Husband With Benefits
Chapter 753: A Meeting

Chapter 753: A Meeting

"Princess, the Crown Prince is here to see you," Tasha whispered, her voice barely audible as she shot a furtive glance toward the outer office, where Dora presumed Prince Rafael was waiting.

Dora’s frown deepened. "He’s here? Did you schedule an appointment with him?"

"Me?" Tasha’s eyes widened in disbelief. "After all those rumors? Do I have a death wish? Do I want to get fired by the Prime Minister? Of course not! I refused the moment his office called to request a meeting. I told them you were too busy, even made up a whole string of excuses. But here they are—showing up without warning, no less!" Tasha’s voice was tight with frustration, her teeth visibly clenched.

As she waited for Dora to answer, Tasha could feel a headache coming on. Ever since they had arrived in Petrovia, managing public relations had turned into an absolute nightmare. The princess’ supposed "blind date" with Prince Kael had somehow made the trending topics, even though the whole event had been meant to fly under the radar.

What was supposed to be a simple introduction had become a circus, with the media spinning rumors faster than her team could extinguish them.Unexpectedly and uncharacteristically, Princess Dora had given them the go ahead to announce a courtship between her and Prince Kael. Working hard to align everything for a smooth reveal, the Public relations had been thrown off course now, no thanks to the scandalous rumors involving Prince Rafael and her began circulating.

They’d tried every means to suppress the entire matter, but someone kept feeding the gossip mills and people’s imaginations with endless material, creating doctored images and wild stories that painted a far more salacious picture of her relationship with Rafael.

But now, Prince Rafael had arrived. And not quietly either. NO sir. He’d brouht his entire envoy with him, as if they were going to discuss marriage. If he wanted to meet, couldn’t he have come quietly. Why create so muh fuss and attract unwanted attention to them. The tabloids were having a field day for sure. It had reached the point where every time they tried to suppress one rumor, another popped up. At first, they trued to suppress it and fight back, attempting to preserve her spotless reputation, but it was like battling a wildfire with a water pistol. The gossip only grew wilder, and now, the entire PR team was at their wits’ end and could only wait for the rumors to die a natural death.

And now, Prince Rafael was here. And he hadn’t come quietly, either. No, he had brought his whole entourage, like they were here to discuss something important, maybe even marriage. If he wanted to talk, couldn’t he have come quietly? Why bring all this attention to them?

"Let him in," Dora said with a sigh, knowing it was too late to avoid the situation.

Tasha,however, was still not convinced and hesitated. "Or I could tell him you’re unavailable? Maybe say you’ve caught the flu? or maybe even Covid. That should give you a relief of some days." she suggested hopefully.

Dora chuckled softly and waved her away. "Whatever rumors were left are already spreading like wildfire. It’s too late to avoid it. I might as well meet him now." She gave Tasha a small smile. "Go ahead and let them in."

Tasha shook her head and pointed out," You know at this rate, it would be better if you just went ahead and had a wild affair with crown prince, since people already believe it. I’d really like to catch hold of the person spreading the rumors! He’s made our peaceful life into a circus!"

Dora laughed at Tasha and said," Well, someone needs to keep you on your toes! I am too tame for you."

Tasha shook her head and hurriedly walked out of the office, before returning with Princess Rafael in tow.

The moment he saw her,"Isis," he greeted her, offering a small bow. "I apologize for showing up unannounced and without an appointment, but the matter is urgent."

Dora waved away his apology with a slight smile. "No need to apologize. It seems urgency is the theme of the day. Please, have a seat."

Rafael nodded, taking a seat opposite her and wasted no time in getting to the point. "We need to discuss the press conference scheduled for next week. I believe it’s in both our best interests to cancel it. With the rumors about us still swirling, I don’t think it would be wise to face the media right now."

Dora’s brow furrowed slightly. "Cancel the press conference?" She leaned back in her chair, studying him for a moment. "Wouldn’t that make things worse? It would only add fuel to the fire, make people think we’re hiding something since we are not appearing together in front of them?"

"But if we do not cancel, aren’t you worried about the pressure? The last thing we need is for those vultures in the press to twist our words or use the event to push their narrative further. Once we appear together, every move, every gesture, every look will be amplified and stated as if we are yearning for each other. And if we avoid looking at each other, then...I just don’t want to give them any more ammunition."

"Speaking of rumors," she said slowly, "I can’t help but notice that while my team has been working tirelessly to contain the damage, your side hasn’t exactly been doing much to suppress or deny any of it. I mean they could have simply stated that there was nothing of the sort like my team did, but refusing to comment left a lot of things open to be interpreted, right?"

Rafe sighed. "I understand that Isis,but denying them would not have made people believe. They would still rather believe us to be star crossed lovers than accept the truth. Anyway, what does Kael have to say about all these rumors?

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