As Elliott stepped onto the stage, the noise in the room dropped at once. Journalists tried to push closer, cameras flashing, but he stopped them with a cold look. His eyes then moved to Clara, who was being held back by his guards. For a moment he said nothing, but the promise in his gaze was clear, he would not spare her.
Turning away, Elliott then faced the larger crowd. A small smile touched his lips as he spoke in his slow voice, "I guess everyone is curious about last night…"
Even before he could go on, one of the journalists, clearly more of a fan than a journalist, called out almost too loudly, "Right now, I am more curious about the mystery of the missing back of your shirt!"
The tension in the room broke for a moment. Elliott smiled and gave a quick wink in reply. "I believe my fans don't mind it."
"I assure you, we don't," the journalist said at once, earning several glares from her colleagues. They were here to report on Elliott Ross' so-called scandal, not to watch him turn the press conference into a stage for charm and banter.
Yet that was exactly what he was doing-openly flirting and controlling the mood before anyone else could.
Before the room could shift against him and the barrage of questions could begin, Elliott raised his hand lightly and spoke again. "Good morning, everyone. I don't want to waste your time, so let us begin and wrap things up quickly. I had hoped this press conference would be for happy news. But before we get to that, there is something else I must clear up first…"
He paused, letting the silence grow heavy before he continued. "Like my agent, Clara, pointed out- when one bad apple does bad things, the entire basket is blamed for being rotten."
Elliott took a breath and continued, "First, I want to apologize. To the bride from last night, to her family, and to everyone else who was misled last night. You were made to think I was there, entertaining you, but that was never true. Someone was pretending to be me. You were deceived."
The room went quiet for a moment. Whatever they had expected it was not this. But the man who had just entered before Elliott had indeed looked remarkably like the man. And so the entire place burst open with noise after a moment of surprise.
"So you're saying you weren't there at all?" a journalist shouted.
"Then what about the hotel sighting?" another demanded. "People saw you go in!"
Voices piled on, louder and sharper. "There are videos of you everywhere online! Not one, but many!"
"Are you saying they're all fake?"
"Do you expect us to believe every single clip is false?"
The crowd pressed forward, ignoring the guards trying to keep them back. Cameras flashed non-stop. Questions flew at him, fast and harsh, as if they wanted to tear him apart with words.
"I want you to believe nothing." Elliott said coldly in a tone so low that many might have missed it. But his expression had them all going silent.
"You are journalists with brains of your own. Go and check, if it was indeed me among the people or someone else. You've already been given a clue by my fans about tattoos and my stance on it."
"I want you all to know this-steps have already been taken. A formal complaint has been filed against those who were pretending to be part of my agency, using my name, and trying to 'sell' me out. They thought they could profit by dragging me into their schemes. They were wrong."
As he said this, he turned a pointed gaze at Clara who paled in that moment, much to his satisfaction.
"And for those who have been spreading rumors with full intent, twisting facts and pushing stories they know are lies-you will be hearing from my lawyers very soon. This will not be brushed aside. Actions have consequences."
The press erupted again then and Clara gave a look of satisfaction. She had been careful about letting in the journalists who were anti of Elliott. And now it showed, as they shouted in harsh tones.
"So are you denying going to the Four Seasons entirely?" one journalist shouted bitingl.
"You were spotted entering there, Elliott!" another snapped. "There are clear photos of you at the entrance!"
"Don't stand here and pretend we're blind," a third cut in, raising his voice to be heard above the others, "You can't just produce some lookalike and expect us to swallow that story."
"You think you can fool the public that easily? What next-you'll say every video is a body double? Then what about the car that you stepped out of? Every one knows it is your car.
"Answer this straight, Elliott. Were you at the hotel-or not?"
"I was there," he continued evenly, "for a business meeting. Nothing more, nothing less. If you would care to look at the photographs of me entering the hotel, you can clearly spot my agent waiting for me inside. She was there for the meeting as well. Nothing about that was hidden, nothing about that was scandal."
And now, let's move onto the main agenda of the Press conference today... Before anyone could ask more, he announced," It is about my collaboration with Vanessa Grant." That caused the entire scene to 'explode into silence.'