Five Years of Marriage to Mr. Bradford (by Koi Fish) novel Chapter 700

By then, most students had already entered their classrooms, and the building was quiet. Just as Rebecca and Jenny were about to run upstairs, they heard familiar voices coming from behind the staircase on the first floor.

Both girls stopped in their tracks as they recognized the voice of Catherine, who was sobbing uncontrollably.

“This competition was really important to me. Actually, every competition is crucial… If my mom didn’t know I had qualified, it would have been fine. But now she knows, and I can’t go. I’ll be in serious trouble. I had to participate no matter what. That’s why I was so scared Rebecca would beat me.”

Vance’s calm voice sounded next. “You knew her French was very good?”

“I–I guessed. She was so insistent on signing up, and she has relatives abroad, so I thought she must be good. Maybe her speech was even written by them.” Catherine sobbed so hard she could barely speak coherently.

“No, it wasn’t.”

“What?”

“She wrote it herself.”

“I–I was just saying. Who wrote it doesn’t matter. I just really cared about this competition, and you’re not letting me work at your restaurant because of that?”

Her crying grew louder, but Vance’s tone was unyielding.

“The reason doesn’t matter.”

Given his personality, he naturally wouldn’t mention the bet with Rebecca.

The next day was the weekend.

Jenny insisted on dragging Rebecca to Vance’s restaurant for a big meal. For her, this was nothing unusual, as she and Jethro visited Vance’s place almost every week.

But Rebecca had distanced herself from the two boys for the past year and rarely went. Even Darren, who had once been Vance’s close friend and benefactor, seldom visited anymore.

Now that Rebecca had returned from the other timeline and her relationship with Vance seemed repaired, Jenny wanted to bring her along everywhere.

It was during this visit that Rebecca discovered Vance’s duplicity. Catherine had indeed been removed from his restaurant, but she had simply moved to the shop right next door.