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Novel Catalog
Chapter 41
Kyle’s face was a twisted mask of rage and humiliation as he stormed toward Cordy. His every step felt heavy, like a burden of his own pride crashing down with every inch closer he got to her. He could feel the eyes of everyone around him still lingering on him, their judgmental glares like daggers stabbing into his back.
“You knew, didn’t you?!” he hissed, his voice low and venomous as he stepped into her space. “You knew who he was, and you just wanted me to embarrass myself!”
Cordy, however, stood there with a cool, unfazed composure, her smirk still firmly in place. There was no anger in her eyes—just amusement, as if the whole scene was just another of life’s little dramas that she had witnessed a thousand times before.
“You embarrassed yourself because you’re vain,” she replied with a calmness that only served to infuriate him more. “None of that would’ve happened if you didn’t try to show off. Pride goes before a fall, Kyle.”
Her words sliced through the air like a knife, and Kyle’s face turned a shade darker as he clenched his fists at his sides. It was clear that she wasn’t backing down, wasn’t about to offer him the satisfaction of any apology or sympathy. Instead, she stood there, watching the fallout of his own arrogance with the air of someone who knew exactly what was going to happen all along.
He knew it. He could feel it deep inside. The humiliation wasn’t just because of John Levine’s revelation. It was because he had tried to prove himself to someone who had already seen through him. His world, which had once been filled with the kind of attention he could buy, was now slipping through his fingers, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
“You think you’re so clever,” Kyle spat, but his words had lost their bite. He was grasping at straws, his confidence shattered, and his words no longer carried the same force.
Cordy didn’t respond immediately. She just kept that same knowing smirk, her eyes flicking over him as if he were some minor character in the story of her life, unworthy of much more than this brief encounter.
“I’m just a spectator, Kyle,” she said softly, almost teasing. “You’re the one who chose to be the star of your own little show. I didn’t do anything to make you look like a fool. You did that all on your own.”
A sharp sting of frustration lanced through Kyle, and he balled his hands into fists, his nails digging into his palms. But as he opened his mouth to respond, he realized something—there was no winning. There was no way out of the shame he had brought upon himself.
Instead, he took a deep breath, trying to regain some semblance of control, before looking at her one last time.
“I’ll remember this,” he muttered, the words laced with venom and defeat. He turned away quickly, the sting of humiliation still fresh, and made his way toward the exit, ignoring the whispers and glances that followed him.
Cordy didn’t even flinch as he left. She simply turned her attention back to the rest of the room, where the evening had now truly shifted. The power had definitively swung in John’s favor, and the energy in the room was palpable. Everyone was still talking about him, still reeling from the shock of his true identity. His effortless elegance, the authority in his every movement—it was like a magnetic pull that no one could resist.
As the night went on, Cordy quietly observed the interactions around her, her mind racing with thoughts of John, of the evening’s revelations, and of the silent shift in the balance of power that she had witnessed. She couldn’t help but wonder what this meant for her, for her relationship with John, and for the game that everyone seemed to be playing in North City.
One thing was clear—tonight was only the beginning of a much larger story. And she wasn’t about to let herself get caught in the middle of it all. At least, not without making sure she held the right cards.
As the banquet continued, the whispers and gossip swirled around the room like wildfire, but Cordy remained an observer, content to watch as the pieces on the board moved and reshuffled. The game was far from over, and as the night wore on, it became increasingly clear that John Levine was a force to be reckoned with.