Rising From Betrayal Reborn As The Family Outcast novel Chapter 12

Chapter 12

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The folks from the legal team and Haley were both left speechless by Alicia’s gutsy move.

‘Is she out of her mind? She actually kicked Nicolas. Does she even want to keep her career alive in this business?‘ someone thought.

Haley watched as Alicia strutted out of the room after kicking Nicolas.

Haley’s eyes flashed with surprise. She bent down to help Nicolas, who looked completely shell–shocked.

“Nicolas, are you okay?” Haley asked.

She let out a sigh. “Alicia is just way over the top. If she’s got issues with me or the company, fine, whatever, but why did she have to go after you?”

Nicolas snapped out of it and brushed Haley’s hand away.

He shot her an icy glare and shouted, “Get lost.”

To him, what happened between him and Alicia was nobody else’s business. No one else got to butt in, especially not Haley.

If she hadn’t been scheming behind the scenes, Alicia wouldn’t be blaming the company and him for it.

Nicolas thought that after he managed to calm Alicia down, he’d settle the score with Haley.

Nicolas got to his feet and hurried out the door, chasing after Alicia.

Haley felt a chill run down her spine under Nicolas’s icy stare.

Seeing him dash out after Alicia, Haley was left completely speechless.

‘Wasn’t he supposed to be the arrogant and aloof heir of Starlight Entertainment?‘ Haley thought.

The legal team was just as shocked. They never expected that after getting kicked by Alicia, Nicolas wouldn’t even get mad, but he actually chased after her.

‘There’s definitely some juicy drama going on here,‘ someone thought.

Alicia asked Thomas to wait for her in the parking lot while she went to pack up her things before meeting him.

After LUMIA blew up, everyone got their own lounge, plus there was a shared lobby, a vocal studio, and a dance studio.

When she pushed open the door, she saw two people sitting on the main lounge couch, talking.

13:06 Mon, Feb 2

Chapter 12

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A woman with smoky gray hair and an icy, arrogant vibe immediately raised her eyebrow as soon as she saw Alicia.

“Well, well, Princess Alicia actually bothered to come back,” she sneered.

That was Felicity Sterling, the captain of LUMIA.

Alicia shot Felicity a look. “None of your damn business.”

Felicity always saw herself as the top dog in LUMIA, and she was convinced Alicia was the dead weight dragging them down. In her mind, LUMIA would be killing without Alicia.

So whenever they crossed paths, Felicity never missed a chance to throw shade. Her attitude was always frosty, and her words were loaded with jabs.

Since Alicia was constantly getting hate online, Felicity’s fans and the LUMIA stans just loved Felicity’s icy, no- nonsense vibe.

But Alicia wasn’t the type to just take it lying down. Every time Felicity tried to come for her, Alicia would clap right back.

Either way, people would drag her whether she kept quiet or fought back, so she figured she might as well stand her ground.

Felicity’s face darkened. “Why are you so arrogant? After you stirred up trouble on X, just wait and see how the company and Haley put you in your place.”

Out of everyone in LUMIA, Felicity just couldn’t stand Alicia.

Felicity and the other three were trainees from overseas, handpicked by Starlight to form the girl group.

They’d busted their asses for years before finally making it big.

But Alicia was just some nobody before joining, and somehow, just because she was pretty, she ended up hogging all the attention and becoming the most popular one in the group.

If it weren’t for the agent and the company meddling–relegating Alicia to backup vocals and harmonies, shoving her to the sidelines in dance numbers, plus all those scandals blowing up online–things would’ve been way different.

Otherwise, the rest of them would’ve just been background props in Alicia’s spotlight.

Girls like them, who could actually sing and dance, weren’t about to take that lying down.

What Felicity couldn’t stand most was how Alicia kept acting out for clout, even when the whole internet was roasting her. It was humiliating and made the rest of them look bad by association.

Felicity always felt like Alicia was a total dead weight for LUMIA.

Alicia scoffed, “Sure, I’ll just sit back and watch how the company and Haley plan to deal with me.”

13:06 Mon, Feb 2

Chapter 12

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Apparently, the rest of the LUMIA girls still had no idea Alicia had terminated the contract with the company.

After all, Haley still wanted to keep Alicia on a leash, just so she could take the heat for the rest.

Felicity glared at Alicia. “Oh, so now you’re the victim? How much longer are you gonna keep dragging us down?”

Alicia snorted, “Me, dragging you down? Please, like you guys are even in my league.”

Alicia thought, ‘If it weren’t for me being your scapegoat and the company throwing all its resources at you because of me, you four wouldn’t even be able to keep your current popularity, let alone get any bigger.

‘Each of you acts like you’re the hottest thing ever, always blaming me for holding you back.

