Chapter 16

Another seat was called out, a dignified-looking man standing up, his assistant sat next to him with, ready to type whatever was said or acted.

Hanna could immediately recognise the bravery behind this man, readying herself for whatever was to be asked. Meanwhile, Samuel's jaw clenched at the reporter's face, this same man had caused issues for him and Meera before when the Reyes had stopped people digging into Meera's background. He knew that the man would not hold back.

"To the young masters, do you think that the revelation of the nature of your relationship will have a negative on your parents' companies? And is there any possible relationship between that and the decision to merge?"

No one had expected questions to go so quickly and directly to Joshua and Henry, all eyes suddenly falling onto the newly announced couple.

Henry suddenly found himself overwhelmed. As a student, he was no stranger to any form of public speaking, always having enjoyed being listened to by people. Yet all he could feel was this unearthed dread, the type that made him want to run and hide; the feeling was completely foreign to him. And so, his half-held poker face cracked completely, his face an indescribable twist of emotions. In the end, Henry found himself looking at Joshua in loss, feeling a little calmer seeing that the dark-haired man's face has become more impassive.

In reality, Joshua was extremely conscious of the look from Henry, as well as his own inner turmoil at the horrific question. He was just lucky enough to have trouble with showing emotions on his face too easily. That all was quickly dismissed as he met Henry's eyes, seeing the other man was just as terrified as him, the protective feeling returning. Instead of letting on that he felt just as horrified at the question, he showed a calm face and sent an encouraging nod.

As subtle as the small gesture was, everyone was watching the couple like hawks, a good number of spectators wanting to gush at the small gesture from the older man and how it calmed the younger man; their own families were most definitely at the top of this list. At this point, even if there had been a few who questioned whether the two were in a relationship, there were none now.

"No." It took a few seconds for people to realise Joshua had spoken, his voice completely different from just minutes ago, no one had expected that the same man who had been stumbling with his words earlier would now be exuding a dazzling confidence. "Of course, we understand that the going public with a same-sex relationship will have some adverse reaction in current society. However, in this modern age, to boycott two major contributors to the country's economy and societies day-to-day life over something petty as disagreeing with our relationship, such a thing would never hold. There are far more important things in people's lives than our relationship.

"An initial dip was predicted right from the beginning, but it was not something that concerned anyone enough to have to discuss it as a major factor behind our decision to go public."

Henry almost couldn't believe what he had just witnessed, much like every other witness, however for him the shock was greater.

It had been just over an hour ago that Joshua had twisted his face even at the thought of admitting he was in a homosexual relationship, the man had gone as far as outright admitting he could not be the one to say anything of the sort out of fear that he would reveal the lie. But now, that same man had answered the direct question without even a stutter, as if he really was defending his relationship.

The younger man really was amazed, inspired even, his face showing just what he thought of the answer. He had calmed down seeing Joshua acting composed, but now that calmness had turned into a renowned confidence in himself. Usually, Henry's self-confidence is never a thought of concern, but that had changed once he realised that he had agreed to play a part in a monumental lie.

The lost confidence was now renewed.

Everyone was still shell-shocked in amazement when they heard the other man speak, noticing the colour that had returned to his face, along with a newfound spark in his eyes. "The reason behind the merger is also nothing in relation to us being a couple, it was simply what ignited the good relationship between our parents. While we may have been the reason the idea could come around, it does not mean we were the trigger behind the decision, that it up to the presidents, successors and boards of directors."

Suddenly, the tone of Henry's voice changed, he face turning coy, "Unless, of course, you are implying that our parents only decided to merge due as a form of damage control. Do you think our family is so cold and suspicious?"

In that moment, everyone could see Caroline Lore being channelled by her son, clearly the young man had inherited his mother's cold wit and ability to call out on others regardless of situation.

The two men made eye contact, both feeling confidence swell within them at the sudden turnover on their acting skills; they both simultaneously thought that the lie was perhaps sustainable, that they might really convince the majority that they were dating.

Of course, they were both naïve to the fact that people had believed them from much earlier on.

Their answers seemed almost irrelevant, not a single person missing the eye contact that was a little too long to be considered brief; the two men were more of a sight than before. No one could take their eyes off them, somehow their beauty multiplying in front of their very eyes. Their calm faces, showing hints of a smile, cause an allure that even their family members had never seen before, it was almost as if the two were sparkling.

They looked back ahead, returning their features to their poker face, however now with an undeniably different presence about them.

The reporter seemed impressed, sitting back down, as dignified as he was before.

The younger sons of both families had always been kept well sheltered from the family, this being their first real public appearance, no one was sure what to expect of them. That is why the reporter had decided to direct such a question at them, to see how they would respond. He was not expecting a tragedy, no one in their right mind would expect so from members of the two perfect families – although, he had his doubts once seeing how Joshua and Henry spoke initially. But just the same, he was not expecting the rough, almost passionate response from the older man, let alone the drastic turnaround of the younger one.

Henry Reyes and Joshua Lore had proven to be just as intriguing as the rest of their family.

A few more questions were asked, incredibly tame with respect to the second question, things kept relatively in line with professional adjustments and changes in regards to the public. Even if they were all eager to ask about the unexpected relationship that had shown amazing chemistry, not many dared to even direct their questions to either of the younger sons, even Meera ended up with more to say.

Meanwhile, the two families were a little confused as to why there has been so little resistance to the idea the two men were in a relationship. Of course, it only made the parents more eager to find out what Joshua and Henry had done to cause the initial buzz before the press conference had even started.

Ramy called out a seat number, him and Haerin both silently agreeing to just one more question after this one since a good twenty minutes had been spent just answering questions.

