All Chapters of I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis: Chapter 181 - Chapter 190

Dr. Dubois raised her hand. "Let's discuss this outside. Miss Vance should get back to her design—"A guy burst in before she could finish.He leaned in and murmured something directly into her ear.Dr. Dubois stiffened.Her eyes shifted—once to me, once to Octavia, then back again."The feed from this room's surveillance was cut as soon as you entered, Miss Grey. It came back when you stepped out to find us."Octavia narrowed her eyes. "You want to run that by me again?""We couldn't see what was happening in here. Which gives us reason to suspect collusion between you and Miss Vance."I couldn't believe my ears. "You think we hacked the system so I could cheat?""That's correct," Dubois said, nodding once. "Surveillance is in place to ensure fairness. We have staff watching in real time. But this feed went black. We have no idea what took place during that window."Octavia's hands slammed onto the table. "What kind of amateur setup is this? The tablet malfunctions, no one brings the

Applause rattled through the hall as the contestant before me stepped down.I walked to the center of the platform.The screen behind me buzzed once, then flared to life.White light burned at the edge of my vision.My palms were dry; I'd made sure of it.I hadn't come all this way and worked weeks on four hours' sleep a night just to flinch now.I gripped the mic in one hand, the laser pointer in the other.I began."Good afternoon, judges, guests. I'm Mirabelle Vance."I paused just long enough to make them look up."The theme: Evening Gala. Gemstones. Composure. I designed a four-piece set intended for high-profile, high-visibility events. Met-tier, red carpet-ready. But every clasp, hinge, and suspension curve is engineered for full comfort. Nothing that requires styling glue or double-sided tape to sit right."I clicked the pointer.The ring rotated on the screen."Let's start with the ring. Cushion-cut Ceylon sapphire, 7.8 carats, zero thermal treatment. Cradled in a platinum cl

While the host droned on about the change in protocol, I turned to Ashton."Octavia told you?"He nodded. "The Hadley guy works for a friend of mine. I asked him to look into it. Dubois took a payment. Six hundred thousand, wired two days ago. Offshore account. She's the one who ordered everything. The sabotage, the switch-up, all of it came from her."I frowned. "I don't even know her. Never met her before today.""She's just the hired gun. Hadley only had enough time to find out about the payment but couldn't trace the sender. It's buried. Whoever did it knew what they were doing.""Huh. I wonder who it could be."But there was no time to dig into it at the moment.The host's voice boomed, "The final score is in. First place goes to... Miss Mirabelle Vance!"A staff member waved me back onto the stage.After the award ceremony, we hit another snag."Miss Vance, quick question—about the rights to your designs." A staff member, who'd probably been roped into this against her will, app

I couldn't stop grinning. It felt too wide. "I'm telling him. That I want us to be official. About my... feelings."She shot upright so fast the stool skidded. "You're finally doing it! Good. Say it, serve the cake, drag him to bed—boom. Perfect night.""Keep your voice down," I hissed, yanking her sleeve. "There's literally a child two feet away."She cackled and dropped back onto the stool. "Sorry. I'm just happy for you. Leave the cake to me.""Something simple's fine," I said, then paused. "Oh, by the way. That boyfriend of yours. Cade Lawson? I saw his face on a promo banner. He's doing some kind of reality show?""Yeah." Yvaine nodded. "He passed the audition. No clue when filming starts, though. Probably after the holidays.""You sure about this? He's already got a fanbase. I've seen them fight people online like it's blood sport. And don't those shows ban contestants from dating?"I'd seen a clip of Cade a few nights ago.If he actually had talent to match that face, the show

I said, "Got it," and ended the call.The dining table was set. Cutlery straight, wine cold, plates steaming.I stood there for a second, then dropped into the chair and started eating.Three bites in, I gave up.Everything tasted flat.I left the rest, grabbed the remote, and collapsed on the couch.Thirty minutes passed.I couldn't remember a single thing I'd watched.When I looked up, Tom and Jerry was playing on mute.I let out a short laugh. Nothing was really funny.I got up, brought out the cake, and set it on the table.I took a small spoon from the drawer and dug in.The sponge was soft, not overly sweet, with a tart glaze that cut through the richness.Better than anything I'd cooked tonight.After a few bites, I flipped to some new drama people had been shouting about online.Ten minutes in, I still couldn't tell you what the plot was.The wall clock ticked past nine.Ashton still hadn't shown.I thought about going upstairs.But that photo kept flashing through my head.I