The world seemed to have slowed down, maybe it was the effect of Path of Destiny, or maybe her mind was racing, but Cyrielle felt the full effect of ‘Nerves of steel’, her thoughts were clear. She wasn’t feeling much pain, probably thanks to ‘Fortitude’, but she had never neglected her ‘Study’ ability, and she knew enough about biology to be sure that she didn’t have much time. Soon, she would have lost too much blood to move, and if one of her vital organs was affected ? It was even worse.

  From the corner of her eye, she saw that Hugo was still some distance away, he wouldn’t reach her in time, and the man in front of her was slipping his hand inside his coat, where she could see the light reflect on a metallic object. He had a second knife. Behind her, Bernadette was still frozen in fear. She needed to act.

  She used one hand to stop the man from reaching for the knife, and the second one to grab it in his pce. With the use of ‘Mind and body linked’, she was incredibly fast. But now what ? Hugo was still far away and the man could retaliate. She needed to push him back far enough to gain a bit of time. Thankfully, the aggressor seemed confused without his weapon, and she had the advantage of having ‘Moderately better strength’. With one kick to the stomach, the man flew back over the parking lot, nding on his back several meters away. When he finally stood up again, Hugo had reached Cyrielle and the security staff from Femme Frenchie was running towards him. It was over. It only sted for a few seconds, but for Cyrielle it had seemed like an eternity.

  She was standing tall with a neutral face, knife in her hand and another one stuck in her back, blood slowly forming a puddle at her feet. She could have panicked, but she was strangely at ease. Next to her, Bernadette was still shaking and Hugo was crying.

  “Oh my gosh… There is blood everywhere… Call an ambunce ! Why is no one calling an ambunce ?”

  He didn’t know what to do, if it was better to leave the knife or take it out, he could only cry while looking at Cyrielle’s ever so elegant face.

  “What should I do… Oh my gosh…”

  She put a strand of hair behind her ear. When she had grabbed the man’s hand, she had blood smear on it. It left a red trace on her cheek.

  “Give this knife to the security staff and tell them to call the police. Leave the other in my back, it will get worse if we take it out and I bleed out.”

  Hugo wiped his tears, despair painted all over his face.

  “You should sit down… Oh my gosh…”

  Cyrielle smiled.

  “I will be alright, don’t worry.”

  She had no way to be sure, but somehow she felt that everything would work out in the end.

  ***

  Cyrielle was sitting in a hospital bed, holding Julie’s hand who was crying so hard she was coughing. Her face was all red.

  “I can’t believe it… It must hurt so much… What should I do ?”

  Cyrielle stroked her hand.

  “I’m fine, Julie.”

  “How can you be ! I saw the photo Hugo took for the police investigation, the knife was in your back up to the hilt ! You can’t be fine !”

  “The doctor said that no organ was affected. It looked bad but I had a coat and a pull over since it’s winter, it didn’t go in that deep.”

  It was a lie, to be truthful the knife had punctured her lung. But, maybe it was thanks to ‘Fortitude’, she was healing pretty quickly and without much pain, so the wound didn’t seem as serious. She still vividly remembered the doctor, stitching her back without as much as an anesthesia, looking at her anxiously, asking her every five seconds if she was fine. But she really was, so she only nodded, and it made the doctor’s face distort even more. And now here she was, trying to calm down Julie even though she was the one being hurt. Her friend’s face was all puffed up.

  “I should cancel your schedules, you need to rest…”

  Cyrielle energetically shook her head.

  “No, it’s alright. I wasn’t that hurt.”

  “What do you mean ? Of course you got hurt ! Don’t be stubborn, you need time to heal !”

  “I told you that it isn’t that serious. I really want to work, I would feel even worse if I was left rotting at home.”

  Julie seemed unwilling, but she eventually nodded.

  “I’ll talk with the doctor. I won’t do anything that goes against medical advice. I can’t promise more than that.”

  “Alright, thanks.”

  Her friend got out, and Cyrielle took her phone from the night stand. She had been so preoccupied by Léo that she didn’t check out her contacts, and congratutory messages for her award were mixing with anxious calls asking if she was alright. It was a mess and she didn’t have the mental capacity to take care of it right now.

