370 Nefarious Audience

"Oooh… Would you look at that? It's not everyday you get the chance to see the Resort King without his bodyguards around. Looks like he wanted some alone time… With his former secretary, no less," the paparazzi spoke to no one in particular as his index finger constantly tapped the shutter click of his expensive camera with a long-range lens that should be illegal.

He was in his late thirties and knew nothing but to use his photography skills and sell photos to tabloids and journalists. Esmea was home to a lot of celebrities and wealthy people—a perfect money-making opportunity for people like him.

Because he was very absorbed in his stalking, he didn't notice that someone approached him from the side—a petite, skinny woman with black hair and round eyes. She watched the familiar-looking man with a camera and followed the direction of where his camera was pointing at but didn't notice anyone. "What are you looking at?" she subtly asked. She had spoken so suddenly that the paparazzi jumped a little.

"Who are you? Go away," he said and went back to minding his own business.

"Jerry… You know I could report you easily, right?"

The paparazzi, who was called Jerry, was shocked to hear his name from the stranger next to him, wondering how she knew his name. This time, he faced her, his brows knitted together in confusion as he studied the woman's features. "Wait… I know who you are…" he started. She looked quite familiar but he wasn't sure where or when he had seen her. 

With deep-set dark eyes, black hair, and very kind-looking, she crossed her arms in front of her and plastered a smile on her face. "Don't tell me you have already forgotten who I am? You used to work for my grandfather a long time ago."

Realization dawned on the man as he examined the woman's features again and his expression relaxed. "Ah… You're the granddaughter of the Chairman of Hara Construction Company. Yeah, I remember you. But weren't you in Japan?"

"I came back a few months ago… Figured I should help my dad this time," Margaret Hara answered.

"You're still in construction?"

She nodded then her eyes lowered curiously to the camera in his hands. "You look very busy. I just wanted to say hi since I noticed you earlier while I was walking."

Jerry glanced down at his camera and unintentionally, Margaret saw the figures in the small screen and her brows furrowed. "Wait… Is that…" Before he could protest, she had already grabbed the heavy camera to look at the screen clearly where she saw Damien and a woman she didn't recognize.

"That's clearly not nothing, Jerry. Where is this taken and who is this woman?" Margaret questioned but he kept his mouth shut and took a step back. She scoffed at his reaction and rolled her eyes before she pulled out her wallet and took out a hundred dollar bill. "Now, are you going to tell me or what?"

His eyes darted directly to the bill in her hand and without second thoughts, he snatched it from her hand and started spilling. "Restaurant across the street. The woman's name is Katherine Young."

Darting her eyes towards the restaurant, she squinted them and saw the pair at a window table. She arched her brow seeing the smile on Damien's face as he chatted with the woman in front of him—a woman who wore a cap with cat ears. Since when did Damien like kawaii girls? She scoffed as she tasted the bitterness on her tongue. "Tell me more about that woman."

When Jerry didn't respond, she turned and saw him with his open palm. He didn't have to say anything and she already understood what he was asking for. Wordlessly, she took out another one hundred dollars and gave it to him.

Pocketing the bill in his shirt's front pocket, he nodded at the restaurant, "She's the heiress of Young Corporation."

"What? That child? Isn't Chairman Young's granddaughter in her early twenties? What's Damien doing with someone a decade younger than him?" The crease in her brows got even deeper.

"Miss, you need to update yourself with the current happening. The woman you're talking about is different. Katherine Young just reunited with the chairman after being away for a decade and a half. She's the daughter of the chairman's late son."

"What do you mean by 'she just reunited'? What's the story here?"

"Do you remember that tragic accident that happened with CEO Mason Young's family a long time ago? Apparently, she's the daughter and she somehow survived that day. The family practically buried a different corpse back then."

"Huh… So that woman has such a background story. And how does Damien Park know her? Are they together? Wait—she's from Young Corporation." A dry laugh escaped from her mouth as she narrowed her eyes at the pair in the restaurant. Young Corporation had always been Hara Construction Company's rival. Seeing as Damien and that woman together right now, she remembered what he told her back when she met him at the end of summer party a couple of months ago:

"...whatever the result may be in the future, I can assure you it doesn't have anything to do with you. It's strictly business. So whatever you're doing right now doesn't change anything."

'Ha! Strictly business… Doesn't have anything to do with me? Right… While that may be true. What is this now, Damien? You're getting chummy with the granddaughter of our bidding competitor?' she thought.

"Well…" Jerry hesitantly muttered, amusement laid in his eyes as he observed her reaction. He remembered that she had been obsessed with Damien Park years ago. With this new information, he was curious about what she was going to do with it. Taking advantage of the other information that could be worth something, he paused and waited until she gave him two more hundred dollar bills. Even this simple and searchable information already earned him easy money.

With a huge grin on his face, Jerry patted the four hundred dollars inside his front pocket. "Ms. Katherine Young used to work for him as his executive assistant-slash-office secretary for a few months. But judging by their interaction and body language, it seemed like they had been quite… close for a long time. Maybe even while she was still working for him."

The gentle tone of his voice did nothing to mask the allusive remark that he intended for Margaret to understand. A sly smile formed on her innocent-looking face upon hearing the information. This information was scandalous enough to hurt the woman's reputation and even Damien's. But that wasn't the only thing she was after. 

How would Damien's reputation look in the business world if word gets out that he was 'cozy' with one of their project's bidders? He was a ruthless businessman but one thing that he took pride in was fairness. 'How daft have you become to be seen dating this woman out in the open, Damien?' Margaret chuckled.

"Jerry…" she called the money-sucking paparazzi next to her. "How would you like to earn more money?"