?<strong>Chapter 1410:</strong>


    Elyse addressed the audience with a radiant smile. “I’d like to address a recent misunderstanding,” she began. “It’s been said that I won the Swan Cup through cheating. But that’s not true. I earned my ce through every round ofpetition.”


    She turned her gaze to Nick and added, “I took the liberty of having someone look into the incident that befell you. At the onset of the Swan Cup, there was a deplorable disy of misconduct during thepetition. Tragically, Nick, you were unfairly confined in a lounge and missed your designated match. The individual responsible for these dishonorable actions was swiftly apprehended byw enforcement following thepetition and is now serving time in prison. Despite your unwavering belief that I yed a part in this deception, let me be clear—it was not me.”


    Nick’s calm facade shattered in an instant as he eximed, “It must have been you! You’re the one responsible for deliberately obstructing me from my match. Had you not intervened, I wouldn’t have been eliminated in the preliminaries.”


    Elyse inquired, “From whom did you hear that it was me?”


    Nick’s voice trembled on the brink of tears as he spoke, his words a painful confession. “It was a fellow contestant who told me. She found me sobbing in the stairwell, and withpassion in her voice, she shared what she had seen—your maniptive behavior. But despite her bravery, her report fell on deaf ears, as your mentor, Cody Tucker, seemed to deliberately turn a blind eye.”


    Elyse’s brow furrowed in curiosity, and she probed further. “Do you know the identity of that female contestant?”


    Nick’s eyes narrowed as he sought to recall the details. After a moment of quiet reflection, he shook his head. “I don’t know her name, but I do know that she managed to make it through the Comeback Competition and emerged victorious.”


    g?lnσνe??s is your update hub


    Elyse turned to Chloe, who was guarding backstage, and requested her phone. With a swift gesture, she retrieved a photo and presented it to Nick, inquiring softly, “Is this her? Geraldine Lawson? She seeded in the Comeback Competition.”


    As Geraldine’s photo disyed on Elyse’s phone screen, Nick’s expression turned resolute, and he shook his head with swift decisiveness. “It’s not her.”


    With Geraldine eliminated, only one contestant remained standing as the ultimate culprit.


    Elyse’s eyes sparkled as she handed Nick another photograph. “Is this her?”


    Nick’s eyesnded on Fiona’s photo, a warm recollection shing in his mind. “Yes, it was her,” he confirmed. “She was a kind soul, and I recall our encounter vividly.”


    Tears formed in Nick’s eyes as he expressed his thanks. “I was devastated after being disqualified. She was the only one whoforted me, staying by my side until I began to recover.”


    Nick asked, “What’s her name? After I was disqualified, I just wanted to disappear. I wasn’t really paying attention to anything else.”


    Aplex array of emotions yed across Elyse’s face. “You spoke with her for so long and she never mentioned her name?”


    Nick shook his head. “No, I was too distraught. It didn’t even ur to me.”


    Elyse looked at him with pity. “Her name is Fiona Evans. She was the architect of the chaos at thepetition. She has been arrested.”


    Nick stood frozen, processing the information. “You mean the girl who consoled me is the one responsible for my disqualification?”


    Elyse gave a solemn nod. “During her interrogation, she admitted to sabotaging other strongpetitors to boost her own chances. She was determined to win by any means.”


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