34For Molly, the rest of the contest sailed by in a blur. Anne-Marie and Hugo entertained the crowd by making a few messy mistakes, with Anne-Marie muttering an audible merde when she dropped a whisk on the floor. Both of the chefs made creditable gnocchi; Anne-Marie chose a simple but perfect sage butter sauce while Hugo sauced his with a walnut pesto. At the end, Anne-Marie won by a vote of 2-1, though both judges had substantial compliments for Hugo as well. His parents, who Molly had feared would be accusing her of leading their son down the wrong path, instead came up to her afterward to argue that the contest had been rigged and Hugo should have won.
All during the event, Molly’s face was fixed with an unnaturally bright smile and eyes too wide open, as though she could defend herse
