Alter Ego: His Sultry Lover

"Destroying my career. She has been in the industry for longer and she has great influence in the industry. I was not bothered. I don't want to be a puppet in others' hands." He grimaced.

"Is that what you felt like? A puppet?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you come out then and say that you were not involved with Keira?" 'Again with the same question.' Katherine gave a frustrated sigh.

"I wanted to, but I was advised on many occasions that it would be unwise to get into a media war. We just wanted to let it die down," he said again, hoping this time he would drive the words home.

"Tell me about the mails you started to receive from her," the reporter said after a pause.

"Uh… at first, it was just… I miss you and some others where she was telling me about her day so I ignored them, but later they turned explicit. They are not with you."

'Damn, she sent him explicit emails. What a creep,' Katherine thought, but then she remembered how she had sent similar messages to RayKon in the past. 'He reciprocated,' she told herself. Now, everything was muddled in her head. Had she crossed a line? Was that why he had suddenly gone off the radar and pretended to be busy? Was it because he felt harassed? It could be. Katherine could only get more anxious.

"So you started receiving emails from her? And what did you do?" The reporter leaned back onto his chair.

"She sent me one… then ten… then fifteen. By a couple of days I sent them all to my spam," he explained.

"She sent you fifteen mails a day… why did you not block her?" A simple question that plagued everyone. This was all new information, but why did he not block her?

"There's no option in my laptop. I have hunted it down and it doesn't work," it seemed like a lie. It really did, but then some laptops didn't have the feature to block, they knew this. Technology was curious.

"Have you thought that she was sending you these for proof that you were together?" Cage startled. He had never thought of it that way. It would make perfect sense if that was the case.

"Yes, now that you mention it, I think that could be it," he said honestly. It very well could be that she was creating a trail of mails so that she could prove that they were involved. Thank god he had not sent even a single reply or else all his defence would have gone to waste.

"How did you receive 300 emails from her and do nothing about it?" The question bothered Cage. He looked sourly at the reporter, clearly dissatisfied with the conclusion the man had come to. Even the viewers were a little frustrated, seeing the reporter grill their favorite actor so thoroughly. But some understood that it was needed. Cage Cavanaugh had signed up for the grilling.

"It all went to my junk," he said in the same tone. "I retrieved it a couple of days ago when I was preparing for this interview." Did he just admit that he had to prepare the evidence for the interview? Someone would pick that up and misrepresent it. "The emails recount what she ate and what she did." He paused, a small sarcastic smile on his lips. "I… she even accused me of hacking into her email and sending myself those messages. I don't understand how I will know anything about her life." And this was true. Keira had gone ahead and spread such rumors. But to everyone with half a mind, it was clear that nothing of the sort had happened.

"Were you shocked by the contents? How did you feel when you received such explicit emails?" The reporter asked, curiosity flashing in his eyes.

"This is not the first time I have been sent such emails, but… this was unwanted. I didn't like the feeling one bit," he admitted. "Might I remind you that while these mails were coming to me, I was a single man and I could have replied! But I didn't. Does this not make sense?"

"You're saying that you were not interested in her in the least. But I also hint that you are saying that she was trying to collect evidence against you."

"I don't understand what you mean…" Even Lily felt sorry for the man in the screen. He clearly didn't have a clue what the reporter was saying.

"You didn't reply to her because she was trying to collect evidence of your involvement."

"No. I didn't think of it that way at the time," he said. "But it could very well be the case. What I was implying is that I wanted nothing to do with her. I wasn't interested in the least." His voice was firm as he said the words.

"Why were you not protecting yourself?" Frustration. Even the reporter was frustrated with this crazy story. "The one part which doesn't add up is this man has been publicly said to be married to her. She is harassing you!" he exclaimed.

"I know, I realize the implication," Cage said in a low, understanding voice.

"This is the craziest story we have heard in a while and I dare say will hear for a very long time." The reporter flashed a look at the camera. "But I still don't understand why you didn't protect yourself." To this, Cage replied simply.

"I was wrong. I should have protected myself."

The conversation went on for a little longer, with the reporter now consoling Cage and telling him to take care. When the interview ended, it left the viewers with a fit of deep anger. Anger on behalf of Cavanaugh who was being stalked. Anger on behalf of Keira who could be said to have misunderstood their relationship.

The media and the people were divided. Only time would tell which of the two narratives prevailed as the truth.