His Devious Rule

Painting the face with a forced smile, Claire shook Wilson's hand in front of the crowd. At the glass wall, the cameramen clicked pictures nonstop to catch even the slightest changes.

"Haa…. I like that smile on your face." Wilson said sarcastically as he continued to flash the fake smile.

Claire clenched her teeth but immediately composed. She never had to act, cover-up, or lie about anything for Janet's career or behavior. Frankly, she was the best artist she could ever get to work with.

Nobody is perfect, Janet wasn't perfect either. Janet's flaw was her reluctance to accept her firstborn and she slowly became one in the fake society.

"Mr. Wilson, you were a good man." Claire tried to remind him who he was so that Wilson could realize what he was doing was wrong. "Why are you doing these?" There was a hint of exhaustion in her tone. If not Janet, she was tired of Wilson's pretending behavior in the past few years.

Wilson's expression stiffened upon hearing Claire. True, he was a gentleman, a good businessman who admired Janet. He was well respected in the industry. But when he went bankrupt, he had seen the same faces avoiding him, faking their words and talking rubbish behind his back. He had learned that money earns respect and a place in the world.

His voice sharpened and he said through his teeth, "Time for the press conference." Then he turned and went towards the waiting room.

Claire breathed out slowly before instructing the security staff, "Make sure there is no unnecessary crowd in the auditorium." She checked the time and added, "There is still half an hour. No need to hurry and cause a commotion."

Under the numerous eyes, she pretended to be hurrying upstairs to get something. She just wanted to avoid sitting with Wilson and get herself riled up.

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If the half an hour was painstakingly long for some, it went in a blink of an eye for others. The cameramen were positioned around the hall, especially at the platform. The reporters were sitting orderly while some of them were busy discussing with others creating a buzz in the auditorium.

Everyone fell silent when the heavy soundproof door opened. The cameras started to flash on Wilson and Claire who went on the platform and sat on the two chairs present.

Claire got close to the microphone to switch it on and greeted the people before coming to the point, "I request you all to ask questions one after the other. Mr. Wilson will respond to each one. Thank you." Turning off the microphone, she sat back, with little to no intention of joining the nest of lies.

A reporter received the microphone and questioned, "Mr. Wilson, is it true Alvin Matthews, president of  Skylar, was stalking your wife?"

Wilson responded with a subtle nod and added words, "That's right." He didn't want to get unnecessarily angry so he sounded sad. So that they don't criticize him when he reveals Alvin being his stepson.

Wilson frowned when his voice didn't sound through the speakers. He switched off and on and tried to speak into the microphone again, "That's right." But the voice didn't reach the audience.

Slowly buzzing in the auditorium started. Claire cued a man to look into the problem. The technical team rushed up the platform. In less than a minute, they found the microphones weren't working out of the blue.

Wilson growled at Claire, "You did this, didn't you?"

Claire: "…"

Claire was as clueless as others. The technical team failed to understand the problem. One rushed out to get a spare microphone set and another one checked the controller.  Little did they know, the connection was broken at the speakers.

Wilson tried to bury his frustration. He has to play according to the script. Janet would arrive by the end of the press conference. He can't let her face the media.

Wilson stood up and went to the edge of the diaz. The crowd fell silent and heard Wilson scream his response, "Yes, Alvin Matthews…."

'Tshh…' The lights went out at once and everything fell into pitch darkness.

'Gasps' There were loud gasps from people without understanding what was going on.

First to discern the situation was Claire. Her eyes widened recalling what she had read about Anya Owen. Her hands flew on her mouth and turned to the door. She was expecting Anya and Alvin to enter through the door.

Wilson roared which went unnoticed by the noise, "What is going on?"

The door opened bringing the beam of light into the darkness. Slowly people lit up the flashlights on their mobile as if there was a concern going on.

The man in a security uniform announced as loud as he could, "The short circuit in the building. It will take time to fix."

However, Claire's heart continued to pick up speed, feeling everything ominous. She felt a cold run down her spine thinking of different consequences. Neither Anya nor Alvin is easygoing.

'Thud.' Startled, Claire jumped on her seat when Wilson slammed his hands on the table and glared at her with burning rage, "How dare you delay the press conference?"

Claire was rendered speechless. Out of all the methods she could have thought to delay the press conference, the short circuit in the building wasn't on her list.

There were artists training day and night in the building, photoshoots, and the PR team working on negative news. Why would she affect their hard work?

Controlling herself from slapping the man, "Mr. Wilson, do you really think I have the power to do this?" She sneered and leaned back on the chair.

Wilson wondered if it was Jordan, CEO of Starlight. He pulled his mobile out and also dialed the number. Before his call could get through, there were studs of the boots that screeched the noise to silence.

Claire's jaws dropped looking at the cops at the door. She assumed Anya solved the complex situation and the cops were there to arrest Wilson.

The cops easily spotted Wilson and proceeded to the platform. The cop in lead spoke monotonously, "Mr. Wilson, you will have to come with us for questioning."

Claire was disappointed that Wilson would be just questioned. Whereas Wilson gritted his teeth. If he goes with the cops, the press conference will be delayed.

Janet would try her all to hide her dirty secret so she would take the case back and even apologize publicly to end the matter. He can't let that happen.

He flashed an apologetic smile that wasn't really visible due to the low light, "I will come in a few minutes."

The cops looked at the reporters capturing their pictures. He slowly shifted his position and snickered, "Mr. Wilson, do you really think Ms. Owen would let you have your way?" Captain David rolled his eyes.

David was on patrol when he got a call to bring Wilson. Since he checked the latest news, he could easily guess Anya was behind the darkness that started in Wilson's life. Well, he blindly believed Alvin was innocent and Anya was protecting her husband.

Wilson blanched at David's words. Alvin's men had indeed followed Janet. Shouldn't Anya juggle between influential people to release Alvin?

Shouldn't she be ashamed of her husband for causing trouble?