Chapter 3: Unwanted Spotlight

Zinnia

Seriously…

Of all the people I could bump into in this entire building, it just had to be him again.

Dylan Reed.

Was the universe playing games with me today? Because at this point, it was starting to feel very personal.

I took a small step back immediately, raising my hands slightly like I needed to create distance before something else embarrassing happened.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you…again,” I explained.

Could this day get any worse?

His gaze rested on me calmly and unreadable and for a second, I felt that same strange pause from earlier. Before I could even process that silence, footsteps approached and I turned to see it was Wyatt walking towards us.

Ughhhh… not him again. The guy was super annoying.

“What is going on here now?” Wyatt’s voice cut in, already irritated.

I turned slightly, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. Did this man not have anything better to do than hover around Dylan like an overprotective guard dog?

“It was an accident,” I said immediately, not even giving him the chance to start.

Wyatt didn’t look convinced. In fact, his expression darkened as his eyes moved past me… and landed somewhere behind me.

I followed his gaze and saw that he was looking at Ailany. She was standing a few steps away, her phone raised slightly.

My heart dropped.

Oh no. No, no, no….

“Ailany….” I started, but it was already too late. Wyatt’s entire demeanor shifted.

“Were you recording?” he asked coldly and Ailany froze.

“I…no, I wasn’t…”

“Don’t lie,” he snapped, stepping forward. “I saw your camera on.”

My stomach twisted. This was bad.

Very bad.

“She wasn’t recording anything,” I cut in quickly, stepping in front of Ailany without thinking. “It’s just… she had her phone out, that’s all.”

“Oh, of course. That’s always the excuse, isn’t it? And you, you’ve been throwing yourself at my artist for hours now, give it a rest” he said and I frowned.

I was right, he was indeed Dylan’s manager, but he was very stupid to think I was throwing myself at Dylan.

“Are you nuts? What exactly are you implying?” I asked angrily.

“I’m implying that people like you come to events like this looking for opportunities to exploit moments like this.” He replied arrogantly.

This bastard, he was disrespecting me openly again.

I felt heat rush to my face, but this time it was anger instead of embarrassment.

“You don’t know anything about me, so don’t stand there and make baseless accusations.” I managed to say, despite the storm brewing inside of me.

“Oh please,” he scoffed. “You just happened to fall on him twice? And now your sister just happened to have her camera on?”

“It was a coincidence!”

“Right.”

God… this man was insufferable.

“I said she wasn’t recording, and even if she was, what exactly is the problem? We’re in a public event, not some secret facility.” I half yelled.

“Wyatt,” Dylan called calmly and Wyatt paused.

“Let me handle it,” Dylan said and I furrowed my brows in confusion. Let him handle what? And how exactly was he going to handle it?

“Delete the video you have.” He said calmly walking closer to my sister who was already trembling.

What??? Was this his way of “handling things”

“I said delete the video right now, don’t let me repeat myself. I hate cheap girls like you and I certainly hate when people take videos of me at events like this.” He said coldly.

What the hell was he doing?

“I said she wasn’t recording, she just happened to have her camera out, can’t you understand” I said.

Dylan didn’t respond. His gaze stayed on Ailany, cold and unblinking, like he’d already decided she was guilty.

“I won’t repeat myself, delete whatever you have.” He said coldly.

Ailany’s hands trembled slightly as she held her phone. “I… I wasn’t recording anything…” she said, her voice small now.

“Then show it.”

Before she could even react… Wyatt stepped forward.

“Give me that,” he snapped, grabbing her wrist.

“Hey! Take your hands off her!” I shouted but he didn’t budge, instead, his grip tightened slightly as he tried to pull the phone from her.

“Ailany!” I reached for her, my heart racing. “Let her go!”

“Stop struggling!” Wyatt barked, clearly losing patience. “If you have nothing to hide, then show it!”

“What is wrong with you?! You can’t just grab her like that!” I yelled.

The tension escalated so quickly that it felt like the entire room had gone silent around us. Many people were watching us now and I was sure that the Wilders were somewhere in the crowd.

