What was published by the media was all but a facade meant to satisfy the curiousity of the public. The media—in most cases—was an extension of the wealthy.
It was controlled to fit their personal gain.
So knowing about a person through what was shown on television didn't count.
Theo knew he would have to personally meet Kai Frost at the gala, establishing a relationship and exchanging pleasantries.
If he could thwart the suspicion of the main man of the event, there wouldn't be much people doubting his identity.
That was Theo's game plan.
Theo sighed out of relief.
Even after Francis had dropped this unprecedented bombshell on him, he had at least come up with a solid game plan in the nick of time.
But there was something that still bothered Theo, like an irresistible itch tormenting the back of his brain.
"You said that our target, Zara Blake, is going to be there, correct?"
"Yes sire." Francis responded routinely.
"But that doesn't make any sense." Theo thought out loud, and Francis raised a brow.
"She was exiled from her family business, right? The Blake empire."
"Correct." Francis confirmed. He had already seen where the young prince was going with this but waited for him to arrive at a conclusion.
This was what Francis usually did in Theo's developmental years that made him to be the sharp-witted man he is. He would plan something, and allow the young master to unravel it all on his own.
"But whose name would she go under if she was to be present at the gala then? She certainly can't go there as a Blake. Her family would eat her alive and the media would be all over it." Theo mused.
"Which means…" Theo snapped his fingers, trying to make a connection in his head.
"Kai Frost himself had her invited." Theo concluded, and Francis smiled so faintly that no one would have caught it. It was like he heard a "ding" ring in Theo's head.
The young master had quickly figured it out.
He was impressed. This was a trait that all heirs to the throne should have.
Francis replied Theo with a subtle nod.
"We received word from our spy team that there might be an unlikely alliance between Zara Blake and Kai Frost. Of course, an alliance that involves business and diplomacy. It is very likely that Kai Frost wants to use her as an angle to tap from the wealth of the Blake empire. He does have several connections like that with other powerful families."
Theo scoured over all the details. If Kai Frost had Zara personally invited, he would have to tread even more carefully. He wouldn't want to give off the impression that he was trying to court the host's new business partner.
"Should I arrange for your entourage, sire?"
Theo clasped his forehead. He hadn't even agreed to go yet, and this man was talking about rallying his escorts.
Nevertheless, he agreed. A subtle nod that was Francis' cue to leave.
Theo sighed, relaxing back on his chair
He was still skeptical about the whole matter. But Francis had already begun the motion, and it would only be fair if he indulged his arrangements.
Theo quickly began to scribble on a sheet of paper. Afterward, he beckoned a staff with a special button under his desk, handing him the handwritten reports he had arranged on plain sheets for proper documentation and mailing to his father.
He had said that he would wait a bit before passing down the duties, but that didn't matter much now that he was in the full heat of his father's plan.
After that, he abruptly stood, tired of resting his behind on a chair all day, no matter how comfortably well it was made.
"Looks like I have a gala to prepare for tomorrow." He said.
"But I'll have to try that jacuzzi first."
Theo thought of the naked concubine laying in wait for him, all soaked and wet in the tub. The thought of her glistening body made Theo smile. He was finally going to get some action after a long boring wait behind the castle walls.
The penthouse was quiet when Zara returned, the soft click of her heels echoing against the marble floor. Bertha had left a note on the counter—"Had a late shoot. Don't wait up. Love you, Queen."
She exhaled, her shoulders sagging as she dropped her bag and peeled off the blazer Kai insisted she wear. She tossed it onto the nearest couch like it burned her. Everything about that man rubbed her the wrong way—his arrogance, his control, the smug smirk he wore like a badge of honour.
But most of all… it was the way he looked at her.
Like she was already his. Like he knew things about her that not even she knew yet.
Zara made her way to the large windows, staring out at Imperial City's skyline. The lights blinked like stars below, mocking her descent from grace.
Only a week ago, she was a bride-to-be, the celebrated daughter of Nathan Blake. Now?
Now she was arm candy for a mafia boss with too much power and an interest in her that made no sense.
She hugged herself.
"What did I do to deserve this?" she whispered.
Her eyes flicked down to the black Frost Industries card she had tucked in her purse. She pulled it out and stared at it. Smooth. Sleek. Dangerous. Just like the man who gave it to her.
She plopped on the couch, resting her head and closing her eyes shut. Nothing would have prepared her for the deep husky voice that came to her ears.
"Hello, princess."
"Aagghhhh", Zara screamed, turning her head to come nose-to-nose with Kai Frost.
"What are you doing here? How did you—-"
"Shhhh" Kai brought a single finger to her lips.
His eyes were a bit droopy, and his breath stank of expensive wine. Zara put two and two together.
This man was not in his right senses.
"Why would my girlfriend ask such of me" Kai stuttered, his usual intense bravado vanished in an instant.
"I'm meant to be where you are, and the same goes for you."
"It didn't say so in the contract.", Zara retorted.
"Fuck the contract." Kai said, his voice slurry and draggy.
"Real relationships don't work like that."
"Just wait a minute—" Zara said as she extended both hands and pushed him onto the couch away from her.
"How did you even get in here? Don't tell me the mafia lord suddenly brings himself so low to jump through a window."
Kai chuckled at her words.
"Psshhh. I'm a master of breaking and entering, not a lowly thief. Why jump through the window when I can use the front door?"
Kai held up a Bobby pin for Zara to see, much to her surprise.
