Chapter 3

Damien stood with his head slightly bowed, observing the woman whose eyes kept darting around, obviously plotting her escape.

Standing this close, he could tell this woman wore no perfume or makeup.

Bathed in soft moonlight streaming through the window, she wasn't bad-looking.

In fact, she could even be described as pretty— petite frame, fair skin, lovely oval-shaped face, dainty lips and small nose.

But her best feature were her eyes— big, round, liquid eyes that required no help from mascara.

People often said that eyes were the window to the soul, and in this woman's case, it was actually true.

Just one glance at her, Damien could tell what she was thinking—make a run for it, or try to reason with him?

Leaning forward slightly, he could smell her shampoo— something cheap and citrusy, unlike the thousand dollars limited edition Chanel No. 5 Eau dande Olivia Hamilton wore.

But strangely, he didn't feel the same nausea he experienced when Olivia get close to him.

To confirm, he stepped forward and took another whiff.

His action apparently startled the woman out of her mental calculation.

She staggered back half a step, her round eyes made rounder by surprise.

Damien couldn't help but be reminded of the Netherland Dwarf Rabbits— equally petite size, equally round eyes, and equally skittish.

Melissa, thinking the man was about to make a grab of her camera, hugged it close to her chest.

Taking a moment to collect herself, she conjured up an ingratiating smile. "Mr Ashford, as the news people often say, there is no such thing as bad publicity. I can promise you, if you'll graciously allow me to use one or two of the photos taken tonight, you'll see a story that's filled with nothing but praises for you. In fact, I already have an ideal for the first paragraph."

She cleared her throat, deciding to improvise. "In the glamorous city of starline, where fortunes are made and hearts are captivated, a seismic event has shaken the elite circles. The ever-dashing Mr Damien Ashford, Starline's unravelled bachelor and the epitome of charm and success, has sent shockwave through the city by firmly rejecting the seductive advance of A-list actress Olivia Hamilton..."

"That's enough!" Damien raised his hand like a traffic officer. "That's... more than enough!"

Though, he never considered himself the blushing type, he couldn't help but feel his cheek heating up, as the young woman waxed lyrical about ‘Starline's unravelled bachelor’.

"That is what they teach you in journalism school?"

"I wouldn't know..." Melissa shrugged. "I've never been to a journalism school."

"Yet you call yourself a journalist." Damien said sarcastically.

Melissa sighed. "It's not the best job in the world, but it pays the bills."

Her voice took on a plaintive tone. "Me Ashford, please I promise there won't be anything in the photos or the article to embarrass you. You didn't do anything with that actress anyway. The story is really important to me. If you do me this favour and allow me to use this photos, I can finally secure my position at BuzzFeed. I really, really need this story."

Damien furrowed his brows. "You are not an employee of BuzzFeed yet?"

"Not yet. Still on probation."

Damien studied the woman before him, her figure outlined against the shadow cast on the french window.

She was young and appeared intelligent, and there was something about her that intrigued him.

Sensing a glimmer of hope, Melissa pressed on, her voice filled with sincerity. "The chief editor promised that if I secure this story, I'll be guaranteed a spot on the news team. I genuinely need this spot to support my family. Me Ashford, please, I implore you to help me."

"Why should I help you?" Damien asked coldly, his walls still firm in place.

He wasn't really interested in the photos or the story, though.

He was just distracting the woman with conversation, while he confirmed his suspicion— he wasn't repulsed by her.

Despite what his therapist told him, Damien didn't believe he had gynophobia, he was convinced it was invented medical condition.

But he couldn't deny the fact that when women, especially women he didn't know, approached him, he would start feeling anxious.

His pulse rate would pick up.

He would suffer from shortness of breath, discomfort in the chest, and sometimes he'd feel lightheaded.

It was worse if the woman wore perfume. He'd be nauseated and feel like he was being smothered.

When Olivia Hamilton reached for his belt earlier, it took all his self-control not to send the woman flying across the room with a roundhouse kick.

Yet, he have been standing within half a meter of the tabloid reporter, inhaling the scent of her cheap shampoo, and feeling...fine.

Melissa, oblivious to what was going on in Damien's mind, continued pleading her case. "Mr Ashford, you're a kind man. Everyone knows that. You donate millions of dollars to worthy cause every year. Just think of me as one of your charity case. Giving up a few harmless pictures so a woman can keep her job. Sounds like a worthy cause, doesn't it? I beg you, please?"

"A worthy cause?" Damien repeated, a glint of sharpness in his eyes. "For an unscrupulous paparazzi like you?"

"Who says I don't have scruples?" Melissa grew anxious. "I didn't take any compromising photos of you. Both you and Miss Hamilton were fully clothed and we're not engaged in anything... untoward. Nothing happened."

"If not happened, how can that be newsworthy?" Surreptitiously, Damien took another half step closer to her.

Melissa smiled. "You underestimate the importance of your name, Mr Ashford. Just having your name appear in the headline is enough to generate millions of views."

"Are you calling me a clickbait?"

Sheepishly, Melissa touched her nose. "I prefer the term ‘Buzzworthiness’ as we say at BuzzFeed."

She made another attempt to persuade him. "Just one story would help me support my family. Besides, since you already know nothing happened, it won't harm you in any way. Would you please—"

"Don't spout nonsense," Damien snapped impatiently. "Delete those photos."

What if his near panic attack was caught on camera?

What if the photo shows the sweat on his forehead, the unease in his body language.

Or worse, what if the readers, after seeing he turned down one of the hottest women in showbiz, thought there was something wrong with him?

Damien reached for the camera. "Give me that."

"No." Melissa immediately shook her head, her determination unwavering. "You can't confiscated it. It's private property."

Damien's brow furrowed slightly, his patience wearing thin.

Faced with such a stubborn woman, he had no choice but to take matters into his own hands. "Then I'll have to do it myself."

In one swift motion, Damien reached for the camera, hanging around Melissa's neck.

"Don't touch me!" Melissa swiftly pulled back, clutching the camera protectively to her chest.

Damien showed no intention of giving up.

He moved closer, but the woman squirmed and writhed and tried to twist herself into human pretzel, keeping the camera firmly out of his reach.

But instead of the hard aluminium alloy of the camera, his fingers closed around something soft and round and... elastic.

He gave it a testing squeeze...then froze.