Chapter 86
Seoul, Korea
Twilight Theater
Rain closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths.
The anti-anxiety medication she took before they left did very little to calm her nerves. And the closer they got to the venue and the spotlights dancing in the sky, the more nervous she got.
It had been longer than she’d like to admit since she had been to a red carpet event. The last was when Gang Moon announced to the reporters their engagement, without telling her first. She was blindsided by the announcement, and it made her look foolish.
She vowed to never be like that again, and this was her chance.
A chance to get revenge and to show she wasn’t the weak, pushover she was before.
It should have been easy, but she was starting to lose her nerve.
Myo Mi-Sun wasn’t the villain, she was the good girl that you loved to love.
“You’re making me nervous,” Will said, his knees bouncing.
“Sorry,” Rain whispered, her knees bouncing as well. “I’m nervous.”
“You have nothing to be nervous about,” Lucien said, driving; Kita and Lula were behind them on motorcycles. “Just remember to hold the clutch to your chest when you get in and out of the car. Do not rush down the red carpet, and remember you are the villain tonight so make the carpet yours. Steal it from those jerks that tried to steal your sanity and heart.”
That was so much easier said than done.
What if this didn’t work?
What if she tripped or rolled her ankle in her high heels?
What if she flashed everyone?!
It would make her look like an even bigger fool than Gang Moon had made her at the altar.
“You will be fine, Cousin,” Dae-Ho promised from the front seat. “Just try to refrain from flashing anyone this evening and you will be fine.”
“Clutch to the chest, got it,” Rain said trying to keep from doubling-over. “Keep my boobs hidden. What else?”
“Do not smile,” Lucien said.
Her smile fell and she scowled.
Lucien chuckled. “That is not what I mean. Instead of smiling like you usually do, smirk as if you know something they do not and it is amusing to you,” he said. “Bat your lashes. Hold your head high and back straight, lift your chin, and demand an audience. When you speak, speak with conviction and without apology. You control what they can report on, so only tell them what you want them to know and report on. Give them just enough rope to hang someone other than you with. That is what the villain would do.”
Rain gave him a look; she didn’t know what that meant.
Will snorted. “Pulling from Kita’s last assignment, huh?” he surmised, playing with the latch on Rain’s clutch.
Lucien shrugged. “The Devil might prove to be useful after all. They commanded a room unlike any other and there was never anything to run because of it. You can do this, Rain. You are better than them.”
Rain nodded. “I can do this,” she whispered, closing her eyes. “I can do this.”
When Lucien put the car in park, he turned it off then waited to get out until Lula and Kita secured the area.
Will held his hand out. “Can I have one or two of those pills?” he asked, his knees bouncing again, and he latched and unlatched the clutch again and again.
Toying with something was a nervous habit he had; his workstation in the server farm at Rising Moon Technologies looked like a toyshop there were so many gadgets, gizmos, and toys to tinker with.
Rain shook her head. “No. Lula told me to keep them to myself because she did not want you getting loopy, again. I suppose there is a story there, one you will have to tell me later, if you want, but she scares the crap out of me so I will do as she instructed. You can do this… We can do this. I think? Can we?” she sheepishly asked, looking at him, panicked.
Will’s door opened and Lula looked at him. “Ready?” she asked.
Will shook his head. “You told her not to medicate me! I need medicated. I will keep my clothes on this time… Possibly. I will try to,” he said, making a face. “I do not think I can do this,” he said in a panic. “No, I cannot. I need pills. I need something. A strong drink or ten, a handful of pills to chase it with?” he pleaded in a panic.
Lula sighed. “Panic attack, really?” she asked, giving him a look.
Will quickly nodded then shook his head then nodded.
He was losing it.
What the Board of Directors at Rising Moon Technologies didn’t know, and the public didn’t know, was that William Lee hated crowds, being in the spotlight, and attention. Anxiety kicked his ass, and he kept that information as private as possible so it couldn’t be exploited. Medication either helps or it causes him to get loopy and he ends up naked without memory of how he got that way or why.
It is a Public Relations nightmare when it happens, and that was what caused rumors of him being a partying playboy.
“You can do this,” Lula assured him, speaking French. “You are the Chairman of the largest tech company in Asia, you are a billionaire playboy that can handle drama and scandal as if you wrote the book on it. But you are scared of a little red carpet event for a movie that is going to bomb at the box office?” she asked, giving him a look.
Again, he nodded. “You know I am not the playboy everyone thinks I am, and you know that I rather play with my computers then walk a red carpet.”
Lula offered him her hand. “Do this for me, and I will make it up to you with dinner.”
His eyes widened.
“Just you and I, but you cannot wear pajamas,” Lula warned. “And if you are lucky I will wear one of the new dresses I know you had a hand in ordering for me from Modeste.”
A smile filled Will’s face and he turned to Rain. “Get out, now,” he said, quickly doing something on his mobile phone, causing the lighting to change along the red carpet to something that matched his date’s attire better. “I have date later!” he beamed, pocketing his mobile phone.
Rain chuckled, shaking her head. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Yes, I am,” he agreed, taking Lula’s offered hand and got out of the car.
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