"Oh, good. I’d rather not be noticed that easily," Kaija replied flatly. Her comment made Juliana’s smile sour at once.
Juliana held back the urge to snap. What the hell was wrong with this girl? Was she too stupid to recognize a thinly veiled insult?
Clearing her throat, Juliana changed the subject. "It seems you’re accompanied by quite a few security staff. Was there some kind of trouble?"
"Oh, quite a serious one," Kaija replied first yet again. "Someone tried to stab my producer on our way here."
Antony and Alvar froze in shock, but neither said anything. The men remained silent, waiting to see what Kaija was up to.
As for Juliana, her face drained white with horror. At once, her voice rose, panic spilling out. "No... no way! That... that can’t be true!"
Juliana nearly lunged toward Antony. But catching the ice in his expression, she was reminded to keep her distance. Her voice dropped, her face tight with concern. "AK! Are you alright? Were you hurt? How could... anyone do something so horrible to you?!"
"He’s unharmed, thankfully," Kaija replied. "The attacker was apprehended before he could cause any harm."
Relieved, Juliana gathered herself. "That’s... that’s wonderful, I’m so glad—"
She didn’t get to finish. Without warning, Kaija looped her arm through Antony’s.
"I’m also glad my producer is safe. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have run into you here. We might’ve ended up in some hospital instead. I would’ve had to cancel my performance too. Maybe we wouldn’t even find out who wins the trophy tonight."
The more Kaija spoke, the closer she leaned into Antony. One look at Juliana’s face told Kaija everything. This woman definitely had feelings for Antony. All the composure Juliana had tried to collect crumbled away, her expression twisting with jealousy.
"That... would’ve been unfortunate," Juliana finally managed. "I’m also glad that... you’re both here now. I can’t wait to see whether it’ll be me bringing the trophy home tonight, or if my streak will be broken by some... unexpected factor." Her teeth clenched as she spat out each word.
"Oh, I suppose we’ll find out soon enough." Kaija rested her head against Antony’s shoulder. The look on Juliana’s face was worth every bit of mischief she displayed.
Antony stood completely frozen throughout the exchange. Still, he didn’t pull away even an inch. Inexperienced as he was, he could still tell when a woman was acting possessive toward her lover.
"The incident took up quite a lot of time I needed to prepare for the show," Kaija said, though it was she who’d spent time alone with Antony inside the limousine. "Excuse us, we need to head to my waiting room to get ready."
"No, wait... wait!" Juliana blurted, unable to steady her nerves. "What... what happened to the attacker? Was he taken away?"
"The security staff took him into custody. He’s being interrogated right now. They’ll find out why he wanted to stab my producer. After that, he’ll likely be handed over to the police."
Hearing that, sweat trickled down Juliana’s temple. "That’s... that’s great news. I... I hope the man will... will pay for his crime."
"Anything else you need to know?" A faint smirk curled at Kaija’s lips.
Juliana’s face soured even further. "No... no, not at all," she ground out through her teeth.
"Good. Then we’re leaving. See you at the final announcement, then."
Once Juliana was out of sight, Antony could no longer suppress the urge to ask.
"Kaikai, why did you lie to Juliana about the incident?"
"Just a small test," Kaija said.
"A test?"
"To see whether that woman had anything to do with it."
"Ms. Sepala," Alvar could no longer restrain his curiosity either. "What makes you suspect Ms. Juliana Harinen was involved in the incident?"
"Absolutely nothing at all. I was only playing around to see whether any artist present here tonight might’ve been involved in staging the incident. Juliana just happened to be the first person we ran into."
At that, Alvar fell into stunned silence. Behind him, the rest of the team was equally speechless.
"Her reaction went beyond my expectations, to be honest," Kaija went on. "Funny how she seemed far more worried about the attacker’s whereabouts. So worried she had to stop us, just to ask about him."
"I also noticed Ms. Harinen’s reaction wasn’t typical of someone unaware of the attack," Alvar commented.
He’d been watching Juliana closely throughout the exchange, and years of experience told him the singer was hiding something. She’d been stuttering the entire time.
Only then did Antony speak again. "Then what was the touching about, hm?" An amused smirk tugged at his lips.
"Oh, that?" Kaija’s gaze darted away, her voice turning shy. "That was... to see how interested she was in you."
Antony raised a brow. "And what was your conclusion?"
An annoyed sigh slipped from Kaija. "She wasn’t just interested in you. I’d bet Juliana is madly in love with you."
The smirk vanished from Antony’s face. He remembered Juliana confessing to him once, and how he’d rejected her flatly, but that was years ago. Plus, he’d thought Kaija was merely being childish earlier, acting out of jealousy rather than gauging Juliana’s feelings.
"That can’t be true, Kaikai," Antony said. "I haven’t seen Juliana in years, ever since she left KE. She has no reason to hold any feelings for me."
"Can you tell that Charles likes me?"
Antony immediately regretted protesting at all. "Well... yes, I can tell," he admitted with an irritated sigh.
"Then trust me when I say I can tell whether a woman has feelings for you," Kaija replied. "The fact that she does... that only gives me more reason to doubt whether she was involved in the attack."
She turned to Alvar. "How about we try mentioning Juliana’s name to the attacker and watch his reaction? If he falters, then Juliana must’ve had something to do with it."
"That’s well noted, Ms. Sepala," Alvar nodded. "I’ll inform my team."
Cold chills slid down Antony’s spine. If Juliana turned out to be behind all of this... did that mean he’d worked alongside a dangerous psychopath for years without knowing?
And now Kaija was telling him that woman was still interested in him? He could already feel his head starting to spin.