Chapter 259

"Coach Clark, don't sweat it. We've got everything set up exactly like you asked. Once the other team's out of commission, this'll be a cakewalk."

Back in the rest area, the more Alice mulled it over, the more certain she became that Aria would pull some dirty trick. She needed to stay sharp.

Just as Alice was trying to figure out what scheme Aria might be cooking up, one of her team members rushed over.

"Coach, I just caught them messing with our food."

Alice's expression turned ice cold. That Aria was absolutely ruthless—willing to do whatever it took to win, even stooping to drugging people.

"Here's what we're gonna do with that food..."

Alice whispered something in the team member's ear. He nodded and immediately went to carry out her instructions.

That afternoon, the competition officially began.

Both teams took their positions. Aria eyed Alice's team, a cold smirk playing at her lips.

Any minute now, her team members would start cramping up with stomach pain and diarrhea. Let's see them try to compete then.

Even if they dragged themselves onto the field, there was no way in hell they could win. This championship was in the bag!

Just as the match was about to kick off, the team members behind Aria suddenly clutched their stomachs, "Coach, my stomach's killing me."

"Coach, mine too."

Hearing everyone complaining of stomach pain, Aria whipped around to see them all doubled over, faces contorted in agony.

Her brow furrowed, "What the hell? Why would you all suddenly have stomach aches?"

Then it clicked. She turned to look at Alice's side. Alice and her team were staring back at her with mocking grins, eyes full of smugness.

Aria got it instantly—Alice was behind this.

She stormed up to Alice, glaring daggers at her, "This was you, wasn't it? You put laxatives in my team's food!"

Alice crossed her arms, a flash of mockery in her eyes, "Drugging people? Who else but you would pull something like that? Aria, don't think I don't know—it was your people who tried to spike my team's food with laxatives!"

If her team member hadn't stumbled onto it, it would be her players suffering from diarrhea right now.

"Alice, quit making shit up! You say I drugged your team—got any proof? Without evidence, that's slander!"

Aria's voice rose, though her eyes clearly betrayed her guilt.

The drugging had been done so carefully—how the hell did she find out? Had she planted a mole on her team?

But she immediately dismissed that thought.

"Alice, I can't believe how low you'd sink, using tactics like this!"

Aria's fists clenched so hard her knuckles cracked. The plan had been to drug Alice's team to knock them out of commission, but somehow it had blown up in her face.

"Aria, this is what we call a taste of your own medicine!"

Alice didn't waste time arguing and called out to the nearby referee, "I want to file a complaint against Aria. She had her team members spike my team's food with laxatives!"

Hearing Alice's loud accusation, Aria's heart jumped into her throat.

"Alice, what the hell are you doing! Don't go making accusations without proof!"

Aria tried to shut Alice down, but the judges and referees were already heading their way.

"What's going on here?" The referee looked at both of them sternly.

"Referee, don't buy into Alice's BS. She's the one who'll do anything to win—she spiked my team's food with laxatives, and now my players can't even take the field! They're all in agony!"

Hearing Aria's defense, the referee and judges looked over at her team members. Sure enough, they were all doubled over, faces twisted in pain.

"Coach Baker, what do you have to say for yourself?" The referee frowned at Alice, giving her a chance to explain.

"I've got video evidence. Once you see it, you'll know exactly who drugged whose team."

Thank God her team member had the presence of mind to secretly record when they caught Aria's people tampering with the food. Otherwise, clearing their name would've been a nightmare.

After everyone watched the video Alice pulled up, they turned to Aria, "Coach Clark, to think you'd stoop this low just to win a competition—you're a disgrace to the profession!"

Hearing this, Aria immediately panicked, "What are you talking about? I didn't do anything! Alice must be setting me up. You can't believe her!"

Aria tried to argue, but with hard evidence staring them in the face, all her protests fell flat.

She was immediately disqualified from the competition and hit with an industry-wide notice.

An industry-wide notice meant her career was basically over.

Aria crumpled to the ground as if someone had pulled her plug. The referee waved to the security guards by the door, who dragged her out.

With Aria's team disqualified, Alice's team breezed into the finals against the remaining competitors.

Alice's team dominated the competition and claimed the championship without breaking a sweat.

After getting home from the competition, Samuel had already laid out a whole spread—dishes covering the table, along with champagne and wine.

Seeing all the delicious food, Alice's eyes went wide.

"What's all this for?"

Samuel brought the last dish to the table, "To celebrate, of course! I spent all day putting this together."

"Celebrate what?" Alice's brow furrowed, unsure what was so special about today.

"Your championship win, obviously! News this good deserves a proper celebration, don't you think?"

Samuel popped open a bottle of wine, unable to contain his grin.

"You started cooking first thing this morning—how'd you know I'd definitely win? What if my team had lost? Wouldn't all this food have gone to waste?"

"You're so talented, how could you possibly lose? I knew from the get-go your team would take home the championship!"

Hearing Samuel's unwavering faith in her, warmth flooded through Alice's chest. She couldn't help stepping forward to wrap him in a big hug.

"Honey, you're too good to me. I really don't know what I'd do without you anymore."

Hearing Alice's confession, Samuel felt like everything he'd done today was worth it. Making Alice happy was the best reward he could ask for.

"Getting praise like that from you is quite the accomplishment for me."

Samuel's eyes crinkled as he smiled, pulling Alice toward the dining table, "Come on, dig in and tell me what you think. I made this whole spread just for you."

After a full day of competing and staying on edge, now that she was home and could finally relax, Alice's stomach growled traitorously.

Her mind was now completely focused on filling her belly.

With the competition wrapped up, the national team gave Alice a short vacation—perfect timing for the two of them to have their wedding and honeymoon.

That evening, Alice slipped into the sexy nightgown Lily had picked out for her and headed to the study. Leaning against the doorframe, she watched Samuel still poring over documents, "Honey, it's getting late. Aren't you planning on calling it a night?"