Betrayed By My Fiancé, I Married His Most Powerful Enemy

Chapter 42: FILLER

"I have no reason to let despicable people off," I said firmly. "I know how this industry works. Today Amara has backing, so she can step all over me and use me for her own benefit. But that does not mean tomorrow will look the same."

"You have no chance left, just let it go. The fact that I love Amara is not her fault. My sister was right about you. You have no tolerance at all."

My left hand curled into a fist without me realizing it. Caspian noticed immediately. He reached over, took my hand, and pulled me quietly into his side.

Liam was a truly heartless person. There was no other way to explain how he could treat someone the way he had treated me. He had taken my love, damaged my career, and now he was standing there asking me to smile and support his new relationship. He wanted to drain everything from me and leave nothing behind.

"Your selfishness will only drag Amara further down in the end," I said, and hung up.

I sat still for a moment, steadying myself. Caspian set his documents down and held both of my hands in his, swaying them gently without saying a word.

"I am fine," I said. "It is normal to get annoyed sometimes. It makes the heart stronger."

"Did you see your mentor?" he asked, smoothly steering us somewhere else entirely.

"Yes. It went well." I shifted naturally against his side, settling into the warmth of his arm around me. "I also met some wonderful photographers. Caspian, I was so happy tonight. The only thing missing was you. I kept thinking, if I could attend something like that holding your hand, how perfect it would be."

"You will have plenty of chances for that," he said, and the way he said it felt like a promise.

"Are you tired? Should I give you a massage?" I asked, moving to kneel beside him. But before I could do anything, he turned, caught my hand, and swept me up into his arms in one smooth motion.

"I want you to massage a different part of me."

"Hubby, I won’t make you wait much longer." The room was quiet under the moonlight as I held onto him, and as everything grew warmer between us, I murmured honestly against him, "Because I realized, when I imagine you kissing someone else, I feel extremely uneasy."

Early the next morning, Mina called another meeting at Secret’s headquarters. The contract had been drawn up the day before, and today was supposed to be the day everyone signed it officially.

Amara was eager to get the shoot done as quickly as possible. The baby she was carrying was already past the one month mark, and if things dragged on much longer, people were going to start noticing. She had her timeline mapped out clearly in her head. The Top Ten Model Awards were happening in two weeks, and she needed Secret’s shoot to land before the ceremony. Since Secret was a weekly publication, her spread would come out in time to influence the Oriental Trend assessment, which fed directly into the qualifications for the awards. If everything went according to plan, this was how she was going to climb from B-grade to A-grade.

Five minutes after they had all settled into the meeting room, Mina walked in. She looked at Amara and Iris with an expression that hovered somewhere between amusement and contempt, though neither of them seemed to pick up on it.

Iris went straight into business mode. "Mina, we are ready. The shoot can begin the moment you give the word. Amara is an extremely professional model, she will absolutely deliver what Secret needs and bring the Oriental Trend to life." She added smoothly, "We have also arranged for Valerie to fly home, so she will not be causing any further disruptions. You know how she can be."

Mina turned the pen over slowly in her fingers and let a small smile sit on her face. "What should we do now?" She paused just long enough to let the tension settle. "I am sorry, Iris, but I did not call you here to sign a contract today. I called you here to change models again."

She reached across and tore the contract straight out of Amara’s hands, ripping it into pieces in front of everyone. "I will not be using either of your models. This is the condition the model I want has set."

Iris’s hands hit the table hard. "Mina, what is the meaning of this?"

"I think my words were quite clear. I will not be signing Amara. You pushed an unworthy model into my hands for the sake of your family’s personal matters. Iris, is this how you treat your friends?"

"I do not know what you are referring to," Iris said, her expression shifting.

"Then let me ask you directly. Why did you tell me Valerie was a newcomer? She is internationally recognized, she has received multiple awards, and she is the personal disciple of Royal Magazine’s editor. You deliberately misrepresented her because you were afraid I would not take Amara otherwise. You defamed her on purpose." Mina’s voice rose steadily as she spoke, the humiliation from the previous night’s exhibition still clearly burning.

Iris opened her mouth but nothing came out.

"Do you know how humiliated I felt at last night’s photography exhibition because of what you told me?" Mina did not wait for an answer. "Iris, I do not care what schemes you run when no one is watching, but in front of me, you keep them contained."

"You cannot simply drop Amara like this. You have seen her capabilities before..."

"I have no say in this matter anymore. I have already made a promise to the model I worked to secure. If you want to negotiate, go and speak to her directly. As long as she agrees to work alongside Amara, I have no objection." Mina set the torn pieces of contract down on the table and turned to her assistant. "Has she arrived?"

"Yes, she is here."

Iris’s jaw tightened. "Then let me see exactly who this model is that has made you shred our contract and throw away our friendship."