Unfortunately, a sleazy woman stood up, changing the atmosphere in the foyer for the worst. Everyone immediately recognised the notorious journalist; she was a thorn in the side to both those who she wrote her articles on as well as those who wanted to right about similar news. Everyone within the high society and media sector knew of Bella Camero, mostly because she is one of the best gossip writers of the era, her articles have broken the livelihood of many idols and celebrities, put to shame even the most upright of the high class, it had even influenced politics during the peak of her career. They also knew that if paid, she would right just about anything that she could get people to believe, including smearing others. Not even the Q Group were free from her, let alone the Lore's and Reyes's.

Everyone found themselves holding their breaths, what scathing question would she put forward to cause a scandal.

What people would never have guessed was that Camero fully did believe the two men were in a relationship, she had looked into the two elite families enough times to confirm that neither were conniving enough to pull of an act of the scene she had witnessed outside – she had been one of the people to see Joshua drag Henry inside – also having noticed the matching rings on their fingers. She had no qualm with the couple, nor any intention to cause permanent trouble for them. However, that did not mean that the woman had every intention in stirring some drama out of the relatively calm families.

She looked at the Lore parents, a sadistic smirk on her face. "Is this whole affair really as planned as it has been made out to be? I have to ask seeing as you are here talking about how your son will get married and the merger despite your daughter still in hospital from the fire at her school the other night."

Every face on the panel immediately went dark, the pressure from them crushing to everyone but the thick-faced gossip writer, her gaze unwavering.

Excluding Henry, who had carried on with his own life after the distressing events of Saturday, all of members of the Reyes family had gotten close to the Lore's, the two families could even be considered one.

With how events were proceeding, it would not be long until that was true.

The fact that Penelope had been even mentioned had struck a chord in every one of them, and while Henry felt nothing personally, he found the entire act absurdly disrespectful. He had been there to see the initial reaction to the news, he could imagine what sort of pain they had been in, how horrible the question must make the family feel.

Joshua himself was a mere second away from blowing up in the retched woman's face, rage bubbling through his veins. How dare she even mention his younger sister, he could not believe the audacity. He went to stand up in anger, only to find Henry had beaten him to it.

Immediately, both set of parents regretted having not trained their son's in how to conduct themselves during press conferences, of course the two were smart and always appropriate, however it did not extend to such a personal dig. Even when it had been on them they had managed to stay calm, but bringing in a third person had been the limit for both.

"What on earth do you think you are insinuating?!"

Despite the burning fury, Henry managed to keep his wording respectful, even if his deliver countered it completely.

"How dare you use their injured daughter as a way to smear them? Were you there when they found out? Did you see how worried and hurt they were? You did not witness how both Hanna and John had to hold in their emotions in order to approach he situation properly, you did not see how Haerin was in tears, or how Archer was seconds away from flying back from an important meeting, or how Joshua was at complete loss. You did not see any of that, you have no right to bring up Penelope Lore and her injuries in an attempt to stir drama! My parents were in the hospital the whole night with them, the Lore's had left their work on a back burner since hearing of the incident, how dare you insinuate anything in regards to their daughter!"

Being right next to the man, Joshua was the first to notice the unnaturally heavy breathing coming from Henry, giving him a head start. Just as Samuel and Meera realised something was wrong, he stood up and caught Henry's arm as his knees suddenly fell away.

Unfortunately, due to the speed of things, Joshua hadn't managed to stabilise himself and tripped over the leg of his seat, stumbling. Everyone watched as the two men started to fall, the older man pulling the other closer; Henry, on instinct, grabbed onto the closest thing possible, Joshua's shirt, and clutched onto it as his eyes squeezed shut, ready for the impact of the ground.

Due to Joshua's brilliant memory, thankfully there was no disaster, the impact never coming. The dark-haired man quickly scanned their surroundings and manage to grasp the back of Henry's chair, allowing him to regain his balance.

At some point, the hand on Henry's arm had moved around, now holding the man up by the waist.

Henry opened his eyes once he realised that he had been caught, looking up at Joshua, who was now breathing as heavily as him. He could feel the older man's heart thumping nearly as fast as his own, both still affected by their adrenaline rush which had left them breathless and red-faced. They both made eye contact, almost nor believing what had just happened.

Of course, to all the bystanders, it simply looked like the two were staring at each other and blushing. There was an overwhelming amount of proof in support of their relationship, if the two ever decided to come clean about the truth of the whole ordeal, not a single soul would believe them.

Caroline leant over slightly to John while everyone was distracted by the almost dazzling image of their younger son's, apologising. "Sorry, we should have mentioned before. Henry is quite strong, but from when he was a child, whenever he feels excessive rage or pain, he'll get a rush and suddenly lose energy, along with a momentary loss of feeling in his legs. I did not think it would have come up today, but still, we should have warned you."

"It is fine," the man said, glancing over at his son with a slight smile on his lips, he did not think he would ever see his son's face flushed due to another person. "It is fine, we have things about Joshua that we should share just in case too. Once things settle, we will all sit and discuss through things."

Marcus, hearing the response, couldn't help but be grateful, they were uniting with a brilliant family, his son really had struck lucky with his partner – even if they had been rushed into things.

It was only after they became aware of the shutter sounds and flashes from various cameras that Joshua and Henry realised that they were in a rather embarrassing positions. Henry glanced at the crowd for a second before letting go of the older man and standing up, his legs still shaky; Joshua only removed his own arm from around Henry once he was sure the blond man would be able to support his own wait.

They both stood straight, turning towards the crowd and offering a shallow bow as an apology for their ruckus.

Once they sat down, they were back to their original temperament, barely able to concentrate, this time purely out of embarrassment.

Before they knew it, the press conference was over.