The Rebirth of a Scorned Heiress

As Lily and her team walked away, Merissa’s shoulders sagged, finally recognising Celina as their senior and the person who stood up for Lily at the restaurant the other day. She clenched her fist and glared at their retreating figures with a deep-seated hatred.

Mrs. Smith, who had also taken time to digest the scene and the information she had just seen and heard, turned to her daughter with a confused expression.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Since when has Lily been moving with those kinds of people? Why did you break off the friendship, knowing she had such a connection? Or is that not the young Miss of William’s family?” She asked while silently accusing her daughter of being slow.

‘Why would you break off such a friendship that could connect the family to higher status’ was her initial question, but seeing how people were paying attention to them, she changed it.

Merissa pursed her lips and folded her arms. “Who knows? I bet she slept her way in there; after all, what else could she have offered? She is not from a well-to-do family nor is she talented enough to join them. I bet she’s done some unspeakable things!” She replied, her voice loud, wanting to paint Lily in a bad light for those listening.

Mrs. Smith immediately understood what her daughter was doing and decided to play along. “It must have hit her hard that the school took the competition spot from her and gave it to you. And she’s trying to show off by getting involved with some big family. It won’t be long now before they see her for who she is!” She added, and Merissa huffed.

Bethel and Evie, who came to meet up with the manager of the company they were representing, heard their words and shared a glance. With tacit understanding, they walked up to the mother-and-daughter duo.

“Are you familiar with them? Do you know anyone from group four?” Evie asked from behind. Merissa turned around, and her eyes brightened.

“You are Evie Thompson!” She exclaimed excitedly, and Evie smiled. One glance at her, and one could tell the smile was fake.

“Do you know me?” She asked in a soft and polite voice, portraying the soft girl image that Avon and Celina hated so much.

Merissa nodded. “Of course! I’m a designer, and I’ve wanted to work with the Thompsons and you, the most talented daughter of our generation!” Merissa flattered, and Evie giggled while sneering in her heart at the ‘Most talented’ words.

“Then since you are a designer, I’m guessing you are most familiar with the designer on their team?” Evie continued, bringing up the topic of why they had approached them.

“Hmph! I do know her. We are in the same school and the same year, she even used to be my roommate.” Merissa replied.

“Why don’t we take this to a table? It’s not proper to discuss while standing. We are all here to have lunch anyway,” Mrs. Smith chimed in and led them to a table.

Once they were done ordering, they continued their discussion. “So tell me, Lily, is her name right?” Evie asked.

“Yes. She’s Lily, a country bumpkin that my family helped get into the Yellow Hills Fashion School, and then she started doing some unspeakable things just to hang out with the more privileged kids! We used to be friends, but then I could not understand her anymore. She went from seducing our classmates and schoolmates to seducing big men, because how else would she have made it here as a poor student? She could barely afford to eat three meals a day, how could she come to Paris?” Merissa rants.

“You shouldn’t say something mean about her! No matter what, she used to be your friend and she must have had some good points!” Mrs. Smith cautioned with a fake smile directed at the two.

“What? I’m only telling the truth! The apology I made previously was purely because one of her sugar daddies had threatened my family business. If not, I would have exposed more of her sham! How could she or her family afford the Watson gold card? When they were just servants working in my family, I was surprised but after today I’m sure of it! She’s selling her body!” Merissa continued, all her bottled-up emotions spilling out like a broken dam.

Evie and Bethel listened attentively, already scheming ways to deal with Team Four. The core of every team is the designer, and once the designer is gone, the rest of the team will be nothing but a shell.

“Is your team up against her team?” Mrs. Smith asked, and Bethel sneered.

“We are still having a general competition at this time; we haven’t been paired into team competitions yet, but her design is currently leading with ten points while ours has nine,” he explained.

Merissa felt her heart skip a beat. Of all people, she knows how good Lily is with design, and she could tell that Lily has gotten the score based on talent. But even then, how could she allow her off just like that?

“I haven’t seen the design, but I can’t help thinking there is something fishy going on. Do you think Lam Fashion bribed the judges?”

“Since you are familiar with her, you must know how good she is, right?” He asked, urging her to spill more words.

Merissa took the bait without thinking and immediately started weaving lies. “If the judges were that easy to bribe, sure, your team would be number one,” Vivian chimed in from the table close to theirs.

“And you, Merissa, can’t you keep digging pits for yourself? You can’t meet up to her standards, and you decide to pull her down to your level?” She added and sent a glare towards Merissa and Mrs. Smith.

“Who are you, and what’s your business with us?” Merissa sneered angrily while Bethel and Evie tried to make themselves seem as little as possible. They had thought this lady would be their fierce opponent, being a student of a popular designer, and had been prepared to lose; however, seeing a no-name take the first place made them unable to swallow their pride.

Vivian stood up and marched to their table. She crossed her arms and glared down at Bethel and Evie. “You two are a pair made in heaven; honestly, instead of you finding ways to improve, you are going around trying to cause scandal for others. How free are you?” She demanded.

“With this attitude, yet you wondered why nobody believes the pure girl image you are trying to force down our throats. And you, madam, are sitting here discussing someone’s downfall because they are doing better than you want them to! I know you, Merissa; we were in Yellow Hill year one. I’ve changed, and you might not recognise me, but I used to sit beside you back then, and I know your level of talent compared to Lily’s. I just hope the school comes to their senses soon and finds someone else to do it because I won’t be going easy on you in the nationals,” she declared and walked away.

Evie and Bethel also stood up to leave without saying anything. They had not given up on their initial plan; however, discussing it in public may cause another unwanted scene.

As they left, Merissa noticed Bethel had left her his contact information with the instructions for her to contact him. “I won’t allow her to step over me and climb high. Never!” Merissa declared.