259 Old Wounds (8)

Jane was sitting in front of a mirror, looking at her reflection and frowning. She had asked the make-up artist to give her a natural look, so why did she look like a ghost now?

"Redo it! Right away!" she ordered, gnashing her teeth. It was her big moment! She couldn't come out looking like some shoddy girl who'd stolen her mother's make-up bag for the first time.

"Yes, of course! As you wish! I'm sorry it's not to your liking, I'll clean it off right away!" the artist said, apologetic words falling from her mouth in a rush.

What did they matter though? Jane swore to fire the woman the moment the conference was over. If not for the fact there wasn't much time left till the start, she would have never given her another chance.

"Make my eyes stand out more, and give my cheeks some color. I want to look vibrant, not sickly. Understood?"

"Yes, yes, my apologies. I won't fail you again."

Jane snorted and closed her eyes. She didn't believe it, but even a subpar make-up couldn't diminish her excitement. It was the first time she was going to represent something of her family. Her father had never seen her as anything else but a tool for marriage, so he'd never even entertained the idea of her working seriously.

Her failed engagement followed by staying abroad and finishing a degree had given her lots of practice, but it wasn't the same. Representing her family's company and some random one were two entirely different things.

A ball of nervousness formed in her stomach, something she hadn't felt for a while. A smiled graced her lips, and the image of Kyro floated in front of her eyes. All of this was because of him. If he hadn't demanded it of her father, she wouldn't have gotten a chance to show off her skills for a long time.

'I'm going to prove to him that I'm the best,' she swore to herself, full of confidence. He was going to be enchanted by her skill and mastery of the crowd, to the point he'll forget all about that gold digger by his side. There was no doubt about that.

Once the make-up was done, Jane nodded to herself in the mirror. It wasn't too terrible this time. She then ventured to the main room where there were only a few guests present as of then. It was a bit early, but Jane wanted to make a good impression on the reporters that had already entered.

It was easy to charm them, and time flew by in the blink of an eye. Soon, she saw Kyro enter with the detestable furry creature in his hands. 'Once we're married, I'll make him get rid of it,' she decided right away. 'It's disgusting, and it actually dared to bite me!' Her finger twinged with the remembered pain.

She wanted to talk to Kyro before the official start, but no matter how much she tried, fate itself seemed to be interfering. People would approach her right when she would be about to reach him, and then he'd move away, seemingly having not noticed her. It was like they were playing tag, with her on the losing side, never able to get close enough.

When it was fifteen to seven, she started saying her goodbyes. It was time to get ready to go on the stage and say her speech. She had practiced it a dozen times, so there was no worry in her heart about it.

Her eyes searched out Kyro and saw that he was standing against the opposite wall, chatting with Gale while looking at his phone. She wasn't too happy about that friendship of his, but she could understand it. Gale was a good person to keep around; his family's influence was unrivaled, even if their name was no longer as renowned as during his parents' generation.

'Second-generation brat, spoiling his parents' fortune.' She hated such people the most.

While she was thinking that, she noticed a shift in the atmosphere. All the reporters from the main newspapers, magazines, and websites were either on calls or reading something intently on their phones. All throughout they looked at her with calculating gazes.

They were professionals and didn't let on what they were thinking, but Jane knew it couldn't be anything good. An ominous feeling took root in her heart.

'It's my moment!' she told herself, smiling like she didn't notice anything while going toward the stage. Nothing was going to get in her way. So what if some scandalous news had come out about the company? She would deal with it with aplomb and show all the disbelievers what she was worth.

And Kyro was going to be impressed. Stunned by her performance, he would go to her father right away, begging to make the wedding date as soon as possible. As she thought about his adoring expression that would follow her from then on, she grinned to herself and went up the couple stairs to the stage with confidence.

"Dear gentlemen and ladies, reporters and guests, I welcome all of you to our grand celebration!"

She spoke in an uplifting tone, voice full of energy, but no one seemed to be listening. The crowd's attention was on her, but not because of the speech. She could feel the restlessness below. No one was paying any attention to a word she said.

'What's going on?' Her voice faltered as she listened to what she was saying, but it was the right speech; she hadn't gone off-topic! So why wasn't anyone listening? A minute later, the crowd even started to whisper among itself.

Frustration and disappointment rose within her, but she held onto the shreds of her self-confidence that had yet to scatter and spoke like everything was fine. Her smile grew more strained with every word, but she didn't know what to do.

Why were they not listening?!

Something like this had never happened to her before. Who would ever disrespect the host like that? Simply unbelievable. But she held in her emotions, willing herself not to break down and shout at all of them to shut up, that it was her moment to prove herself.

The fifteen minutes of the speech were the longest in her life. She wanted to dash off the stage like it was on fire right after, but the reporters rushed to the front to wave their notebooks and shout questions at her. None of which had anything to do with her speech.

"Miss Norwood, what do you have to stay about the breaking and entering charges?"

"Miss Norwood, is it true that you went to Mr. Hemming's house to harass his girlfriend?"

"Is it true you tried to sell yourself to him? There's evidence in the post."

"Miss Norwood, you've broken over a dozen laws, how would you explain yourself?"

"Animal cruelty is a serious crime. Could you please elaborate on what you were thinking when chasing Mr. Hemming's pet fox?"

"Do you think law does not apply to you because you're the director's daughter?"

