The Billionaire's Fake Girlfriend Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Read chapter 3 of The Billionaire's Fake Girlfriend by tamannaislam on NovelPedia.

Chapter 3: The Red Carpet Bloodsport (Ava’s POV) The blinding flash of a hundred camera lenses hit my eyes the exact second the heavy velvet curtain parted. The sheer force of the sound from the media line felt like a physical wall, threatening to knock me off balance on my high heels. I felt completely exposed in my rented black silk evening gown, a middle class intruder standing in the golden heart of high society. "Keep walking, Ava," Ethan murmured beside me, his voice a low baritone that维系着 my crumbling composure. "Do not look down at the floorboards, and do not blink when the flashes hit your face." His fingers stayed locked firmly around the curve of my waist, warm and entirely unyielding through the thin fabric of my dress. To the cameras, his touch was an expression of deep, wealthy possession. To me, it was a physical reminder of the strict contract hidden securely inside my work folder at home. I had traded six months of my life to wipe out my father's predatory debt, selling my freedom to the devil in an impeccably tailored black suit. "They are hunting for a crack in your smile," Ethan added, his jaw tight as he angled his sharp profile toward the primary press row. "Give them absolutely nothing to print." "I am an event planner, Mr. Blackwood," I whispered back, forcing my lips into a flawless, serene curve. "I am highly accustomed to managing chaotic rooms filled with superficial monsters." "Good," he muttered. "Because the worst one is standing exactly ten feet in front of our line." The crowd parted smoothly to reveal Isabella Sinclair. She stood near the main VIP lounge area, looking completely flawless in an emerald haute couture gown that radiated pure, old money pedigree. She had held the position of Ethan's perfect, strategic fiancée for most of her adult life, and her almond shaped eyes locked onto me with a calculating, lethal intensity. "Ethan, darling," Isabella purred, stepping forward into our path and completely blocking the entrance to the main ballroom. Her rehearsed smile didn't reach her sharp eyes. "The board of directors is completely shocked by your sudden lack of taste. I honestly believed the corporate scandal would make you smarter, not lead you to drag an ordinary, debt ridden street planner onto a Vanguard red carpet." The surrounding reporters immediately went dead silent, their microphones angling closer to capture the corporate blood in the water. My pulse hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs, my old insecurities screaming that she was right, that I didn't belong in this rarefied world of gold and glass. But before the panic could control my expression, Ethan's grip tightened around my waist. He didn't offer Isabella a single glance, completely bypassing her presence as if she were a ghost in the corridor. Instead, he pulled my body directly against his broad chest, leaning down to press his lips softly against my temple in front of the entire press line. The sudden, raw physical contact sent a jolt of pure electricity straight through my skin, shattering the boundary of rule number one. "My choices do not require authorization from a former fiancée, Isabella," Ethan spoke smoothly, his commanding voice echoing clearly across the microphone rigs. "Ava is the single most important asset in my life, and anyone who invalidates her position faces an immediate exit from my inner circle." Isabella's porcelain face turned completely pale with rage as the cameras captured her public humiliation. Ethan didn't wait for her to recover, steering me firmly through the heavy mahogany doors leading into the main ballroom layout. The heavy air of the grand space smelled of expensive champagne and cold corporate power, but my mind was still spinning from the warmth of his lips against my skin. We moved toward a quiet balcony alcove near the north wing to escape the secondary media sweep. The moment the glass doors shut behind us, cutting off the noise of the elite crowd, I wrenched myself out of