‘Besides using me to play the victim and keep your fans loyal, you guys have been leeching off my resources from day one.

‘I’m done playing your game. Now, I’ll just sit back and see if you’re real A–listers or just a bunch of posers.

Felicity was about to fire back, but Bianca Henderson, the sweet and innocent–looking girl beside her, reached out and tugged on her arm.

Bianca gave her a look, motioning toward the door.

That was when Felicity realized Nicolas was standing in the doorway. She had no idea how much he’d overheard.

Felicity quickly dropped her smug attitude and put on a polite smile for Nicolas. “Hi, Nicolas.”

Felicity thought, a little surprised, ‘Why is he showing up here?

‘Anyway, maybe it was a good thing. He could see Alicia’s bossy attitude for himself.

‘If he actually enjoyed watching me put Alicia in her place, that’d be even better.‘

Every girl in the company dreamed of getting close to Nicolas.

Bianca flashed a sweet, shy smile and greeted him. “Hi, Nicolas.”

Nicolas shot them both an impatient look. “Can you leave us alone?”

Then he walked right up to Alicia, reaching out to grab her arm. “Alicia, can we talk?”

Alicia jerked away from his hand, her voice cold. “Back off”

Just seeing Nicolas annoyed her. She had zero patience for his drama right now.

She turned and headed straight for her lounge.

Nicolas’s expression froze, and he looked downright miserable, totally sulking.

13:06 Mon, Feb 2

Chapter 12

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He rushed after her, only to have Alicia slam the lounge door right in his face, leaving him awkwardly standing outside.

He rattled the handle and knocked, but Alicia didn’t even bother to answer, completely ignoring him.

Felicity and Bianca just stood there, totally stunned by what they were seeing.

Both of them looked completely baffled, not sure what to make of it.

Felicity thought, ‘Wasn’t Alicia always clout–chasing with Nicolas?

‘But looking at them now, they actually seem way too familiar for just acquaintances.

‘Alicia was downright savage, telling Nicolas to get lost and locking him out of the room. What’s even going on here?‘

Bianca glanced at Nicolas, who was still standing outside Alicia’s lounge, her eyes flickering with something unreadable.

Alicia grabbed what she needed and stuffed it all into a cardboard box, tossing anything that didn’t matter to her straight into the trash.

Then she threw open the door with the box and headed out.

Nicolas blocked her path and said, “I’ve been stuck out filming in the middle of nowhere for months. I had no idea Haley screwed you over like that. If you’re mad, don’t just dump it all on me.”

He shot her a wounded look. “You’re really taking it too far this time. How can you just up and leave like this?”

Alicia gave him a cold, cutting glare. “You’re in my way. Do me a favor and step aside.”

Nicolas saw she wouldn’t even listen, and he couldn’t help but get pissed.

His face turned cold. “Fine, go cool off for a while. We’ll talk again when you’ve calmed down.”

‘I’ve already swallowed my pride again and again. What more does she want?‘ Nicolas fumed.

He wasn’t about to let her walk all over him, either.

Alicia didn’t say a word. She just walked right past him with a cold face, not even sparing him a glance.

Seeing her so distant and unbothered sent a wave of unease through Nicolas. He couldn’t shake the anxious feeling creeping up inside.

But Alicia clearly wasn’t willing to talk to him now, and he was powerless to change that.

Just then, Bianca came over to Alicia.

She looked puzzled and asked, “Alicia, what’s all this about?”

Her voice and expression were genuinely friendly.

13:06 Mon, Feb 2

Chapter 12

Alicia shot her a calm look. “Just giving you exactly what you’ve been wishing for.”

Of all the other LUMIA girls, Bianca always acted like she was the nicest one to Alicia.

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But the last time Alicia did Bianca a favor, she got branded as the jealous type who tried to mess up Bianca’s big break.

That was when Alicia figured out that Bianca’s whole sweet–and–innocent vibe was just an act.

After that, Alicia did her best to steer clear of Bianca.

And Alicia was spot on. Felicity, who was super close to Bianca, kept getting played over and over.

By the time Felicity finally saw Bianca’s true colors, it was already too late.

Later on, Alicia found out that Bianca and Nicole were actually pretty tight behind the scenes.

Later, Austin would bankroll a show for Caleb to direct, and he was set on making Nicole the female lead.

Bianca used her connection with Nicole to land herself a super likable role, and that got her a bit of buzz online.

Honestly, anyone who could buddy up with Nicole was definitely no pushover.

In her last life, Alicia didn’t waste her breath trying to warn Felicity and the others. Even if she had, they wouldn’t have believed her. They’d just think she was trying to stir up drama between them.

This time, Alicia couldn’t care less about their mess.