To say Derek was just mad would be a huge understatement because from what Nova could feel, he was livid.
"Why are they here?" Nova decided to ask in his place since he looks just seconds away from running down and shooting all of them. Unlike him, Nova was petrified.
How could they know about the ruse? How much did they know already? Who told them in the first place? Was it Tory? Then does this mean that she knows? Is this perhaps her way of blackmailing? Without coming out from hiding and letting the crowd do its work? Because if it was, then, Nova will have to admit, it was a solid plan and up until now, it was definitely working.
But admitting that the opponent has an upper-hand wouldn't help them. Thinking their way out of the situation would. And so, Nova began to think.
But before she could work up her brain and think of a way out of this, she was tugged by the hand by Derek who was leading them out of her cabin.
"Uh, Sir, what should we do about...them?" Genelia managed to ask but Derek paid her no heed.
Derek's rather large hand had engulfed Nova's tiny wrist whole as he was tugging at her gently, making their way towards his own office. Upon reaching it, Derek pulled out a phone from the shelf, dialed a number and waited for the other side to pick up.
When they did, Derek started explaining their situation. Just as he was done he cut himself off, mid-explanation, as his lips pursed and a muscle in his jaw ticked in annoyance. Could be annoyance, could be stress, Nova couldn't yet say exactly.
But then his eyes found hers, he sighed into the phone, gestured to close the door behind her without speaking and when the said things were done, he put the phone on speaker.
"...I cannot believe you Adams, this is the first time and it's such a wrong mission to fuck up yet you managed to do it. How could you be this careless? What is Newton doing? Is it her fault? If it is then you have to let me know as soon as possible, we will have to think straight and think fast to replace her. She shouldn't have been chosen in the first placeâyou lot had no chemistry, of course people were bound to know! What did you even do to let it spread like that?" the voice on the other sideâwhich seemed to belong to Officer Pentonâbasically shouted at them through the device. Nova couldn't help but feel shameful as she ducked her head low, looking at her fiddling fingers.
She had managed to pull Derek down with her. The first case he messed up, the case that involves her.
"I have no idea how they know, Penton, you have toâ"
"No, Adams, I don't have to do shit, it's you who has to take care of the situation. I can't believe you actually called me up to tell you what to do. This isn't like you at all. You're next in position so you'd better act that way," that said, a beep indicated that he had cut the call.
To say Nova was absolutely humiliated wouldn't be exaggeration at all, because that's exactly how it felt.
"Fuck." The filthy word on Derek's lips brought Nova out of her guilt-trip.
There was no way she was going to cry just because her senior said something about her. He was the expert, she was an amateur, she was bound to make mistakes and although, right now she couldn't pinpoint the main reason for the ruse falling apart, there was no way she was going to sit and wait for Derek to think of something when it should be her redeeming her mistake. Whether she made a mistake or not was out of the question, she will have a lot of time to dwell on that.
Penton said they didn't have chemistry? Well, not just him but everyone else was going to see just how much real this ruse could be.
*
They were still sitting in Derek's room, nova's mind plotting and Derek trying to get to the root of the cause. They were working as a team, as they should. Derek seemed to have calmed down by now, but that didn't mean he was taking things any lighter, he was still going about giving his all. She didn't tell him what she was planning yet, thinking it could come handy if his reaction be genuine, but she still needed to get to know the main cause of the entire situation so she sat there and listened while Derek had a talk with James.
"What do you mean it can't be that bastard?" Derek asked and Nova already knew the answer. It couldn't be Lee.
"He doesn't know about you two. His only plan was to get you but because he couldn't do that, he went for Ms. Newton because he thought she was important to you and they would have an upper-hand." James said through the phone that was kept on Derek's glass table, the table that was reflecting the sky that was visible through Derek's large windows.
Nova's office was nothing compared to this, his office was much better than hers. Here, it actually felt like she was working in a corporate company.
"Who's 'they'?" Derek asked next.
"Lee and Tory. Tory is in with him. We know that now." James told them but for some reason, Nova was still unsure of something.
That night, the night when she met Lee, she remembered he was talking to someone. She also remembered that it was a woman he was talking to. And although the conversation was a bit of a haze, she still knew that the person did not want him to do anything with Nova. His target was Derek and Derek alone. So it made no sense that they would be the ones to tell on the media. As far as Nova was concerned she would say that they had absolutely no clue about the engagement being fake.
