Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 84: Congratulations, Then

"Which one of you is Kaija Sepala’s manager?" Charles Kosonen asked coldly as he barged into the waiting room without warning.

Now that the show was over, the room was packed, with all contestants gathering inside with their managers. All color drained from every single face at once, the same reaction all backstage staff had shared when seeing their big boss storm through the corridors with a murderous expression on his face.

Esko finally lifted a hand and stepped forward, voice trembling. "Tha... that’d be me, Mr. Kosonen! I’m Esko! I’m Kaija Sepala’s manager."

Charles flicked a hand toward the scrawny, trembling green-haired man. "Come outside with me. Now." Then he turned and left the room.

Esko stumbled after him, leaving behind a murmuring crowd, their faces full of questions.

Once they found a private corner outside, Charles asked, "When did you last see her?"

"When she went out for some fresh air, sir!" Esko replied quickly. "Right after her performance. She also texted me that she’d grab a coffee and take her time relaxing before coming back. But an hour passed and she still didn’t return. We tried calling her, but couldn’t reach her. Then her dance instructor and dancer friend went out to look for her."

Charles’s eyes narrowed. So his half-brother was here tonight as well. If Antony had been out searching for Kaija for nearly an hour and still hadn’t found her, then something definitely had happened.

"Did she mention where she got the coffee?" Charles asked.

"The only café still open right now, sir," Esko answered timidly. "In the Production building."

No answer came from Charles. He turned away at once, pulling out his phone and barking into it coldly as he strode off in hurried steps:

"Gather all available men and all security staff on site. Close down every gate. Search every building connected to the Production building through the old parking garage and look for Juho Maley and a tall young girl with blue eyes and light blonde hair. Right now."

Over in the Photography building, ten minutes after Charles issued his orders, and immediately after Kaija voiced her reason, she heard muffled echoes of men shouting commands outside the windows.

Both Kaija and Juho turned their gazes outward. A few buildings away, groups of men in black suits and security uniforms were dispersing into buildings. Soon, they would inevitably reach theirs.

"Are those guys looking for you or for me?" Kaija asked, raising a brow.

"Who do you think sent them?" Juho raised a brow back. "You really think Charles Kosonen would send that many people just to look for a part-time photographer like me?"

"Oh..." she muttered, thinking it over. "So they’re Charles’s men, huh."

"The way they’re searching for you now, I’d bet it’s because you’re one of the top two." The corner of his mouth lifted. "Congratulations, then."

"Tch," she clicked her tongue. "I bet everyone in the concert hall is enraged now that the announcement’s delayed just because I’m nowhere to be found. Can I go back there now?"

Before she could crawl off the couch, Juho’s hand suddenly shot up and grabbed her arm. "And will you stay quiet about whatever you’ve found out tonight?" he asked.

"So... you’re really not gonna get rid of me?" she asked back.

He snorted, a chuckle almost slipped out of him. "If you’re gonna keep your mouth shut like you did last time, then I have no reason to."

"Well," she shurgged, "if a man like your father, already investigated by the police and yet still get away with a crime that huge, I’m sure he has enough power to grind a puny individual like me into ashes. I better keep my mouth shut, the way I see it."

His hand loosened around her arm until he let go entirely. A sense of powerlessness surged through him at the surrender in her words.

With her arm free, Kaija picked up both coats lying cold on the floor. "Is this building connected to the concert hall?" she asked, lifting the leather one toward him.

"It’s not," Juho replied, taking the jacket from her. "It’s connected to the dorms, though. I can bring you back to your building, and you can pretend you returned to your flat and fell asleep from exhaustion or something."

"Wow, look how effortless you are with making up new lies," Kaija commented coolly as she slipped into her coat. "That’s not a bad idea, though. I actually did fall asleep these past two hours anyway."

"Pretended to," Juho corrected dryly, grabbing his bag and heading to the emergency exit.

They quickly made their way down the stairs to the basement, but the moment they stepped into the vast empty space, they heard footsteps echoing from afar.

A few men had already accessed the parking garage from other buildings, and they were heading toward where Kaija and Juho were.

"Come on, we’ve gotta run," Juho said quickly, pulling her in the opposite direction. Ten minutes of running and hiding later, they reached Building S.

"I’m gonna keep running from here until I find a safe spot to hide," Juho said, swiping the key card at the door. "You should go back and find out whether you win that competition or not."

"No, actually..." she murmured, gripping the cuff of his jacket. "Get inside. I can hide you in my flat until they clear out. Then you can leave."

He stared at her in disbelief, his hand frozen on the open door. But before he could even process her offer, the echoing footsteps grew louder, and she had already pulled him inside and shut the door.

"Here’s the key card," she said, pulling it from her pocket and pressing it into his hand. "Floor twenty, Room 1. Room 2 is Charles’s, so make sure you don’t go to the wrong one. There are four bedrooms, so rest in whichever you like, just don’t use mine. Now, I’ve gotta run."

"Wait." His hand shot out, pulling her back just as she turned away. "Would you... would you come back after the announcement?"

He’d seen hickeys all over her neck once, and he remembered well they were Charles Kosonen’s handiwork. Who knew if that guy would want to keep her somewhere else tonight?

She frowned at Juho’s strange question. "Of course I am. Where else am I supposed to sleep if not my place?"

"Okay..." He let go of her, stepping back as if realizing how odd he suddenly sounded. "I’ll be... I’ll be waiting for you then," he murmured, gaze lowered. "Good luck, though. I hope you’ll win."

Her lips curled into the faintest smile, though she wasn’t sure he actually meant it. "Be careful," she nodded, before running up the stairs and slipping through the reception hall first.