CHAPTER 26: 26-HE HATES EVERYONE.

Iris:

I didn’t respond to any of Kash’s stupid remarks. He was the only one who went inside the room. I stayed outside. I didn’t want to interrupt his time with the children.

I mean, I would never leave his family alone with the babies, but with him, even when I hated his guts, I’d seen the longing in his eyes for them. That quite surprised me.

I thought he would be upset that I had become the mother of his children. But I guess it didn’t matter to him who gave birth to them. He just loved them. That was the only good thing about him.

He stayed in the room for an hour, and I could tell they were giving him a hard time, probably too happy he was there to want to sleep, hoping to keep him around longer.

Eventually, I fell asleep on the couch outside, not realizing when, not knowing when they would fall asleep. The whole night passed, and I woke up in the morning to Scarlett calling for me.

"Ma’am, you should go and rest a little in the room."

Scarlett was hunched over me, watching my face carefully. I yawned and stretched, forcing my eyes open and seeing the couch instead of the bed. That’s when I remembered why I had ended up there. As I tried to get up, I realized there was a blanket over me.

I didn’t think much of it, tossed it aside, and walked back to my children’s room. They were sleeping peacefully, and I realized Kash had finally managed to put them to sleep.

Turning around, I saw the blanket on the couch again. Walking up to Scarlett, I decided to thank her.

"Thank you so much for the blanket. It was extremely cold," I told her, ready to head back to my room to get some proper sleep. But her reply stopped me.

"Ma’am, I didn’t put that blanket on you. I just woke up now, and you were already wrapped in it," she said.

Goosebumps spread across my skin. I didn’t want to believe it was anyone else, but deep down, I knew the truth. And the moment I realized it was Kash, I stopped caring. I wasn’t grateful for such a simple act of kindness from His Highness.

After my kids woke up and I had breakfast with them, I got ready for work. I knew that if I were late, Kash wouldn’t miss a chance to use it as an excuse to give me a headache. I didn’t want to hand him any reason to argue with me, since arguing with me seemed to give him pleasure.

And yet, just a few minutes later, I was sitting in front of Kash, already in a full-blown disagreement.

"You want the opening to be so flashy that it’ll overpower the brand itself?" I asked, tapping my fingers on the table anxiously.

He was talking about bringing in other jewelry brands so the models could wear their products.

"All right, how about we only make them wear the perfume then, huh?" he taunted, making me clench my jaw.

"They don’t have to wear big brands because that would just be free promotion for them, Kash," I hissed. I guessed it was the first time his name escaped my lips like that, and for a few seconds, both of us went silent.

He stared at my face before shrugging and looking down.

"Well, we don’t need to do anything. The scriptwriter and everyone else will take care of it. We just have to decide on the male model," he remarked, tapping the tip of his pen against the pictures in front of us.

I gave them a few glances, and one model suddenly caught my eye. He had gorgeous almond-brown eyes and curly brown hair. I’d seen him in other ads before and could tell he was a very good-looking man.

"How about him?" I suggested, tapping my finger on the photo of the same model.

"Keith Leroy. I figured you’d ask about him," he commented rather sternly.

"You did?" I asked in confusion. Maybe he liked him too. However, that wasn’t the case.

"Yeah, I’ve seen the way you were ogling his picture." He slammed his hand on the photos and slid them back toward himself, clearly upset.

I couldn’t understand what was wrong with this man, and I knew asking wouldn’t get me anywhere.

"Anyway, I vote for him. I’ve seen his ads, and they all do well. It’d be a great idea to take him on board unless you’re afraid your precious female model will fall for him," I teased, deliberately poking at his ego.

If I knew anything about alphas, it was that they were physically strong but often stupid when it came to their pride. As expected, I watched Kash narrow his eyes at me.

"I trust Lara," he replied flatly.

I laughed, covering my mouth with my fingers, trying to apologize for being so obnoxiously rude.

"I mean, it’s just that I remember last time she kind of cheated on you, didn’t she? Anyway, I digress, but I still think it’ll be a good option," I said, changing the subject quickly.

He was visibly upset, glaring at me from across the desk. Since we were in his office, I knew he’d soon ask me to leave. The moment he opened his mouth, I already knew what was coming.

"Leave," he ordered.

I shrugged and stood, walking toward the door.

"Let me know when Keith arrives," I said before storming out.

After a while, I was asked to join the team in the conference room to meet the male model so we could head to the location and start taking a few pictures of the models.

I walked out of my office and entered the conference room, where only Walkin and Keith were present. As soon as I saw him, I felt my heart skip a beat. He was so sexy. At that moment, I just felt like a fan.

"Oh, hi," I smiled nervously, approaching him but keeping my posture steady. I was the owner of the brand, and I didn’t want to seem unprofessional.

However, the minute he saw me, he let out a dramatic gasp.

"Ah, I have never seen a face so fresh. Hi, I’m Keith. Keith Leroy," he flirted, stretching his hand out for a handshake.

I swear I was blushing when I took his hand and shook it. Instead of letting go, he held my gaze and then leaned down to kiss the back of my hand.

As he bent down, I caught sight of something behind him. Kash standing there with a deadpan look in his eyes. And for some reason, I felt like that was going to mean trouble.