Rising From Betrayal Reborn As The Family Outcast novel Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Chapter 38

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While the chat waited for Nicole’s answer, the comments section exploded with speculation about whether she’d push back against Alicia’s proposal.

After all, Nicole was the pampered princess that Nicolas and Maxwell doted on.

She was a wealthy heiress, too, so she had to have some backbone.

If she objected to the new voting system, things were about to get interesting.

Nicole’s fans were practically begging for her to clap back at Alicia. They wanted the drama so they could go after Alicia’s fanbase even harder.

Someone deliberately stirred the pot in the comments. [If Nicole just agrees to this, I’m actually starting to feel sorry for Felicity.]

[I mean, changing the whole selection process this late? Nicole probably orchestrated this whole thing.]

[The camera caught her earlier with red eyes, and she was giving Maxwell those looks.]

That comment opened the floodgates, and more “viewers” jumped in.

[Oh, it’s way more than that. I’ve been watching them this whole time.]

[Nicole had her phone under the table texting, and then Nicolas and Maxwell both checked their phones right after.]

[The three of them were typing back and forth the entire time, and then Maxwell and Nicole locked eyes before he suggested the revote.]

[So Alicia was right. The princess wants to replay the game, the princes scramble to please her, and everyone else gets screwed over.]

Other viewers read those comments and felt annoyed.

They hadn’t noticed those details before, but now the evidence was right there staring them in the face.

The comments flooded in. [I think the lottery would be fairer too, but the way Nicolas and his group handled this? Pretty disappointing.]

[Same here. Especially that one person. She really is what Alicia called her on X before-a manipulative bitch.]

[I wanted to say something, but I didn’t dare. Her fans are vicious when they attack people.]

[Let them come after me then. I can see right through her act.]

[I’ve been thinking the same thing. Before, she had Felicity fight her battles, and now she’s got Maxwell doing it. She gets to stay sweet and innocent no matter what.]

(If she agrees to this, she’s basically stabbing her own teammate in the back.1

[If she actually stood up and opposed it, I might respect her a little.)

[You’re probably going to be disappointed then. If she objects, she’d be going against Nicolas and Maxwell, and they already agreed to it.]

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[Don’t you see how Nicolas and his partner spoil her? But have you noticed she always goes along with whatever they want?]

[Yeah, I bet she’s going to play the sweet, understanding angel and agree to it.]

And just like clockwork.

Chase turned to Team 1. “What about you guys?”

Nicole maintained her smile as best she could. “I don’t have a problem with it.”

She said “I,” which meant whether Felicity had a problem with it was none of her concern.

She wanted to push back against Alicia and say she opposed the change, but that didn’t fit her carefully crafted image.

After all, she’d always been the sweet little sister who backed down from Alicia and tried so hard to get along with her.

And she was the one who’d asked for help to redo the selection in the first place.

‘If I go head-to-head with Alicia now, what would Nicolas and his partner think of me?’ Nicole thought. ‘And if the Hammond family sees this livestream, what would they think?”

This persona had always worked in her favor before, but now she couldn’t help feeling stifled and frustrated by it.

What she didn’t realize was that her words disappointed not only her fans but also made the general audience think she really was a manipulative bitch.

And surprisingly, people were shocked that a wealthy heiress could be so spineless.

[I knew Nicole would agree.]

[See? The princess knows how to play the game.]

[But did she even think about how her ‘friend’ Felicity would feel about this?]

[Now let’s see what Ms. Sterling does.]

[I bet Ms. Sterling will cave again. It’s not like it’s the first time, and her pride’s been broken for a while now.]

Felicity stayed silent and clearly had no intention of speaking up.

But Chase wasn’t going to let her off that easily, so he asked, “What about you, Ms. Sterling?”

Felicity rolled her eyes inwardly. “This asshole Chase must be blind. Can’t he see I’m not planning to say anything?’ she thought.

But since he’d called her out directly, she had no choice but to respond. “I don’t have any objections either,” she said.

Then, trying to salvage some dignity, she added, “I’m not interested in teaming up with those eight trainees anyway.”

The truth was, Felicity had plenty of objections and even wanted to argue against it.

But everyone else had agreed, and even Nicole had gone along with it, so her opposition wouldn’t matter.

What really bothered her was that she’d noticed Nicolas and Maxwell were way too biased toward Alicia and seemed to actively dislike her.

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If Felicity went against them now and completely pissed them off, it would definitely hurt her career.

After weighing the pros and cons, she decided she had to suck it up.

This second cave-in not only disappointed her fans but also made the audience’s impression of her even worse.

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Now, people saw her as someone with a bad temper who thought too highly of herself but couldn’t back it up and folded the moment things got tough.

At this point, all she had left was her talent.

This time, Lucent Media’s PR department jumped in immediately.

Meanwhile, Starlight Entertainment’s PR department kept hesitating and struggling with what to do.

Nicolas’ unclear attitude made it impossible for them to figure out the right move, and that delay cost them the best window to clean up Nicole’s image.

This whole situation flipped the script on Alicia, Nicole, and Felicity’s reputations. Public perception had completely reversed.

It just goes to show how much a good PR team matters.

Chase smiled and said, “Well then, we’ll respect your decision.”

Ross and his team quickly prepared the paper slips for the draw and placed them in a box.

Inside were only three group numbers, and they brought it first to the trainees sitting behind Alicia.

They went by ranking order, so Sean reached in first and pulled out a slip. He unfolded it and saw the number four written on it, and his usually stern face broke into a smile.

He held it up to the camera and said, “I’m still in Ms. Delaney’s group, so I don’t have to move.”

Anyone could tell he was thrilled.

The remaining trainees grew anxious and hopeful as they watched.

Two more people drew Alicia’s group number, and both of them couldn’t help grinning as they high-fived each other in

celebration.

The other five didn’t get Alicia’s group, but three of them drew Nicolas’ group, and they seemed pretty happy with that

result.

The two who drew Simon’s group looked a little disappointed at first, but then visibly relaxed. ‘At least we didn’t get Felicity’s group, they thought. That was good enough.

Next, the production team added slips with the number one to the box and had the other trainees draw.

This time, four people from the top twenty rankings drew group one, including Elijah, who had previously ranked first in popularity.

The moment those four saw the number on their slips, their hearts sank. Why is my luck so terrible?’ each of them thought.

But no matter how unwilling they felt inside, they still managed to control their expressions and smiled as they held up their slips, announcing they’d drawn Team 1.

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The trainees forced bright smiles that made the audience feel both sympathetic and amused at the same time..

Their fans wanted to cry.

But since the groups were already assigned, the fans couldn’t trash-talk in the comments because it would hurt their favorite

contestants.

Nicole and Felicity’s fans especially loved to start drama, and nobody wanted to trigger a fan war.

So they could only leave half-hearted comments like: [Team 1 isn’t bad either. The two ladies have skills too.]

Soon, all four groups finished their guest-trainee pairings.

The trainees took their seats behind their assigned guests.

With the selection complete, Chase and Marley were ready to stir things up.

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