Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 89: Scared of You

"Juho Isota, you can’t be serious," Kaija muttered, blue eyes sharpening into cold blades. She’d only offered him a place to hide, not a freaking sleepover?!

"Did I not give you proper accommodation and room service the entire time you stayed at my place?" Juho asked with a smug face. "Or do you need a reminder of how nicely I treated you when you were beaten up like a poor little kitten?"

"You seriously have the heart to bring that up again?" she grumbled. Heat flared across her face, more from anger at the memory than embarrassment.

"If it’ll induce some hospitality out of you," he replied with a bright smile. "In case you’re wondering, I prefer the room with the pool balcony."

Kaija’s face twitched. Had she not told him to stay away from her room?

"Fine," she mumbled, too tired to argue. "Take that one, I’ll sleep somewhere else. Now excuse me, I want a hot shower and a good night’s rest."

As she turned, Juho suddenly shot up from the couch and closed the distance between them in a few quick steps.

Startled, she jolted backward, only to bump the back of her waist against the kitchen counter.

"Before you go," he said, placing both hands on the counter and trapping her in place, "I want to know why you didn’t ask me to do the cover photo for you."

Her shoulders trembled faintly. His face was dangerously close, and although his tone was calm, his gaze had sharpened with pure displeasure. The brightness he’d shown earlier was gone.

"I... didn’t want to have anything to do with you beyond the required training," she admitted plainly. "And the festival wasn’t part of the training."

One look at Juho told her she should not lie right now. He looked even scarier like this than when he’d tried to choke her on those basement stairs.

Juho leaned closer, his lips brushing faintly against her ear. "So what you’re really saying is..." he murmured, "you’re scared of me?"

A shiver shot down her spine. She leaned back farther, turning her face away, already regretting bringing him here at all.

"Please, Juho," she pleaded softly. "I’m tired, and I just want some rest."

His cold, intense green gaze stayed locked on her for a few seconds more before he finally straightened and released her.

"I’ll take the room next to yours," he said flatly, already heading toward it. The door shut behind him with a muted thud.

She pressed a hand to her chest, trying to calm her pounding heart.

"Gosh, who wouldn’t be scared from just seeing that look on your face?" she groaned in her head.

She quickly turned off all the lights before slipping into her own room and shutting the door tightly before Juho could come out again.

Outside the dimmed out flat, Juho’s calculations proved to be the more accurate one.

Every single festival attendee was required to remove all caps and masks at the gate to verify their identity, causing cars and people to stack into long, sluggish lines.

None of the exhausted attendees understood why such a sudden measure was necessary, especially when no previous festival had ever required it.

From Charles’s office, a bottle of wine was opened and poured into two glasses, the red liquid shimmering under the low light.

"Isn’t it a little extreme to do it that way?" Max commented, his gaze drifting outside through the tall windows, toward the lines of people and cars piling up at the front gate. "The night was a success, you don’t need to piss off our employees with such unnecessary procedures at the end."

"There were reports of a security breach during the second half of the show," Charles replied calmly, swirling his glass in hand. "Given the recent incidents, I’m simply making sure none of them meet the same grim fate."

Max’s head snapped back sharply. He knew exactly which incidents Charles was referring to, for those three employees had all been under him.

"It’s been a long time since you and I sat down for a drink like this, brother," Max said casually as he walked to the table and lifted his glass. "Let’s not mention grim matters tonight. Let’s celebrate the successful night you’ve held. I must say, I look forward to attending again next year... and hopefully many years after."

Charles made no comment on his brother’s flowery words, simply sipping his wine in complete silence, not even offering a toast.

The two of them had long abandoned such niceties, unless the situation demanded it. Yet Max was still tossing pleasantries around as though their father were seated somewhere in the room.

"I see you’ve taken quite an interest in the winner of the night," Charles said at last, his tone nonchalant. "I could arrange a meeting on your behalf, if you’re still interested."

Max suppressed a laugh, though he couldn’t hide the fascination in his voice. "How generous of you, little brother. She is a gorgeous flower. A fascinating discovery. And surely, a deserving winner."

Charles showed little reaction, despite disagreeing entirely. "So you voted for her," he said flatly. He’d only been prying to see which name his brother might have voted for, but with enthusiastic way Max was replying, he could guess it easily enough.

"I did," Max answered quickly, pride unhidden in his tone. But his eyes lingered over the rim of his glass, watching Charles closely for any shift in expression. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

What he’d said about Liisi was honest. After her speech, Liisi had approached him, and they’d shared a brief conversation.

She was even lovelier in person than onstage, more cute and innocent than sensual, despite the sultry outfit she’d worn.

Given how many mature, polished anchorwomen he’d dated over the years, Liisi felt like a breath of fresh air. Someone who could refresh his palate and make him feel young again — though, with his level of experience, also someone he knew for sure he’d grow bored of quickly.

Another thing he knew for certain was, despite what he said, Liisi had won only because he ensured she would.

After Karl and Charles left the voting room, he’d had a little "discussion" with the remaining judges.

Letting a trainee win over a three-year debuted artist would cause unnecessary backlash, he argued. Compared to Kaija, who hadn’t debuted and had practically no fanbase, crowning her wouldn’t boost the festival’s or KE’s reputation nearly as much as letting someone popular and established like Liisi take the prize.

The judges were conflicted, but with Max Kosonen being the big boss’s brother and an important figure in Kosonen Group, they couldn’t simply ignore him.

Little did they know, Max’s words carried no strategic purpose at all.

The man simply wanted to see whether his younger brother’s ever expressionless face would shift at all, when the truly deserving girl didn’t win.

But when he saw Charles’s face stiffen at the name inside the envelope, he knew.

Kaija Sepala was the exact person his intelligence network had been trying to locate all this time.