Great!

Could this day get any worse?

“Is there a reason you’re manhandling her like that?” A voice suddenly spoke up and we turned to see a young woman walking towards us.

She looked like she could be in her mid to late twenties and she was clearly rich. The kind of woman who didn’t need to raise her voice to be heard.

“She was recording Mr. Reed,” Wyatt said, trying to sound composed now.

“And? Does that give you the right to grab her?” The woman replied.

“She refused to delete the video.”

“Did you confirm she actually recorded anything?” the woman asked and Wyatt hesitated.

“She didn’t record anything, you can check her phone if you want, but you’re not going to treat her like that,” I said.

I looked at the lady and that was when I recognized her clearly, she was the niece of the president. And she was speaking up for us!! Indeed there were still some humble rich people.

“Show him.” She ordered.

Ailany nodded quickly, unlocking her phone with shaky fingers and opening her gallery. Wyatt snatched it, not as aggressively this time, and began scrolling.

Seconds passed, then his expression slowly changed.

“Well?” I asked.

He didn’t respond immediately, instead, he handed the phone back stiffly.

“She must have deleted it.” He said I actually laughed.

“Wow, that’s your conclusion? After you just embarrassed her in front of everyone for a non-existent video?” I asked and Wyatt’s jaw tightened.

“We’re done here,” he muttered and turned slightly, clearly intending to walk away with Dylan as if nothing had happened.

Oh no, they weren’t going to leave like nothing had happened. I won’t allow that.

“Wait,” I called out and they paused.

I didn’t say anything and instead brought out my phone and pressed record. Their expressions changed instantly.

“What are you doing?” Wyatt demanded.

“Recording,” I replied simply, shoving the cameras in their faces as everyone watched.

“Put that down,” Dylan ordered and I shook my head.

“You accused us, you embarrassed us and you put your hands on my sister. “So now…” I lifted my chin slightly. “You’re going to apologize.”

“You must be joking.” Wyatt let out a short, disbelieving laugh.

“Apologize,” I repeated, still recording.

“This is ridiculous.” Wyatt scoffed but I turned my camera to Dylan.

“Is it?” I said quietly.

“Because I don’t think your fans would like seeing how you treat people, I can only imagine the headlines tomorrow, “POPULAR MUSICIAN and the country’s sweetheart roughhandle two poor sisters at WilderSphere Events” I said and Dylan frowned.

“I apologize,” Dylan said, his jaw tightening slightly.

“Sorry for the misunderstanding.” He said to Ailany and then turned to look at me. “And for how this was handled.”

I didn’t lower my phone; instead, I turned it to Wyatt. “You’re going to apologize to me, my sister and this woman,” I said.

“I apologize,” Wyatt said, clearly displeased but I didn’t care.

“Good,” I said and lowered my phone.

Wyatt looked like he was swallowing fire, but he didn’t say another word and then they walked away.

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding.

“Ahn ahn…” Ailany whispered beside me. “You really did that.”

“Don’t just start,” I muttered. But if I were going to be honest? I felt really good.

“I can’t believe you made him apologize,” she added, still in shock and I shrugged slightly.

“Let’s just go home,” I said after we thanked the lady who had helped us earlier. I turned and was about to leave when…

“Miss Carter.” Someone called and I turned to see it was Geo Wilder.

What????

“Sir,” I called and he inched closer.

“I saw what happened and I loved how you stood your ground.” He said and I paused.

Wait…

What?

“For someone who missed her opportunity earlier…you showed composure under pressure.” He said pulling a card out of his pocket and handing it to me.

“Come to WilderSphere tomorrow, you’ll have another interview.” He said and my breath caught.

Another… chance?

“Don’t be late this time.” He added and I collected the card from him.

Oh my goodness, I was getting another chance!!!

“Yes, sir, I won’t be,” I said happily and he gave a small nod and walked away.

Who would have thought that forcing Dylan Reed to apologize would bring me such luck?

Maybe today wasn’t so bad after all.