people coming in from the door, reporters following and running after him. The same reporters she had been begging months ago to atleast spare bed exhibition a few minutes.
Kennedy walked straight to her with his eyes locked onto hers. When he reached her, he said nothing at first. Just looked at her. And then… he knelt.
The entire room gasped. A velvet box appeared in his hand like magic.
"Nerida Sylvester," he began, his voice soft, sincere and tragically well-rehearsed. "I know what people are saying about me online. The lies, the accusations. And I know how much it must hurt you to read them, to even wonder if they might be true."
She felt the stares from every corner of the room. Her fingers trembled, but she remembered her line. She nodded slightly, the perfect picture of a loving, wronged woman.
Kennedy continued. "I promise to do better. Not just for me, but for you. I don't want to put you in a position where you have to defend me. I don't want to be the reason you're hurting. I don't want to be the reason why two years of our shared bond goes down the drain"
He opened the box. A ring shimmered inside. Huge and flawless, just like the lie they were selling.
"Marry me, Nerida. Be by my side. Let me protect you... as you've already protected me. Let me believe in you even when others crucify you, just like you have done for me. Let me be your support as you have supported me"
She swallowed the rising bitterness. This wasn't real. Not the love. Not the apology. Not even the fear in his eyes. All of it was damage control. A beautifully crafted PR stunt. But she wasn't doing it for him, this as for her mother. She had to remind herself.
She stepped forward.
"I was scared," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Scared of what people would say… that I was a gold digger. That I was using you for attention."
More cameras flashed from all corners of the hall.
"But I'm not scared anymore." She looked into his eyes. "Let the world say what it wants. I want to be with you, Kennedy. Against all odds. Regardless of what the people might say. I want to be by your side forever"
The gallery exploded in hushed whisperings. Cameras flashed like fireworks.
Kennedy stood and slid the ring onto her finger. His lips found hers and he sealed the performance with a kiss that was passionate enough to make headlines.
Nerida wondered why he did that all of a sudden as it hadn't been mentioned in the script.
And just like that, her art no longer mattered.
The months of solitude. Not the pain she'd buried into canvas. Not the beauty or meaning of her work. The gallery would be remembered not for her comeback—but for the viral moment when scandalous CEO Kennedy Damian proposed to his rumored fiancée in front of the media.
That night, her name trended.