Waking up with my nemesis baby novel Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Teresa immediately followed. “I’ve got a date with a friend.”

“I’m going home for lunch.”

“I’m dieting. I’ll skip lunch.”

Before Madeleine’s awkward smile had even faded, the four of

them vanished like they were avoiding the plague.

Feeling a little defeated, Madeleine sighed inwardly.

Just then, her phone buzzed. It was Roderick.

Roderick: “Come over.”

The corners of her mouth curved up again as she happily

hurried off to the CEO’s office.

Roderick’s office was spacious and stark, with a cool–toned

decor.

When Madeleine pushed the door open, he was bent over his

desk, working through documents.

Noticing her entrance, Roderick looked up briefly. “Sit for a

while. Lunch will be brought in soon.”

Then he paused.

“Or… would you rather I have them send it to your desk, so you

can eat alone?”

If it had been the old Madeleine, she would never have wanted

to eat with him.

Back when she was furious, she had once lashed out with cruel

words.

“Roderick, just the sight of you makes me sick. I can’t even eat

when you’re around!”

That sentence had wounded Roderick deeply for a long time.

“Let’s eat together,” Madeleine said now. “Food tastes better

when you share it.”

After failing in her attempt to bond with the secretaries earlier,

she was already feeling down. If she had to go eat alone now,

she’d only feel more miserable.

Though she thought this, she didn’t show it on her face. Instead,

Chapter 43

she looked around curiously at the items on his desk.

There were numerous certificates of honor and trophies

displayed, dazzling her eyes.

Suddenly, her gaze fell on one particular, slightly old trophy,

which was engraved with her own name.

“Wait, isn’t this the ballet competition trophy I won in eleventh

grade? I remember throwing it away.”

She pointed at the glass cabinet, her face full of surprise. “Why

is it here?”

Roderick’s hand, holding his pen, froze. In that instant,

memories from the past exploded in both their minds.

Back in eleventh grade, Madeleine had been training hard for

the annual ballet competition, squeezing in practice even after

exhausting days of study.

She had a formidable rival then. Her name was Leona Harmon.

The tension between the two was much stronger than that

between her and Roderick.

Leona, a year older, was a gifted and hardworking dancer, her

Chapter 48

skills nearly on par with Madeleine’s.

That citywide competition determined who would qualify for the national. The two of them practiced day and night, each

desperate to claim the spot.

In the end, Madeleine narrowly won, taking first place and

earning the chance to represent the city at the national

competition.

But then, rumors spread that her family had bribed the judges

to secure her victory.

When Harold heard, he was furious and tried to dispel the

rumors everywhere, but the more he argued, the harsher the

public backlash became.

“Rich people are all the same. Poor Leona! Her family sacrificed

everything just to support her dancing.”

“I feel so sorry for Leona. How could someone like Madeleine

even deserve to dance?”

“Unbelievable. To think I’m in the same class as her makes me

sick.”

Chapter 48

The blow crushed Madeleine. She burned with fever for days,

aching so badly that she couldn’t get out of bed, and ultimately

missed the national competition.

But there was one thing she never told anyone. What

devastated her most was seeing Roderick comforting Leona

with her own eyes.

Though the two of them had bickered endlessly since

childhood, anyone could see they were a pair of “frenemies“.

Madeleine had believed, at the very least, that he trusted her.

But that day, she was bitterly disappointed. That night, she

threw the trophy away.

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