She Provoked Me, I Let Them Fall

Chapter 3

The referee's whistle shrilled through the air. The race was on.

Neo launched himself into the water with a sharp splash, and the entire arena erupted in cheers.

Cecilia sidled a few steps over to where I was standing, taking advantage of the chaos.

"See? If it wasn't for me, Neo wouldn't have this much energy out there."

I stared at the four athletes I had trained from scratch. In my past life, Neo never drank that cold medicine Cecilia gave him, and our team still took first place easily, no questions asked.

But now...

"We won! Neo, you're the best!"

"Neo! Neo!"

Fans screamed their lungs out the second Neo touched the wall to lock in the win.

Cecilia darted over to throw herself into his arms as soon as he climbed out of the pool.

All the reporters swarmed the team, shoving mics in their faces for post-win insights.

Then, out of nowhere, one of the athletes spoke up. "Right now, we only have one request. We want a new coach."

The entire arena went dead quiet for a beat, then erupted into chaotic murmurs and shocked gasps. Everyone was instantly hooked on the drama. They instantly turned their cameras on me, all hungry for a shot of my reaction, before turning back to pelt the team with more questions.

"Can you tell us why you're asking to replace your coach?"

"Is it because Coach Elodie has been making unreasonable demands?"

The athletes paused for a second, then one of them scoffed and spoke up, "Her? She's got a garbage character."

"Hell yeah. I was born to swim," Charlie sneered, running his mouth. "Did that dumb b***h actually think I made it this far 'cause of her?"

Charlie was another kid from a poor background. He'd loved swimming his whole life, but his family refused to support him because they couldn't afford the fees. I was the one who spotted his talent, who paid out of my own pocket to get him training.

A cold, heavy twist of disappointment sank in my gut. When my eyes locked with Neo's icy, disgusted glare, I felt like I'd fallen straight into an ice bath.

When the reporters pressed Neo for his take, he answered in a flat, icy tone, "Coach Elodie's methods don't work for us anymore."

One of the reporters followed up, curiosity written all over his face. "We heard you're dating the girl who wiped your sweat before the race. Is that true?"

Neo's gaze flicked all the way over to me by the pool edge, and he nodded slowly. "Yes."

He'd never breathed a word about our relationship to anyone outside the team before. Ever.

That icy twist in my chest grew even heavier.

While the team was busy with the interview, Cecilia snuck over to me. "You must be super regretful right now, huh? You pissed off Neo, so he's never going to talk to you again."

When I just ignored her, she sidled even closer to me. Then, out of nowhere, she grabbed my wrist. Before I could even process what was happening, she threw herself backwards and fell straight into the pool with a loud splash.

"Ah! Elodie, why would you do that to me?"

Every single head in the venue snapped over to us. Cecilia was hiding a tiny smirk at the corner of her mouth, but Neo didn't notice. He shoved his way through the crowd, dove into the water, and hauled her out.

He glared daggers at me, his voice shaking with rage. "Elodie, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"I didn't do it." I paused for a second, then added, "There are 360-degree security cameras covering this entire area. You can check the footage frame by frame if you don't believe me."

Neo held Cecilia tight in his arms, his face soft with concern for her, and didn't even bother pretending to listen to me.

"If you keep pulling this crap, I'm going to file a formal request with the higher-ups to replace you as coach!"

I almost snort-laughed right in his face. As if Neo actually thought any of them had a future to worry about after today?

Word of the commotion spread fast, and even more people crowded around to watch. Some fans were glaring at me in open displeasure, and the few athletes I had trained from the very start were staring at me with pure contempt written all over their faces.

"See? I told you Coach Elodie has a garbage character. She's been targeting that poor girl this entire time, for no reason."

"Without her dead weight dragging us down, we would've swum even faster."

Neo's face was stormy. "Apologize."

Cecilia sniffled and huddled deeper into his arms, her shoulders shaking with quiet sobs.

A reporter shoved a microphone right in my face, voice sharp with accusation. "Your team has formally requested a new coach. Can you tell us what caused this rift between you and the athletes? Coach Elodie, is it true what they're saying about your poor character?"

I could feel the sharp hostility rolling off the crowd of reporters surrounding me.

I was still weighing my options when Neo barked out another order, his voice cutting through the noise. "You heard me. Apologize to Cecilia, now! And for the record? You're not fit to be Team A's coach anymore."

That was the last straw. I fished my phone out of my pocket, pulled up the pool's security footage, enlarged it frame by frame, and cast it onto the public screen.

The footage showed exactly what had gone down. Cecilia grabbing my hand, then throwing herself backward into the water completely unprompted.

Neo's eyes went wide with shock, and the whole venue erupted into a buzz of shocked exclamations.

I stared down at Neo, his face twisted with obvious shock and embarrassment, and spoke slowly, each word sharp and clear as a knife.

"Then as of today, I, Elodie Montague, am cutting all ties with every single one of you."

Before any of them could even process what I'd just said, a team of inspectors burst through the crowd, yelling, "Team A's urine samples tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. All of you, come with us immediately."