As Aliana and Gavriel walked side by side, their steps perfectly in sync as though they naturally belonged beside one another.

The entire lobby seemed to fall into stunned silence around them.

Together, they strode through the entrance without sparing even a single glance towards the visibly shaken Jacob and Carol. Both of whom looked as though every trace of colour had been drained from their faces at the sight of them together.

Jacob, in particular, appeared completely frozen in place. It was as though his brain had abruptly stopped functioning, his neurons refusing to process the impossible scene unfolding right before his eyes.

Because the woman who had been entangled in a scandal with him only hours ago was now proudly walking beside another man.

Meanwhile, the two people responsible for shattering Jacob’s composure looked utterly unaffected. Gavriel remained cold, calm and unreadable, while Aliana carried herself with quiet elegance at his side, her hand still looped around his arm.

As for Nigel and Cillian, the two men merely exchanged brief side glances towards Jacob before quickly suppressing the smirks threatening to appear on their faces. Then, without another word, they followed behind the couple, silently savouring the completely ashen expression overtaking Jacob’s face.

Seconds passed when Jacob noticed the couple suddenly taking a sharp right instead of heading towards the executive elevator leading to Aliana’s office. His muddled brain abruptly came to a screeching halt.

His brows furrowed deeply as unease instantly crept through him.

Something was wrong.

Leaning closer to Carol once again, who still looked moments away from openly drooling over Gavriel with her mouth slightly parted, Jacob asked in a low, tight voice.

"Carol, what’s going on? Why aren’t they heading to the executive floor?"

"I-I’m not sure, Mr. Grant." Her eyes continued following the couple’s retreating figures before sudden realisation hit her. "It looks like they’re heading towards the conference hall."

In that moment, it felt as though a bolt of lightning had crashed through Jacob’s entire body.

His pupils constricted because he instantly realised why they might be going there.

"Fuck!"

The curse tore sharply from his mouth before he immediately began striding after them, his expression darkening with every passing second while Carol hurriedly followed behind.

Ahead of them, Gavriel and Aliana disappeared through the doors leading directly backstage into the massive conference hall, leaving Jacob with a growing sense of dread twisting inside him.

He felt as though he was about to lose his mind. His heart thundered violently inside his chest while a terrible premonition screamed within him that nothing good was about to come from whatever Gavriel and Aliana had planned together.

But no matter how quickly he moved, he was already too late.

The moment he entered backstage, at least six massive bodyguards were already stationed at the entrance, standing like immovable walls prepared to block anyone attempting to disrupt the event.

Watching the four figures disappear further inside, Jacob gritted his teeth furiously before snapping at the guards, "What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Let me through! I’m the CEO of this company!"

One of the bodyguards dressed in a black suit calmly assessed him before replying in a firm voice, "I’m sorry, sir, but we’ve been given strict orders not to allow anyone inside until the conference is over."

"The conference?" Jacob repeated in disbelief.

At that, he abruptly spun around and hurried towards the main entrance of the conference hall instead.

The large doors were shut.

Jacob cursed viciously under his breath before trying one last time and pulling hard on the handle. Fortunately, the doors were not locked from the inside.

Quickly, he slipped inside with Carol following close behind, only for his dull yellow eyes to widen at the sight that greeted him, instantly confirming his worst fears.

Before him sat reporters and media personnel from nearly every major news channel in the country. All settled around neatly arranged round tables with cameras already prepared and aimed directly at the stage ahead.

At the centre of that stage stood a table and three chairs arranged neatly beneath the blinding lights, waiting to be occupied.

Jacob’s breathing hitched when, seconds later, he watched Aliana walk onto the stage alongside Gavriel, followed closely by Cillian and Nigel from backstage.

Almost instantly, a wave of confusion and shock swept through the media personnel seated throughout the hall. Since none of them had expected to see Gavriel Valentine of all people appearing at this press conference.

When they had been summoned here, everyone had assumed this conference would be related to the scandal that broke out the previous night.

So why were the leaders of Archon Group present here instead?

"Did we miss something? Or is this press conference about some major announcement regarding their partnership?" one reporter whispered in confusion.

"Believe me, I’m asking the exact same question," another murmured back quietly.

The hushed whispers rapidly spread throughout the hall, and Jacob could hear every single one of them.

But at this moment, there was only one thing he could do.

Watch.

Watch helplessly as everything unfolded right before his eyes while he stood there utterly powerless to stop it.

His gaze shifted towards the professional video cameras mounted around the conference hall, and the moment he noticed the glaring red lights flashing on their tiny screens, his blood ran cold.

This entire press conference was being broadcast live!

Even amidst the confusion consuming the room, camera flashes continued exploding wildly from every direction as Gavriel, Aliana, and Cillian calmly took their respective seats as though none of this chaos affected them in the slightest.

Aliana sat down first, and Gavriel immediately took the seat beside her, while Cillian settled himself next to them soon after.

Nigel stepped up to the podium positioned at the side of the stage before beginning calmly.

"Good morning, and welcome everyone to this press conference conducted by the Van Empire. This meeting was called on such short notice due to the urgency of the situation. Our goal is to bring clarity to the news that broke yesterday and to stop it from spiralling out of control."

The entire hall instantly fell into complete silence.

Because Nigel’s words made it abundantly clear that the purpose of this press conference was to address the explosive scandal involving Aliana Vanderbilt and Jacob Grant that had surfaced the previous night.

However, one question still remained in everyone’s mind.

Why were the leaders of Archon Group, the topmost company in the country, present at this particular conference?

Since none of the media personnel had been outside earlier to witness the grand entrance of Gavriel and Aliana together, confusion continued spreading rapidly across their faces.

But before anyone could voice their questions aloud, Nigel continued smoothly, "And now, I would like to invite the chairman of Archon Group, Mr. Gavriel Valentine, to address the issue before you."

Nigel shifted his gaze towards Gavriel, who sat there with his calm and commanding presence.

His icy blue eyes slowly swept across the silent hall before finally landing on the lone figure standing far behind the media crowd, with dread clearly written all over his face.

And Gavriel could feel it.

He could practically taste the fear and panic gripping Jacob’s heart, and the sight pleased him immensely. Watching the man sweat bullets like this was deeply satisfying after everything that had happened.

Though compared to what he truly intended to do to him, this was merely just the beginning.

For now, seeing Jacob like this was enough to calm the bloodthirst simmering inside Gavriel ever since those pictures and videos had begun circulating online.

With that thought, Gavriel lightly pressed the button to switch on the microphone before him and finally began.