Those people pushed at each other to get close to her, to force out answers she didn't have. Why were they asking those things? How did they know about any of it?

Ice ran through her veins. It was impossible. No one could know about those things. She had made sure that the house was empty before entering. Yet one of the reporters pushed a phone to her nose with a photo of her on her knees in Kyro's house, glaring with a twisted face under the bed.

'No, no, no. This is impossible.' She took a step back as her face lost all color. There had been no one at that house; she was certain of it.

Yet the reporters kept shouting questions at her, becoming more and more aggressive. Noticing her loss of composure, they began to push with an even greater vigor. Their questions no longer held even a touch of respect for her, but were full of disdain.

"Is the reason you returned to the country was to enter Mr. Hemming's bed and get his company?"

"How does it feel to chase after the person you discarded years before?"

Guards showed up and saved Jane, but her mind was no longer on her surroundings. She tried to understand what had happened, and couldn't. It was supposed to be her evening, her day, so how did it turn out that way?

She held back the aberrant emotions about to break away. She couldn't fall apart, not now. The whole world was watching her.

At that thought, she raised her head and looked over the crowd of reporters toward a faraway wall. Had Kyro heard about everything? Was he angry? It wasn't her fault! It was just a misunderstanding! As long as he didn't take it to heart, she could explain everything, make him see that she had done all of it just to help him.

Their eyes met, and a chill ran down Jane's back. Instead of being furious or disappointed, Kyro was smiling. Smiling. He looked at her like he was looking at a piece of trash receiving its due - being thrown into the bin. There was no compassion in his gaze, let alone worry for what her future would hold after such a disastrous evening.

'But why?' Tears collected in her eyes. She wanted to ask him why, what had she done wrong, but the guards ushered her away, into the backstage where she could avoid the reporters and the flashing cameras.

Once out of sight, her legs gave out and she fell to a chair nearby, sobbing. That look from Kyro. It was obvious he hated her, despised even. She loved him, and he… he… At that moment, she realized that he had been the only one standing apart and enjoying the show. Based on that, it wasn't a far jump to the idea that everything had been orchestrated by him.

"Kyro!" she wailed, unable to control herself. How could he be so cold-hearted? They'd been lovers once! So how could he ruin her so?

It had to be that slut's idea! Jane's eyes lit up with black fury. She was going to kill that woman! Kill her!

At that moment, a door opened and her father stepped in. He looked at her crumpled form with a sneer, and shame washed over her. "Father," she said in a choked voice, clearing away the tears from her face as she stood up on shaky legs. "I'll solve th—"

"You will do no such thing," he said in a voice filled with disgust.

She looked up to meet his eyes, unable to believe he would ever speak to her in such a tone. She was his only child, his beloved daughter!

"You will accept all the blame and then go to jail as a good, lawful citizen, if that's what the court decrees. I won't have it said that my family is above the law." He turned to the man behind him which Jane recognized as his assistant. "George, bring her away and lock her up. I don't want her pulling anything even more stupid."

Jane grabbed her father's arm, holding onto him while looking up with a tear-stained face. "Father, no! You can't do this to me! It was a misunderstanding! That slut set me up!"

"Watch your words, and you brought it upon yourself. I told you before that reputation is everything in the business world, and you went and destroyed yours. Go and disappear then, rot away in some cell for all I care."

He pushed her away then, and Jane fell to the ground. Pain surged through her side as she tried to pull herself up and come after her father again. He simply couldn't do something like that. She was his only child. His words were just something said in the heat of the moment. He would have to apologize soon.

'Yes, yes, he's turning around now!' She smiled at him, ready to accept his apology, but instead of sorrow, his lips twisted with revulsion. "You're no longer my daughter. From today on, I have no children."

After that, he threw the door closed, and Jane was left alone with the guards and George the assistant. All of them were looking at her with distaste, none even bothering to give her a tissue to clean her face.

That last thing broke whatever was left of her person. Her life was over. Her reputation was in tatters, her father had abandoned her, and she was going to be called to defend herself in court.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she realized that she was going to lose. Kyro couldn't go easy on her to not look like a fool, and she wouldn't be able to afford anyone worthy of defending her by herself. None of her friends would help her either, not after even her father had left her.

"Stand up miss," George said, motioning for her to get up with. "We need to move you somewhere safe."

When she didn't react, looking at him with glassy eyes, he motioned for the guards. "Pull her up and bring her along. Let's get this over with as soon as possible."

In some time, Jane found herself sitting in one of her father's out of the way small villas. It was decorated simply and had no wi-fi nor tv. Her phone had been taken away as well.

Guards watched the house to make sure she didn't try to escape. They also had been given the right to subdue her if she tried anything crazy, like taking her own life.

"You'll stay here by yourself to reflect on your actions till the court date. After that, you won't have any connection to the Norwood family, understood?" George said before leaving.

Jane looked at him, empty-eyed. What did it matter if she agreed or not? It wasn't like father was going to change his mind depending on her answer.

Her life was over, and it was all because of that single choice she'd made to fight the gold-digger slut. If not for that woman, she would now be preparing for her wedding, choosing what dress looked the best.

She remembered Kyro's eyes when all he could see was her, but they were soon replaced by the mocking gaze from earlier in the day. Even her mind couldn't hold onto the illusion that the past could one day return.

It was gone, along with everything else she'd ever held dear.