Chapter 59
Rachel’s face went bright red.
What the hell!
She was just curiou, not jealous!
“We went to high school together.” Seeing her face flush, Nicolas stopped messing with her.
Hearing this, Rachel blinked awkwardly.
He and Maelys were high school classmates!
She never would’ve guessed they had that connection.
While she was processing this, a fruit plate suddenly appeared in her hands-Nicolas had shoved it at her.
“Finish all of it. You need the vitamins.”
“…Fine.”
Sometimes she really thought Nicolas lived like some kind of android, following strict protocols for everything.
Nicolas didn’t go far. After leaving the room, he dug up a contact he hadn’t used in forever.
The phone rang forever before anyone picked up.
Just as he was about to have Matt track down Maëlys’s current number, a somewhat androgynous voice came through: “Nicolas?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
Maelys’s soft laugh came through the phone: “Well damn, Nicolas Rothschild actually calling me. What’s the emergency?”
“Coffee shop downstairs at Rothschild Tower. You free to grab a drink, hotshot designer?”
The café.
Maelys showed up fifteen minutes early, ordering a latte and chilling by herself.
She hated cutting things close, always arriving early to handle any curveballs.
Even though she and Nicolas were classmates, he’d always been this quiet, brooding type in school. After graduation they barely kept in touch. She’d seen him at a few alumni things early on, but later he just stopped showing up. Only saw him in business magazines now.
Footsteps approached while she was thinking.
Maëlys looked up-yep, Nicolas.
He walked over with that confident stride and sat down without asking.
Maëlys raised an eyebrow, tone playful: “Well look who it is! Long time no see, old friend. What brings you to my humble presence?”
Nicolas ignored her teasing, cutting straight to the chase: “That design Sophie flashed on her livestream? Rachel drew it.”
Maëlys nearly choked on her latte.
She’d heard bits about the Leroix family drama-how they supposedly spoiled their adopted daughter while treating their biological one like garbage.
Plus, Sophie’s livestream design reveal had been all over social media. No way she’d missed that.
She’d actually been pretty impressed with the piece, never imagining it was Rachel’s work.
But…
“What’s that got to do with you? Since when do you care about jewelry design?”
A server wandered over asking what Nicolas wanted to drink.
“I’m good, thanks.
After that, radio silence from Nicolas.
Mastys shrugged. Typical-when Mr. Mysterious didn’t want to talk, you couldn’t drag words out of him with a crowbar.
No point pushing.
But Nicolas had reached out to her, so she should throw him a bone.
Head of Rothschild Corp and all. Banking a favor with him could pay off big time later.
She couldn’t read his angle, so she took a guess: “Ah, gotcha. Easy fix-just boot Sophie from the competition. I know some judges, one word from me and she’s toast.”
Nicolas shot her this ice-cold look, voice firm. “No.”
Maelys’s smile faltered. Had she read this wrong?
“Let Sophie keep competing.”
She sipped her coffee, then got this knowing look: “Ohhh, I see what’s happening here…”
She dragged out her words, eyes twinkling with mischief: “Nicolas, are you actually-”
“Nope.” He shut her down before she could finish.
Maelys blinked. Could this guy just speak in complete sentences for once? Still the same old habit from school-wouldn’t waste a single word!
But… this was Nicolas Rothschild. Getting on his good side meant serious connections down the road.
Right now her eyes showed pure career ambition, zero interest in gossip.
“Alright, you’re the boss. What’s the play?” she said, biting back her, frustration.
Nicolas’s expression stayed completely flat: “Just kicking her out would be too easy. Let her climb higher first-makes the fall so much sweeter.”
Maëlys stared at him.
Nicolas hated Sophie? So this wasn’t about helping her-this was about destroying her?
Only one person could make Nicolas go to these lengths….
Rachel.
The pieces started clicking together.
She burst out laughing: “Holy shit, that’s brilliant! Nicolas, when did you get so… human?”
Nicolas didn’t answer, just gave her another cold stare before standing up.
As he headed for the door, he flagged down the server: “Put her coffee on my tab.”
Maelys didn’t argue, accepting the gesture. As he was leaving, she called out: “Nicolas, you sure you don’t want to step in? Rachel’s completely on her own right now. The Leroix family’s gonna come for her hard.”
Nicolas paused without turning around, voice low and steady: “She doesn’t need anyone fighting her battles. She’ll handle her own revenge.”
Something complex flickered in Maëlys’s eyes. She sighed quietly: “Nicolas, you’ve really changed.”
Nicolas didn’t look back just said flatly: “Maybe I have ”
And with that, he was gone, leaving Madlys alone with her thoughts..
Sho hung around the eate a bit longer, planning to savor the downtime before heading out.
Then her phone rang.
Berakastant, Vivian.
“Maalys, the Leroix family somehow got my number and they’re begging us not to disqualify Sophie. I was gonna blow them off, but they’re being super persisteny.”
“I know,” Maelys said casually. “Let her stay in the competition.”
“Got it.”
Vivian seemed confused by the decision but didn’t question it. She hung up to call the Leroix family back.
Then she drafted a statement for the company social media, basically saying that while contestants weren’t supposed to leak their work early, Sophie’s design was so good they’d make a one-time exception.
The internet immediately lost its mind.
Sophie’s haters had been gearing up to celebrate her disqualification, but suddenly there was this special exemption. They went absolutely feral on their keyboards
Meanwhile her stans went into full defense mode.
The usual bullshit: “Sophie’s just that talented, stop being salty losers!”
Somehow the drama spiraled into dragging Rachel too.
Matt caught wind of it and frantically killed the trending hashtags.
While the internet burned itself down, Rachel-the other person at the center of it all-had no clue. She submitted her design with literally seconds to spare before the deadline.
The moment she hit confirm, it felt like all her energy got sucked out of her body. She collapsed face-first onto the bed.