It was a sudden thought that just hit her, an instinct of sorts, and Nova was not letting it go just like that. But instead of interrupting, she decided to remain silent and hear full information.
"Lee's account has been has been receiving monthly payments since the last two years. It isn't a small amount either, he's been getting paid heavily. Almost seems like its double the payment," James said through the device and suddenly, a name popped in her head.
"Tory," she said out loud.
Derek's attention turned towards her and she stood up to get closer to the device so that James could hear her as well.
"It has to be Tory," she clarified.
"You mean to say that Tory's been paying him?" Derek asked in disbelief.
"No! Of course not, she's barely evenâ no, that's not what I'm saying. I need you to check Lee's bank record. Check his transaction history as well," Nova said, having a very strong feeling that she was on the right track.
"It would waste a lot of our time, Ms. Newton, and that's something we don't have. What if we don't find anything? We'll just be stalling," Derek sighed as he said that.
"Yes, but we won't know that unless we check." She said, looking up at him, really meaning to be heard this time.
"We haven't gotten the time, Ms. Newton. Especially not now. We have to be acting and we have to be acting quick. The crowd is still in front of the building, raising a ruckus as we speak."
"Yes, Derek, I see that but will you, for once, listen and see to what I'm saying?"
Nova knew this was the worst time to be acting up but she couldn't see any other way out. And quite frankly, Derek constantly dismissing her was bound to get to her. He kept up an attitude at a time like this where Nova was the one to blame and she had to prove herself. So, she didn't feel sorry for snapping at him because Derek really needed to listen to her. And if he wouldn't...
"Ms. Newtonâ"
"Alright then, that's enough answer for me," said Nova, really agitated now but also adamant on solving this whole thing. If she has to do it alone, then be it.
Fishing out her mobile phone from the pocket of her coat jacket, she dialed Jason's number and didn't spare a second to tell him to dig into Lee's bank account and other necessary information. Jason was quick to do his part which had Nova feeling like she was indeed doing the right thing.
"Yes, monthly payments to a Tory Bran. His phone has a contact number under the name 'Bran' as well with whom he used to chat about the money but there's no new message as of now. It's not a small amount that's being sent either, almost twice what he used earn at the company and he was there at a good enough position. Ms. Newtonâwhat is going on, isâ"
"Thanks a lot, Jason, you were the biggest help," saying that she cut the call and looked over at Derek who had told James something and hung up as well. He now looked at Nova, with a blank expression.
But she didn't have time for their games, not now. She stalled enough and now was the time to take care of the situation at hand and not delve deeper into what they just found out. Seems like the paparazzi isn't much big of a problem.
Taking Derek's hand in hers, Nova got out of his office and lead him to the lift. Pressing the button that would take them to the ground floor she just stood there, a little angry, a little nervous, but still in her composure.
"If you would care to fill me up on the information, Ms Newton, that would work wonders," Derek said sarcastically.
"Tory works with Lee, but she doesn't know he's in custody. If she did, she would blow up his phone and ask about his whereabouts by now but Jason just told me she hasn't done any such thing. Lee has Tory's name saved in his phone as 'Bran,' which means he knows her personally. In her documents, Tory hasn't used a last name, which means she doesn't use it anymore but she surely used to because her account name suggests so. Now that's all things to ponder some other time. Right about now, we don't have the time but I do know, for a fact, that Tory is in with him but she doesn't know that he's been caught. So now the point is, it's neither Lee nor Tory who informed the mediaâthey are in on some bigger mess," she told him, all the while looking forward at the lift gates.
"Then who told them, Ms. Newton? That is the question here," Derek asked.
"My guess, Derek, is that no one told them. Play along," she said, smirking slightly when the doors dinged.
As soon as the doors opened up, Nova stood straighter and shifted closer to Derek, basically squishing by his side.
"What in the world, Ms. Newton..." Derek trailed off as he said that under his breath, and Nova made her way across the main gates, giggling slightly.
"Careful there, Adam," she said, smiling up at him. "All you have to do is act like the loving fiancé that you are, won't you do that for me, hun?" she winked.
Well, that worked wonders, because as soon as she said it, Derek let out a low sound from the back of his throat and a hand snaked its way around her to pull her even closer to the man beside her's body as they were walked towards the main doors.
"What are you planning, Ms. Newton," Derek whispered in Nova's ear when they got out of the safety of the building and in front of the mass of people standing in front of them. Although his question was a professional one, the tingles still appeared, starting from the tip of her ears, where his breath tickled her, to the rest of her body.
