Once we left the cafe, we decided to make our way out in the open. A small walk across the public park was the perfect way to show the world that we were not afraid of public opinion.
If they wanted a show, we would give them one—hand in hand, daring anyone to speak against it.
The reporters maintained a decent distance away from us as they documented us. But something felt weird.
It might be my paranoia talking, but I felt like someone was trying to follow us around a little more closely than they needed to. Every time I turned my head, I saw someone’s shadow haunting me from the corner of my eyes.
This was supposed to be a performance, but suddenly everything felt too real.
My paranoia did not go unnoticed by Damian as he discreetly moved to shield me from the reporters. His action looked natural, almost as if he had not noticed the reporters.
He did it with the ease of someone who has always protected what he wanted—and for one insane second, I wanted that someone to be me.
I shifted around to get a little more comfortable as well, and that was when I saw it, a flash of metal shining in the sunlight. It did not look like any camera I had seen before.
My heart skipped a beat as another possibility of what it could be came to my mind. Reality dug its claws into the moment we were still trying to keep wrapped in fantasy.
’Are we... in danger?’
Damian was a public figure, and thus, his safety was an important concern. Just for this date, we had agreed that his bodyguards would watch us from afar to give the illusion that we were alone.
There had always been a risk involved with them going out, but I had never expected anyone to take advantage of the opening we had given them.
"Is something wrong?... Don’t look that side. It would be for the best if the people following us do not know they have been discovered."
Damian warned me as he pulled me close to his body to whisper these words right in my ear. He was not that much taller than me but our bulk difference made me appear smaller in his arms.
Too close—too protective—too possessive for something that was supposed to be nothing.
When he bent down to whisper these words to me, I could not help but shudder at the tone of his voice. He was just so close and so warm wrapped around me. His warmth was making me forget the danger we were in.
I hated that danger made us look more real than anything we staged.
And then... reality crashed down around us as someone yelled. There was a loud firing noise and several cameras started to flash.
"Damian—"
I called out, terrified for his safety now. Had he been shot trying to defend me? Had something happened to him?
The idea of him dying here—for me—burned through my composure faster than any performance ever could.
Why was he not replying to me? Had that stray bullet actually hurt him? Why was... it getting difficult to breathe? My chest was beginning to hurt now.
"-NNA! JENNA—! TAKE A DEEP BREATH... Good. Now focus on me. Everything is alright. The shot we heard was from the police. They shot the thief they were chasing. Everything is alright now."
I slowly noticed Damian’s arms around me. His warmth felt familiar and refreshing and his voice pulled me back to myself.
He held me like I belonged there—like letting go wasn’t an option.
Slowly, I began to notice things around me. Damian was cradling my head on his shoulder, his hand buried in my hair as he tried to calm me down from my attack. It felt so... calming in his arms, almost as if nothing could reach me here.
And I knew, without question, that the cameras were catching every second of it. A perfect scandal. A perfect shield. A perfect trap.
On the other hand, everything else around us was chaotic.
The police were loudly yelling, trying their best to get the terrified people under their control and failing miserably.
And then there were the reporters, who felt confused whether they should be covering the news about our date or this new scoop.
I could only bite my lips as I watched this happen. I did not want my hard work on this date to go to waste. But at the same time, it did not feel right for me to interfere with what was going on.
Why did it ache that I had to step away from him when I should’ve been relieved?
So I let the police continue as I pulled away from Damian and stood at a ’safe’ distance away from him. The loss of his warmth made me feel a little lonely, but I knew I could not keep counting on him forever.
He noticed the distance—his eyes narrowed for a split second, like I had rejected him.
Damian let go of me, but his eyes told me he had a plan in his mind. He tugged my wrist and led me toward the police and the reporters. The police officer noticed him, but they did not address him until he called out to them first.
His fingers stayed around my wrist just long enough to claim—but not long enough to admit it.
"Officer, did something happen here?"
He asked, politely and seamlessly inserting himself into the situation. The police officer also seemed to know who Damian was and gave him a polite reply.
"Ah... sir? Y-You want to know what happened? Ah yes... we just caught a thief. We saw that he was trying to shoot someone, so we decided to take care of this before things could get ugly..."
The officer told us and Damian immediately capitalised on this chance.
"Trying to shoot someone...? Can that someone be my partner, Jenna? There are people out there who are not very... happy with how she looks. I am afraid that they would have tried to harm her in some way."
Every syllable was a loaded bullet—aimed straight at every person who hated seeing me alive.
No one missed the point Damian was trying to make or whom he was trying to blame here. The reporters were even more keen to hear him speak about his suspicions.
After all, this was the best gossip available for them.
"Mr. Black, are you trying to say that ’someone’ deliberately tried to harm your partner?"
A reporter asked, his voice curious as he tried to fish out more information. But both Damian and I were too experienced to give them much.
"Well, it might be a coincidence, or it might be a conspiracy. We cannot say it for sure at this point."
I added in an innocent voice that made me look younger than I actually was. The reporters were giving me concerned looks, and I felt sure that they were making up stories about what happened here.
Let them panic. Let them write. Let the right people feel cornered.
’Somehow, this dangerous situation has become an opportunity for us. All I need to do is make use of this situation and everything should be alright.’
Damian’s presence reminded me that there was no need for me to fear anything. I was not alone here.