THE PADDOCK CONTRACT PRINCESS

CHAPTER 18

The Paddock Princess

By the following afternoon, Sofia had become impossible to ignore. Every camera seemed to find her beside Lucien, every journalist had a new theory about their engagement, and every social platform carried another photograph of the woman the fans had begun calling the Paddock Princess. Sofia disliked the nickname because it made her sound like she had inherited a crown instead of earning her place beside a race team. Yet when she walked through the paddock, mechanics nodded to her with genuine respect, and that mattered more than any headline.

Margaux showed her the latest media reports while they waited for a meeting with the commercial department. One magazine had described Sofia as the secret weapon behind Vantari’s resurgence, while another claimed she had been planted by a rival team to destabilize Lucien. Sofia laughed at the contradiction and said apparently she was both a genius and a spy before lunch. Margaux replied that attention was useful until people started believing their own stories, then warned Sofia that an old story about Lucien was about to return.

The warning came true before the meeting began. Camille Laurent entered the hospitality suite wearing an immaculate white suit and carrying the confidence of someone who had once belonged there. Sofia recognized her immediately from old photographs, but the photographs had never captured the familiarity in Camille’s smile when Lucien turned toward her. Lucien’s shoulders stiffened, and Sofia understood that whatever Camille had been to him, she was not merely another acquaintance from Monaco society.

Camille greeted Lucien with a kiss on each cheek before looking at Sofia. She introduced herself as a former strategic adviser to Vantari and an old friend of the family, then smiled when Margaux corrected her by saying Camille had once been Lucien’s fiancée. Sofia kept her expression neutral even though something sharp moved through her stomach. Lucien told Camille that their engagement had ended years ago, and Camille answered that some endings were easier to announce than to accept.

The room became uncomfortable, so Sofia suggested they continue the meeting elsewhere. Camille followed them into the corridor and asked Sofia whether she knew about Lucien’s reputation for ending relationships before they became serious. Sofia said she knew enough not to discuss her private arrangement with strangers, but Camille replied that the contract was probably the safest thing Sofia had. Then Camille leaned closer and quietly asked why Lucien had chosen her when there were so many women who would have accepted the role without asking questions.

Sofia refused to give Camille the satisfaction of seeing uncertainty. She said Lucien had chosen her because he needed someone who would not be intimidated by his family, then walked away before Camille could respond. Lucien caught up with her near the elevators and apologized for the encounter, explaining that Camille had once been involved with the family’s European investment network. Sofia asked whether he had loved her, and Lucien hesitated long enough to answer without words.

He eventually said he had cared for Camille, but caring had never been the same as trusting her. Sofia asked what happened, and Lucien said Camille wanted a future designed around status, family expectations, and appearances, while he had wanted nothing that could be used to control him. Sofia looked at him carefully and said that sounded dangerously similar to their contract, which made him smile despite himself. He answered that their contract was supposed to end in ninety days, but the difference was that Sofia was the first person who made him question what would happen afterward.

Sofia did not know what to say, so she changed the subject to the race. They spent the afternoon reviewing aerodynamic data, and she noticed another irregularity in the airflow calculations that matched the strange pattern from the previous race. Lucien asked whether she thought the problem was deliberate, and Sofia said she could not prove sabotage yet, but someone appeared to understand exactly where the car was vulnerable. Their discussion was interrupted when a technician reported that one of the simulation files had been altered after the engineering department locked the system.

That evening, Sofia returned to the penthouse and found Camille waiting downstairs. The older woman said she had come to give Sofia a warning, not a threat, and explained that Lucien had never loved anyone enough to surrender control. Sofia said she was not asking him to surrender anything, and Camille replied that was exactly why Sofia was dangerous. Before leaving, Camille added that Lucien’s family had destroyed the last woman who got close enough to see what he was protecting.

Sofia went upstairs and found Lucien standing by the window with a file in his hand. He said Camille had no right to involve Sofia in old family wounds, then admitted that some of what she had said was true. Sofia asked what he was protecting, and Lucien answered that he was protecting the people he loved from a family capable of destroying its own blood. Before she could ask who had been destroyed, Lucien’s phone rang, and the caller identification showed Elias Chevalier.

Lucien answered on speaker because he had nothing left to hide from Sofia. Elias said the board had received evidence that Sofia’s father had stolen proprietary Vantari technology, and he demanded that Lucien end the engagement before the scandal consumed the team. Sofia heard the accusation clearly, and Lucien’s face changed when Elias added that the evidence came from Henri’s private archive. Sofia realized the next battle would not be fought in the paddock, because someone had just placed her father’s reputation against Lucien’s future.

Sofia stepped closer to the phone and asked Elias why the accusation had waited twenty years. Elias laughed softly and said some truths required the right audience. Lucien ended the call before the provocation became another weapon. Then Sofia asked whether he believed her father was guilty, and Lucien said he believed they had been lied to again.