Chapter 5 5

The cameraman adjusted the heavy lens on his shoulder. The red recording light pulsed steadily in the quiet living room.

The first dual interview of Perfect Match had officially begun.

Augustine sat on the far left edge of the sofa. His long legs were crossed at the knee. His hands rested flat on his thighs. His spine did not touch the back cushion. He looked like a man preparing for a hostile board meeting, radiating a cold, untouchable energy that kept everyone at least five feet away.

Justina sat on the far right edge. She leaned back, sinking into the soft linen. She rested her elbow on the armrest and propped her chin on her hand. She looked completely relaxed, her eyes lazily tracking the frantic movement of the live chat on Julian's monitor.

The chat was a war zone.

"You could fit a whole football team between them!"

"He will not even look at her. This is so embarrassing for her."

"They definitely signed an NDA. This is a business transaction."

Julian cleared his throat. The sound was loud in the tense silence. He forced a warm, inviting smile onto his face.

"Let us start with something easy," Julian said, holding the microphone out slightly. "Can you two share the story of how you first met?"

Augustine's head snapped toward Julian. His eyebrows pulled together in a sharp V. Augustine's gaze passed over Julian without truly registering him, as if the director was simply an uninteresting piece of furniture in his line of sight.

The air pressure in the room seemed to drop. Two young camera assistants standing near the door visibly shrank back, holding their breath.

Justina felt the heavy silence stretching out. It was becoming painful.

She shifted her weight. She stretched her left leg out under the coffee table. The toe of her hotel slipper made contact with the polished leather of Augustine's expensive shoe.

She tapped his shoe once. Hard.

Augustine flinched slightly. He pulled his foot back, his jaw clenching in disgust at the physical contact. He turned his head and glared at her.

Justina just raised her eyebrows, a silent command to say something before the silence ruined the broadcast.

Augustine turned his face back to the camera. His lips barely moved.

"A dinner," he said.

Julian let out a nervous, high-pitched laugh. He desperately tried to pull more words out of the man.

"Wow, a dinner. That must have been a very romantic evening. Was it love at first sight?"

Augustine's jaw tightened so hard the muscle ticked under his skin. The look in his eyes turned dangerous. He was done playing this game. He refused to answer.

The chat went wild.

"He cannot even make up a fake story!"

"They did not rehearse their script! Justina's gold-digging dream is crashing down."

"Save him! He is being held hostage by this show!"

Outside the mansion, parked on the street, was the network's mobile production truck. Miles, leveraging the press pass he hadn't yet returned and a long-standing friendship with a disgruntled audio tech, had slipped into the chaos of the production truck. He was standing behind the audio engineer, screaming into the headset microphone connected to Julian's earpiece.

"Cut the feed!" Miles roared, spit hitting the monitors. "Cut the damn feed, Julian! Give them ten minutes to memorize a fake story! If she looks like a liar, the sponsors will pull out!"

Julian winced as Miles's voice pierced his eardrum. He reached up and casually tapped his earpiece, turning the volume down.

He was not going to cut the feed. The raw, agonizing awkwardness of this moment was generating the highest ratings the network had seen in a decade.

Julian decided to push harder. He decided to go for the throat.

"There are a lot of rumors circulating on the internet today," Julian said. His voice lost its fake warmth. It became sharp and probing. He stared intensely at Augustine, then at Justina, watching for any micro-expression of panic.

"Some people are saying," Julian continued, "that this marriage is not based on love. They are saying it is a strategic alliance. A business arrangement designed solely to secure the Hutchinson family trust fund."

The living room went dead silent. The only sound was the faint hum of the air conditioning vent.

The chat froze. Millions of people held their breath, waiting for the explosion. They expected Justina to cry. They expected her to act outraged and offended.

Augustine's hands curled into fists on his thighs. The knuckles turned white. His eyes darkened to the color of a stormy ocean. The question was a direct insult to his family's privacy. He opened his mouth, fully prepared to order his legal team to shut down the entire production and sue the network into bankruptcy.

Before the first word left his lips, a sound broke the silence.

It was a laugh.

It was not a nervous giggle. It was a soft, genuine, highly amused laugh.

Everyone turned their heads.

Justina dropped her hand from her chin. She sat up straight. There was no panic in her eyes. There was no fear. There was only a calm, clear acceptance.

In the production truck, Miles grabbed his own hair and pulled hard. "Start crying, you idiot!" he screamed at the monitor. "Cry and say you love him!"

Justina looked directly into the camera lens. She looked past the glass, straight at the millions of people typing hateful words in the dark.

"Rumors?" she said. Her voice was crisp and steady. "You do not need to use the word rumors, Julian. You can just ask me directly."

Julian blinked, completely thrown off balance.

"So... what is the nature of your marriage?" he asked, his voice weak.

Justina smiled. It was a small, sharp smile.

She opened her mouth and dropped the bomb that would shatter the internet.