The door to Bertha's penthouse was card operated. There was also a keyhole of course, but breaking in with just a pin shouldn't have been possible.
"See, I'm a master at my work. Been doing this since I learned how to walk. Among other things, of course."
"Other things like what?" Zara asked, suddenly interested in this new version of Kai. She could finally get to know him better and have him open up to her. She was not going to waste it.
"Well…" Kai reclined further into the couch, his eyes growing distant as he struggled to recall memories under the influence of alcohol.
"I killed my first man when I was 10. A straight bullet through the skull."
Zara held her hands to her mouth.
"You don't say—-"
"My father made me do it." Kai interrupted.
"And you weren't traumatised or anything?"
"I'd seen him do it multiple times, so it wasn't a big deal when I did it. Trauma has different meanings to different people, princess. I couldn't be traumatised by something my family had normalised." He explained.
Zara very well saw his point.
"My father shaped me up to become the hard man I am today." Kai continued.
"Life became something of a one way street for me. It was kill or be killed, like a black and white image with no colours." Kai revealed, and Zara couldn't believe she was beginning to sympathize with a ruthless killer.
"I tried to look for that colour once. I fell in love for the first time. She was a drug baron. A pretty great one at that. She could export anything anywhere. Across borders, mountains, oceans, you name it."
Kai paused, wallowing in that particular memory for an unusually longer time period.
Zara finally asked, tired of the wait. "She seemed so valuable to you. What happened to her?"
"Let's just say, I'd learnt the hard way to never mix personal relationships into business" Kai said.
"She eventually stole a huge truckload of drugs from me worth billions, and now, she's with another guy. A gang leader like myself. I heard they're in Bayford County. I don't know much about him, her, or what they do. I don't care."
Kai said that last part with a bitterness that made her heart ache. Seeing him so vulnerable was just something she hadn't expected so soon.
"So you just went back to default? To black and white again?" She asked. .
"Yeah, for the meantime at least. But now, it seems I'm starting to see colours again." Kai said as he looked deep in Zara's eyes with a fiery intensity that made her breath hitch.
He suddenly came closer, his lips slightly parted, and Zara's instincts screamed at her to shift back, to run, to push him away and send him packing.
But against all logic, she found herself frozen as Kai's lips claimed hers.
Suddenly, he wasn't so gentle anymore. He swallowed her lips in his with fiery passion, sticking his tongue in her mouth and letting it rub tantalizingly against her palate.
Zara couldn't help but return it, the gesture riling her up and making her feel hot in her groin region.
But Kai wasn't done yet. He scooped her up from the couch, his firm hands gripping the curves of her ass, as he set her down gently at the far end, before placing himself over her, kissing and fondling his way down her chest.
His fingers found their way through her cups and teased at her pointed nipples, flicking and rubbing them in a way that made Zara's entire body arch upward. A moan came through her lips, but she stifled it.
"I want to hear you, princess."
Zara didn't know how, but those words flipped a switch in her biology, turning her on so much that a slight moan escaped the depths of her being against her will.
"Uggghhhh." She yelped in reponse to Kai's firm grip on her breasts.
"Attagurl", he said with a low growl.
Meanwhile his hands kept going lower, and lower, and just as Zara was about to return the favour, positioning her hands over his hardened crotch in an attempt to undo the zipper, Kai suddenly stopped what he was doing.
He sat upright quickly, his face flush with what an emotion Zara couldn't seem to place. His eyes suddenly became sharper, and his attitude had reverted back to the original.
He had come off the highness from the alcohol.
"I don't think we should—" Kai struggled to find the words.
"Yeah. You're right. It's too early anyway." Zara promptly responded.
For a moment, a pained expression flashed across his face, almost like Zara confirming his words gave him a bit of a disappointment.
But just as quickly, the pained look vanished, and he got up, smoothening his navy blue suit that Zara had come to know as his trademark outfit.
"I actually came here to deliver this to you."
Kai gestured to a bag Zara hadn't noticed earlier. Too tired to stand up to go check herself (more likely too embarrassed after the shameful incident), Zara simply asked: "What's in it?"
"What you'll be wearing tomorrow. You're a woman of class. That outfit, would be an acquired taste."
Kai tried to sound upbeat, but after the intense awkwardness that had just ensued, his tone didn't sit quite right.
"I'll see myself out now" He said, and Zara quietly watched him leave through the door.
The little moment they shared had ended abruptly, and in the most absurd way possible, but Zara actually liked it.
She loved that he got to share some things with her, and as for their steamy moment, she felt something in Kai that she had never felt before:
Desire.
Maybe being stuck with him isn't so bad.
Zara thought within herself.
Tomorrow, she would be at his side at the Apex Investors Gala, surrounded by the same kind of people who had laughed at her downfall. Her stepmother would probably be there. So would the Desmonds. Maybe even Ariana.
Zara felt the nausea rise, but she swallowed it back.
No.
She wasn't going to let them win again. Not after everything she'd survived. Not after Nathan disowned her, not after Ariana stole her wedding—and certainly not after she got arrested for a crime she didn't commit.
This time, she wouldn't run or cry or beg.
She would wear the dress. She would smile for the cameras. She would walk beside Kai Frost with her head held high.
And if the world thought she belonged to him? Good.
Let them believe what they wanted.
Because the moment she found the truth about Diego Vasquez, the moment she uncovered who had forged that certificate and flipped her life upside down—she would turn everything around.
Zara Blake was no longer the victim.
She was the storm that would follow.