Reborn at Eighteen The Billionaire's Second Chance novel Chapter 195

Chapter 195

Elara

“Therefore, effective immediately, Vane Group is withdrawing all

financial sponsorship from the Praxis Prize International

competition. We will not contribute to prize money, venue costs, or

any other expenses related to this year’s event. This decision has

been made solely to eliminate any perception that our involvement

might influence outcomes or benefit any particular participant.”

A ripple of shock moved through the crowd. Cameras flashed.

Reporters began frantically typing on their phones. I saw Dr.

Sterling’s eyebrows rise in surprise, saw Isabella exchange glances

with her friends. On stage, Sloane’s carefully composed expression

flickered for just a moment–something that might have been

confusion or anger passing across her features before she smoothed it

away.

Julian continued as if he’d merely announced a change in quarterly

earnings rather than effectively torpedoing his own company’s public relations campaign.

“Additionally, Vane Group will cooperate fully with competition

organizers to investigate the recent incident of sabotaged art materials. While this sabotage occurred on premises we provided, we

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take full responsibility for the security failure that allowed it to

happen. The individual responsible has been identified and banned

from all future events, but we believe a thorough investigation is

warranted to determine whether this was an isolated incident or part

of a larger pattern.”

His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. “Finally, Vane Group will

provide financial compensation to any participant whose materials

were damaged or whose ability to compete was compromised by

security failures under our watch. We will also issue a formal public

apology to those affected. Art requires absolute freedom and safety to

flourish, and we failed to provide that environment. For that, we are

deeply sorry.”

The room erupted. Journalists shouted questions over each other.

Camera flashes turned the space into a strobe–lit chaos. Through it

all, Julian stood perfectly still at the podium, his expression betraying

nothing, his body language radiating the kind of calm that comes

from having made an irrevocable decision and accepted its

consequences.

He hadn’t mentioned my name once. Not once. But every single word

had been about me.

He’d withdrawn millions of dollars in sponsorship to eliminate any

suggestion that he was trying to help Sloane cheat. He’d publicly

committed to investigating the sabotage, effectively putting Vane

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Group’s reputation on the line to find out who had tried to destroy

my chances. He’d promised compensation and apologies to victims of

the security failure–which meant me, specifically me, though he’d

been careful to phrase it broadly enough to avoid singling me out.

He’d chosen the most public, most irrevocable way possible to prove

that he wasn’t using his position to manipulate the competition in

anyone’s favor. And in doing so, he’d essentially kneecapped any

remaining accusations that I was receiving special treatment because

of my connection to him.

The woman in the Vane Group blazer returned to the podium, trying

to restore order. “Mr. Vane will now take a limited number of

questions-”

“Mr. Vane!” A reporter near the front shouted over the noise. “Does

this decision have anything to do with your personal relationship

with participant Elara Vance?”

My stomach dropped. Of course someone would ask that. Of course

they would make it about us, about the messy tangle of history and

hurt and whatever this thing between us was or wasn’t.

Julian’s expression didn’t change, but I saw his hand tighten briefly

on the edge of the podium. “This decision was made solely to

preserve the integrity of the competition and eliminate any

appearance of conflict of interest. Next question.”

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“Is it true that you personally nominated Miss Vance for the

competition?” Another voice, this one from a business reporter I

recognized from financial news segments.

“Vane Group utilized one of our designated nomination slots to

recommend Miss Vance for consideration, yes. That nomination was

made through the competition’s official outreach program, which

specifically seeks to identify talented artists who face barriers to

traditional application processes. The judges made their own

independent evaluations based on portfolio submissions. Next

question.”

“Mr. Vane, your fiancée is still competing–doesn’t that still create a

conflict of interest?”

This time Julian’s jaw definitely tightened. “Miss Kennedy is

competing on the merits of her own work, evaluated by independent

judges who have no financial or personal relationship with Vane

Group following today’s announcement. If there are concerns about

her participation, I would encourage you to direct those questions to

the competition organizers rather than to me. We have time for one

more question.”

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