Chapter 89

89 Zeal Media Studio Drama

At the F&K fashion company, Chloe happily concluded her deal with her family lawyer, and a court notice was sent to the ARILPORTER BOSS brand. Due to her state of euphoria, she canceled work at the company and declared a day of celebration.

Every department of the F&K fashion home celebrated their victory against their rival brand, by popping so many bottles of champagne. They drank and made merry, happily chatting, taking selfies, and dancing to upbeat background music.

Chloe was busy drinking and chatting with Silvia and some friends she invited over when Kyle knocked and stepped into her office.

“Chloe, can I talk to you privately for a second?” Kyle had a worried look on his face.

“Kyle, wipe that frown off your face!” Chloe said in a cheerful tone. “Today is a day of celebration and I want nothing but smiley faces. We just gave our rival brand the deadliest blow and it will take months or even years for them to recover. My company is about to top the chart in the fashion and retail world. It’s just a matter of time before we will put the Treshvire fashion complex under our foot, right ladies?” She raised her glass of champagne to her drinking buddies.

“Right!” They all sang in unison like a church choir.

Kyle was irritated at her continual use of the phrase, ‘my company.’ ‘Didn’t Frost say something about running her out of their company after the winter show?’ Kyle questioned his subconscious. ‘If only the little spoilt brat knew what Frost had in stall for her.’

The thought of Frost broke Kyle from his spiteful thought about Chloe. He had been trying to reach out to Frost for the past twelve hours to no avail. Frost wasn’t the type to resume work late. He was an early bird.

“Are you going to stand there all day or take a seat and join us in the celebration?” Chloe’s forehead furrowed in slight irritation. “Don’t you like the mood of the atmosphere? Please don’t be a party pooper and come join the fun.” She gestured for Kyle to take a seat.

.....

“Chloe, I’m sorry to be disrupting your fun.” Kyle suppressed his accumulating anger and forced out a brief smug smile. “I just wanted to let you know that I haven’t been able to reach out to Frost all morning.”

“So!” Chloe responded nonchalantly. “How is that my business? Am I his babysitter or maybe his wife?” She chuckled to Kyle’s annoyance. “Old man, go find something to indulge in rather than bugging me with unnecessary matters. This is just 9:00 AM,” she looked up at the wall clock. “Who knows, Frost might be someone celebrating and you’re here worrying over nothing. Please leave my office if you don’t have anything useful to say to me.”

Kyle clenched his jaws and gave Chloe a frosty look before he left her office. He went into his office, picked up his phone, and dialed Frost’s number one more time. When Frost didn’t pick up, he decided to wait till noon before calling Frost’s wife.

————–

It was exactly 9:30 AM when Frost and Jane were made up, prepped, and led into the Zeal media company’s studio.

At first, Frost was reluctant to cooperate when they got to the media house. However, when Sky gave him a phone to speak directly to his wife and children; who were currently held prisoners at an undisclosed location, every fiber of resilience in him melted.

Frost’s wife was crying while speaking to him. She told him that a gun was pointed at his first son’s head. She said that their captor had promised to put a bullet in their son’s head if he ever deviated from the truth by half an inch.

Feeling helpless and drained of energy, Frost cooperated with everything he was asked to do.

On the other hand, Jane was bitter at everything happening around her. Inwardly, she kept cursing the day she met Frost and every wrong thing that had happened to her in her entire existence. She knew that going forward, her life was doomed. Hence, in her consolation, she decided to drag Frost and his company down the drain with her. Seeing Frost destroyed was the only thing that kept her breathing as so many suicidal thoughts flooded her mind.

“We are live in 5,4,3,2 and...” The director of the production crew gave the signal for the interview to kick off.

“Good morning to the beautiful people of Amzone city.” The cheerful presenter smiled into the camera. “This is Ericka Dan, reporting live from our studio at Zeal International. With me here, I have one of the pioneers of the F&K fashion home, Mr. Frost Barson, and a beautiful lady by the name of Jane White.” Ericka paused momentarily to catch her breath before continuing.

“So, Mr. Frost and Miss Jane, can you please introduce yourselves to our lovely viewers?”

