“Brad...” Jenna called my name before letting out an exasperated sigh.
I could hear and feel her frustration toward me but there wasn’t much that I could do. Jenna only called me by my nickname in that tone of voice when she thought that I deserved to be punished. I was already too old for her to punish me in any way, though. I heaved a sigh while thinking that if Dahlia wanted to lock herself up in her room, then that was her choice. Things might be better for her this way for the time being. Regardless of what Jenna thought, it was much better than having her trying to escape from the mansion.
“I’m busy. Is there something else that I can help you with?” I asked dismissively.
“My father always told me that a man becomes a real man after he gets married but apparently that wasn’t the case for you...” she said with a disgusted scoff.
I watched Jenna turn on her heels and march out of the room. Jenna was beyond angry and once again it seemed to be my fault. Lately, everything seemed to be my fault one way or another. My eyes shifted to the large pile of documents that needed to be signed by Anthony that rested on my table. A long sigh left my lips at the thought that I had to review all these documents for him as well. Taking over Anthony’s work had been hell for me and it wasn’t only because it took so much time. Anthony’s work was painfully boring and so many things felt like useless chores without meaning. I reached for a document and began flipping through the pages.
“Just how many of these are there?” I muttered to myself.
**Ring Ring Ring**
The sound of my phone ringing felt like it could serve as a good excuse for me to leave the mansion and go back to the casino or somewhere where I felt like I belonged. It was strange, but I found myself wishing silently that something had blown up at one of the casinos that required my immediate attention. One look at the name on my phone screen told me that I never got anything that I wished for.
Instead of one of my men calling me, I received a call from my father instead. It seemed like something had blown up somewhere that I hadn’t wished for. I connected the line without saying a word as I waited for him to say what he needed to.
“There’s a big problem,” he announced without beating around the bush.
“What is it?” I asked without any interest.
I already knew well enough that whenever my old man called it would be nothing but trouble. The past few days, my mood has been darker than normal even though I didn’t want to acknowledge it at first. Hearing more selfish demands from my father was the last thing that I wanted to go through at that moment.
“What have you been doing all this time?” he snapped as if we hadn’t just seen each other.
“I’ve been covering all of Anthony’s work on top of my own. What else?” I replied sarcastically.
“I take it that means that you haven’t been keeping an eye on the news...” he said accusingly before clicking his tongue.
“No one said anything,” I muttered while referring to the large team of people working to keep up Anthony’s public appearances.
“They haven’t to you, but they’ve said plenty to me,” he replied loudly.
“What did they have to say?” I asked coldly.
If anything, I found the entire team unnecessary and extremely annoying. How they made sure that everything was perfect down to the last strand of hair on my head whenever I had to head out to public events as Anthony was so suffocating. It never failed to amaze me how Anthony could live a life like that so effortlessly and naturally.
“There’s not enough of you and your wife in the news. In fact, there’s nothing about you two in the news except for articles and posts on social media pointing out that there is nothing from you two after your wedding. Nothing!” father complained loudly.
I should have seen this coming, but I had conveniently ignored what the public wanted out of Anthony and his beautiful wife. The wedding created such a huge buzz, and everyone seemed to enjoy talking and gossiping about it. I had this picture of wild animals sinking their teeth into a dead deer carcass before yanking its meat out and tearing it into bits. That was how I saw the news outlet and the people who enjoyed gossip so much in this country.
“The wedding is over. That should be enough already...” I pointed out while suddenly feeling tired.
“It’s not enough. They want more. Of course, they want more. You two had the perfect wedding and they’re treating that as the perfect appetizer. Now they’re looking for the salad, the soup, and the main dish,” he explained quickly.
“Oh...yea...” I murmured without a care.
“Are you still listening? I want more hype around your marriage. The election is coming up and we need to make sure that both our families look solid,” he demanded.
“Then hire the reporters to write up something,” I suggested the most effortless solution that I could think of.
“That won’t do. We need something real, and we need proof. We need photos, videos, and interviews. Anything and everything. What about you two just go on a honeymoon? They’re clearly expecting that,” father suggested, and I could hear the excitement in his voice.
I was certain that he wasn’t at all excited about our fake honeymoon trip but the hype and attention it would bring to our families and Dahlia’s father’s run for presidency with the support of the Vulkan family. Nothing could have disgusted me more, and I found myself wondering again how Anthony managed to deal with something like this his whole life.
“That’s not happening. You can forget it,” I replied without a second thought.
--To be continued...