The Rebirth of a Scorned Heiress

“Is it to your liking?” Soren asked with a smile as he sat in front of Lily, who had received his milkshake gift.

Lily shrugged and took another sip before replying, “What do you think? You did get me my favourite milkshake.”

Soren chuckled lightly and took the seat in front of her. “I wasn’t expecting you to take it,” he confessed, and Lily raised a brow. “Why not? It’s a milkshake, isn’t it?”

“We are competitors,” he pointed out as a matter of fact. “And so?” She replied, making him shake his head.

“You are new to these things, but you have to be careful amongst the other representatives. You could get hurt any minute if you are too careless,” Soren warned, genuinely making Lily smile.

“It’s a good thing I know senior Soren would not hurt me. Right? How is it being her tailor and getting along well?” Lily asked, and Soren sighed heavily.

“I can’t wait to get all these over with, honestly. Zachary pulled out of being her model last week, and we had to look for other people to do it,” Soren explained, and Lily hummed with a nod.

“And why didn’t you quit?” She asked seriously while putting away the milkshake bottle.

“I could not pull it off. I’m considered part of the main team, and except I’m seriously ill, I can’t pull out,” he explained, and Lily nodded.

“I guess we’ll have to make you ill then,” she replied with a thoughtful expression, confusing Soren.

“Why do you need to make me ill? I’m already here, and getting things done quicker is the way out.”

“I don’t want you to get mixed up in the feud between me and Merrisa,” Lily spoke up with a furrowed brow.

According to the memories of the original owner, Soren had been a great support to her when she joined the academy, and he was the first to volunteer to help work on her designs before the others began to flood her after seeing her works.

He is someone who drives my passion and his love for fashion, which means the praise he gets is earned through his hard work and not through underhanded means.

Pulling someone like that into the feud between her and Merrisa makes Lily feel uncomfortable.

“Are you up to something?” Soren asked in confusion, and Lily nodded. “Have you seen the designs she’s working with?” She asked.

“Yes, they are truly incredible, and I can’t wait to start working on them. But I can feel the similarities between both of your works, which means you are both going to get pitched together a lot during the competition.

Is that why you are worried?” He asked, and Lily passed her phone to him.

“She stole those designs, and here is the proof. You are talented and you have a bright future ahead of you. To repay you for your past kindness and the milkshake, I can help you fall sick,” she offered with a smile.

****

“Senior Soren was rushed to the hospital this morning, and he won’t be able to make it for today’s event,” Tracey, the year-one student assigned by the school to be the team’s assistant, reported with a grim expression as she walked into the team’s studio.

“What are you talking about?” Merrisa questioned with a mixture of disbelief and concern. “What happened to him? Is he alright? What would happen to our team if he was gone?”

Tracey, fidgeting with her fingers, responded, “I don’t know the exact details, but the nurse said it might be a severe case of food poisoning. They’re running some tests at the hospital to determine the exact cause.”

“There is no way he could get food poisoning! We all ate the same thing last night.” Merrisa exclaimed angrily as she began making her way out of the room.

“Did he eat anything else after we all ate together?” She demanded, and Tracey shook her head as she followed behind.

“I don’t know,” she replied calmly, and Merissa scowled. “How can you not know?!”

“What’s your job as the team’s assistant, you useless idiot?!” She cursed with a glare. “Did he return to the room last night, or did he go out?” She demanded impatiently.RêAd lat𝙚St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only

“He went out to meet Senior Lily,” Tracey reported, and Merissa’s face turned ugly with rage the next moment.

She stormed out of their team’s apartment and marched towards Lily’s apartment.

As she got to their apartment, she met Lily and the rest of her team having a casual discussion outside their quarters: “You scheming bitch!” She yelled and jumped towards Lily, wanting to attack her.

The security, following the contestants, immediately jumped to action, separating the two of them while the cameras continued recording the exciting scene.

The interaction between the contestants during the competition was another big part of the show, and each team was assigned a camera crew that would go with them wherever they went.

Lily stared at Merissa with a confused and innocent appearance, pretending not to know what was happening. “What the heck! Did you finally lose it?” She asked.

“What did you do to Soren?!” Merissa asked as she tried to get close to Lily, only to be stopped by the security once again. “He is in the hospital due to food poisoning, and you were the last person he met, Lily!”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t even offer him anything to eat! Instead, he was the one who bought me a milkshake! How did I make him sick when I didn’t even give him anything to eat?” Lily replied defensively.

“Miss Merrisa, how could you even think about accusing someone without evidence? Do you think everyone is as black-hearted as you are?” Alana chimed in.

“Lily indeed met up with the guy on your team, but she didn’t even offer him anything to eat; how can you accuse her of poisoning him?” She continued, leaving Merissa speechless and unable to continue, causing a ruckus.

“I demand they be investigated! Who knew how you had done it? Soren ate the same food as the rest of the team, and no one else had food poisoning; how could it be only him?” Merrisa continued, not wanting to give up.

She didn’t care even if it ended up with Lily’s team being innocent; painting her as a scheming contestant would make the other group alienate their group.

However, she had forgotten that her reputation amongst all the contestants was just as bad as the scene she was creating.

Soon a new group joined the scene. Miss Smith, if you continue your rampage, your team will be disqualified,” the manager warned, and Merissa scoffed.

“Are you not going to investigate the whole thing? It was food poisoning, and it could have endangered his life!” She insisted.

“We already investigated, and it’s a severe allergic reaction to the cinnamon buns you insisted he tasted lady night,” the manager announced, and Merissa recoiled in shame.

Lily snickered, her eyes filled with mockery. “Since you are so black-hearted, you expect everyone to be. If I wanted to sabotage your team, I’d target you, not your teammates. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”