But Nova didn't reply. Instead, she looked up at his eyes, then down at their entwined hands, and then looked over at the crowd after taking a step towards them.
The crowd was raging, even more after her and Derek stepped foot outside but what Nova was about to do needed to be done.
No chemistry, they said.
All sorts of reporters were struggling to get out of the barricade that the bodyguards had made so as to prevent the crowd from entering. All sorts of questions were being thrown at them and listening to the questions alone, Nova knew that she was right.
"Is your engagement a ruse, Mr. Watson?"
"Are you marrying under a business contract?"
"Is this some kind of Business tactic?"
"How did your father manage to contact Mr. Newton?"
"Is this some kind of popularity stunt?"
"Who is this woman? Did you even know each other prior to your engagement announcement?"
These people knew nothing. Nothing at all. They were just doing what they did best, stirring up unnecessary drama and pulling a TRP stunt, blaming it on the other party while doing so.
It would be fun to watch them eat their own words and change their headlines in a matter of seconds.
Raising a hand up so as to get the crowd to stop bickering and listen to what she had to say, Nova realised that they were not going to give in this easy. So she decided to do the one thing that would never fail the task of getting someone's attention. Especially lots with a camera.
She turned towards Derek, got on her tip-toes and kissed Derek. On the corner of his mouth. And that was enough to get the crown silent and looking; and for Derek turn tense.
Of course. Public display of affection. It just never fails.
"I see we now have your attention," Nova said in her sweet voice, making it even sweeter to get what she wanted.
"We actually have an announcement to make, me and Adam," she said, sparing a glance at Derek and giving him a loving gaze. Thankfully, Derek was following up because he stared at her too, and she was sure he looked like he was fascinated with her and not actually questioning her sanity. Couples tend to look at each other like that: in disbelief, wondering how they got to each other and stuff. Nova's read about it.
"Why don't you tell them?" she said to him, grinning.
Shaking his head slightly, he put his hand on the small of her back and said, "No, my love. We discussed, it should be you to announce this."
The crowd was now murmuring to themselves, their angry shouts now nowhere to be heard. That means her plan was working.
"Sure," Nova said to him and then faced the crowd. Blushing, she put on a show of shying away from the crowd a little, but then decided to deliver the final blow.
"We were going to announce this at the fun-raiser that we'd planned for the end of this month but since the public seemed to be impatient and because this came as a perfect opportunity, we would like to announce it here and now that..." she paused to look at Derek and gave him a smile when he held her a little closer to her. She could tell he was nervous. But this needed to be done.
"We wish to announce that...we are getting married in two months!"
Derek was beyond tense, the crowd let out a gasp and it was dead silent for a few moments. Until...
'The Watson's and the Newton's are all set to tie the knot. The marriage is said to take place two months from now on as Ms. Newton just disclosed the wedding date to the world. We hope the very best for the both of them and will keep you updated.'
It was this easy, Nova thought as she beamed at the crowd and then at Derek who looked without any expression at the crowd. He was dumbfounded, wasn't he? Nova felt like laughing. And it caught Derek's attention because then he looked down at her, smiling when he saw her beaming face.
Something new flashed across his features, and before Nova could decipher what it was, Derek dipped down and dropped a soft, sweet peck on her lips.
Guess it was her turn to be dumbfounded.
"Let's get inside, shall we? I suppose our work is done here," he said through a small, magical smile after he pulled the slightest bit away.
Nova had no choice but to nod and as soon as she did it, Derek dropped another sweet peck on her lips and she was sure she was flushed with colour. The screaming crowd seemed silent for a moment to her, until Derek decided to lead both of them back into the building.
------------------
A/N:
Hey there! Here I am with a new update. I guess this is the pace I'll be going on from now on, I don't even know why I don't know anything these days. All I do is waste my time on fanfics and youtube lol.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed it! Online classes don't seem fun anymore tho, I really enjoyed them when the lockdown had just started but now they just give me a headache because I have no idea what my classes are all about.
Yeah so I strayed again. What I'm saying is, the usual. Say what you think of Nova in this chapter or about Derek or Lee or Tory or Jason or James or Penton or the whole situation or the announcement or about anyone/anything really. Hope you liked the update, please read, comment, vote, share, add, follow, love and enjoy! See you next time <3
-Z.