  She sighed and id down. It wasn’t too te to worry about it after taking a rest. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally.

  When she woke up, her room was still empty.

  ‘Well, everyone must be busy. Angel-Minet must be taking care of the investigation and reorganizing the security, and Coline is working hard to make the best of her nomination. Mom also can’t make her way to Paris just because she wants to, it’s far away. The world wouldn’t stop moving just because of me. I shouldn’t be disappointed.’

  She was about to close her eyes again when she heard a knock on her door and sat up.

  “Yes ?”

  Curiously, it was someone she never expected to visit her. Manon Sarmer’s manager entered shyly, a flower bouquet in his hands. Pansies, orchids, and poppies. Her favorite flowers. How did he even know ? He walked to her and sat on a nearby chair.

  “Hello. I’m sorry, maybe you expected someone else…”

  “It’s okay. Thank you for coming, and for bringing the flowers, I like them a lot.”

  “Yeah…”

  He ughed nervously but his face was somber. They stayed silent for a while, the bouquet on his p, then eventually he looked at her face.

  “How can you be so calm ?”

  “It’s alright, I’m not deeply hurt.”

  He ughed again, a dejected look in his eyes.

  “Of course, you must be used to assassination attempts…”

  Cyrielle raised a brow.

  ‘What is that new misunderstanding again ?’

  The manager took out his phone from his pocket.

  “Since you became the talk of the town, you must know that reporters are following you everywhere.”

  “Yes, I noticed that cars were following my van nowadays.”

  “Well, a journalist succeeded in entering the parking lot. He probably wanted to know if you had a secret contract with Femme Frenchie, but he came across the scoop of the century.”

  He showed her the phone, where her name was everywhere on the trending articles. The first one depicted the assault in great detail, and there was even a photo. It showed Cyrielle, as elegant as always, with a long coat that reached her thighs dancing in the wind while she was kicking a suspicious looking man in the chest that was flying in the air. She had a kitchen knife stuck in her back, and drops of blood were flying in the air like raindrops. The photo was grainy and of bad quality, but the scene couldn’t be mistaken for anything else. Cyrielle nodded.

  “I see. If it’s known to the public, everyone must be worried.”

  “Yes… On the good side, it pressured the police to move quickly, so the investigation took no time at all. We already know why that man did it. You must be curious.”

  Cyrielle clenched her jaw. She had a suspicion, everything was too odd. Clémentine insulting her on TV, Géraldine fighting more fiercely with her father, Léo coming for Christmas, everything led to this situation.

  “It’s Margot Robert.”

  Cyrielle froze, her eyes widened.

  ‘Huh ?’

  Thankfully, Manon’s manager had his head lowered, so he wasn’t able to see the look on her face.

  “She didn’t pn it herself, the man was a big fan of hers, and he was already enraged when you fired her from your runway. But when industry insiders predicted that she would be nominated for an award but you were the one to get it instead…”

  Cyrielle’s brain was completely frozen.

  ‘Just for that ? Isn’t that… Dumb ?’

  She shook her head to put her thoughts back in pce.

  ‘Is it really not my paternal family ? It was just a fan going crazy ? It doesn’t make any sense… Are there really people who would go so far for their idol ?’

  She had seen it once or twice in the media, fans making drastic choices for their idol, but it wasn’t common, much less in France. And there was always this thought : It always happens to others. Never in her wildest dreams could she have predicted that she would really experience it. She finally started to calm down when the manager lifted his face and studied her expression.

  “I guess you aren’t surprised.”

  ‘I ain’t surprised ? If I get any more surprised I will have a heart attack !’

  But thanks to ‘Nerves of steel’ she could nodd elegantly, adding a bit of bravado.

  “It was meant to happen.”

  The manager bit his lip.

  “What kind of life have you lived… I feel unfit to even think about… No, nevermind.”

  He took a deep breath, smiling sadly.

  “Can I keep visiting you ? I will bring you flowers everytime. You like lemonade too, right ? I’ll speak to the doctor and ask if I’m allowed to bring some.”

  “Of course you can. We aren’t strangers anymore. Call me Cyrielle.”

  He smiled brightly for the first time today, his charming smile that made dimples appear on his cheeks.

  “Thank you. Call me Frédéric, then !”