Chapter 0261


    The footage begins, and the scenees to life in front of my eyes.


    It’s the morning of the cook-off, the prep time that I missed in the morning. The contestants are busy


    chatting, chopping, and rearranging while various staff wander around the stage, finishing upst-


    minute tasks. My station is empty, of course, because I wasn’t there yet.


    But then, there’s Daniel. During a lull in the conversation, he meanders his way over to my station. He


    stands there for a moment, stretching and looking around nonchntly, but I can see it: the way he’s


    ncing over his shoulders, the tiny ss bottle he sneakily slips out of his pocket and ces on my


    spice rack.


    Then, just as quickly as he ced the first bottle down, he grabs another—one from my rack this time


    —and slips that one into his pocket. Checking over his shoulders onest time, he walks away.


    “What is he doing?” I whisper, leaning closer to watch the footage again.


    Mr. Thompson’s voice is hardly more than a whisper too. “He’s swapping your spices, Abby. Just like


    you said.”


    For a moment, it feels as though the room has suddenly flipped upside down. I’m at a loss for words.


    All I can do is stare at Mr. Thompson, unblinking, my eyes wide.


    “Keep watching,” he says, nodding his head toward the screen again. “There’s more.”


    My body feels stiff, but I do as he says. The screen jumps forward, and it’s the moment when Karl ran


    to the pantry to get the ck truffles.


    Time feels like it’s standing still. Karl freezes in the pantry in a showdown of wills against Daniel’s sous


    chef.


    I can’t hear what they’re saying, but I can see everything; the other sous chef with his hand in the


    container of ck truffles. He’s dropping something inside, something that looks a whole hell of a lot


    different from the actual ck truffles, which are in his other hand.


    Karl says something. He points, then holds out his hand, palm facing up. The other sous chef shakes


    his head and says something else, and then…


    Copyright N?v/el/Dra/ma.Org.


    Karl steps forward, taking the real ck truffles from the sous chef. That’s when all hell breaks loose.


    The other sous chef stands there for a moment, his eyes searching Karl. And then, suddenly, he grips


    his wrist out of nowhere and begins to wail. Karl looks around frantically, confused, and now I can see


    why.


    Karl was right; he never touched the sous chef. He only took the truffles from him in an attempt to


    reveal the sabotage that was urring. And yet, the security guards dragged him away, and the


    container of ‘ck truffles’ was left untouched, with the wrong mushrooms inside.


    The video ends and there’s a lengthy silence in the room. My hand is mped over my mouth, my eyes


    wide with shock.


    “He… He did sabotage me after all,” I finally manage, my voice trembling. “And Karl never touched


    him.”


    “What are you trying to say?” I murmur, my eyes leveling with his. Updated at Draм??оvels.cоm


    “Abby,” he says, leaning forward a little more, “I’m here to ask you if you will cater the Alpha party after


    all.”