“Definitely!” Jane spoke up first. She was fired up to spill the beans and destroy Frost in the process. “Like you rightly said, my name is Jane White. I am the three years mistress of Mr. Frost Barson. Regrettably, I was once a talented fashion creative designer for the prestigious ARILPORTER BOSS brand. However, due to my evil scheme with Mr. Frost, I betrayed my company and lost my job.”

“Wow! That’s a lot to take in!” Ericka couldn’t hide her astonishment.

The majority of the production crew members in the studio, behind the camera, were taken unaware by the first piece of Jane’s confession. Their mouths were left agape and their eyes widen as they warmed up for a beautiful twist to the trending news.

“I have a lot of questions, Miss Jane, but I will get back to you shortly.

Ericka turned her attention to Frost. “Mr. Frost, can you please introduce yourself?” She shifted in her seat and took a sip of water, as the well-ventilated atmosphere in the room suddenly turned hot.

Frost took in a deep breath and bowed his head slightly. He wished a stray bullet could find its way into the studio and hit him on the forehead. His heart ached with so much pain and his tensed body sizzled with imminent danger. He cleared his throat severally but words failed him. He looked up at the presenter and shook his head.

“Mr. Frost, we’re waiting!” Ericka broke the brief silence.

Although Ericka could feel his pain, she was more interested in what he had to say. If what the pretty baby face Jane said was true, then things were about to take an ugly turn for the currently celebrating and trending F&K fashion home.

“My name is Frost Barson,” Frost breathed in and out heavily. “I and my partner, Kyle, are the pioneers of the F&K fashion home. Recently, our company introduced a new CEO, by the name of Chloe Robinson. I am happily married to my wife, Mia, and we are blessed with two beautiful children.”

Jane interrupted Frost’s speech by cackling like a witch. “Did you just say happily married? What’s a clown!”

Ericka’s face lit up as she foresaw an imminent catfight. ‘This is going to be one juicy interview,’ she sang within. “Miss Jane, please allow Mr. Frost to finish his statement then you can say what’s on your mind.”

“Oh, I will allow him to finish but I have to point out certain falsifications. For example, this despicable and unfaithful man here has been professing love to me for the past three years. He has even promised to divorce his stupid wife and get rid of his bastard children just to be with me.”

“Oops! That’s intense!” Ericka stifled a chuckle that almost escaped her lips.

Frost bit down his lower lips in frustration as he thought of one hundred ways to strangle Jane. “Jane, refrain from calling my wife and children names.” He said between clenched jaws. “Say anything you like of me but hands off my family.”

“Your family? Really, Frost! What am I then to you? A three years loyal sl*t?” Jane’s eyes burned with inextinguishable fire.

“Guys, please, let’s not deviate from the path,” Ericka interjected. “There are a lot of issues to address here. So let’s take it one at a time. I’ll start with you, Miss Jane, since you are eager to bare your mind. So tell us exactly what transpired between you and your former company.”

Burning tears rolled down Jane’s cheek as she narrated all her beautiful memories of the past week with the ARILPORTER BOSS company.

A tear escaped Ericka’s eyes as she listened to Jane. “if they have been this good to you as you claim, then why did you betray them?”

“I was foolishly and stupidly in love with this monster.” Jane’s voice was broken. “He was the one who coaxed me into taking a job with Mrs. Treshvire’s company. I had a family that truly cared about me in that company but now, I’ve lost it all thanks to him.”

Ericka shook her head in disappointment. She was amazed at Jane’s cruelty. ‘How could such a human being be allowed to walk freely on the face of the Earth?’ she questioned herself in her thoughts. She turned her attention to Frost who seemed all red with anger and frustration.

“Mr. Frost, what do you have to say concerning Jane’s confession? Is she telling the truth or she’s making up all these allegations? Miss Chloe Robinson, who happens to be your CEO, has released several statements claiming that the displayed designs at the winter show were specifically made by her.”

Frost chuckled bitterly before responding. “Everything Miss Jane has said is true. All the designs displayed during the winter fashion show were stolen from the ARILPORTER BOSS brand. I handed all those designs to Chloe Robinson and she produce them as her own.”

Ericka paused for a while before asking her next calculated question. “Are you trying to say Miss Chloe Robinson is not aware that you stole those designs?”