Chapter Text
Julien and Zoya stood before two large open doors as their chauffeur behind them departed: Julien, who was in a flowy white dress decorated with flowers and Zoya, with a black satin dress laced with gold detailing. The De Haans were holding a fundraiser advocating for safe working conditions—a typical move to save some face after their company was exposed for union-busting.
“Okay Zoya, remember our plan?”
Zoya rolled her eyes at her. “Yess. We literally went over it three times before we left.”
“Just making sure.”
Zoya hated how her sister was constantly obsessing over GG. She was always preaching about ‘being authentic’ and ‘not caring about what others say’ but yet concerned herself with her image 24/7 with it often coming at the cost of the people around her.
And now, after GG has repeatedly painted over her carefully crafted persona, Julien’s been consumed with nothing but uncovering GG’s identity. Every single time she attempts to: GG comes out on top, Julien ends up in a worse state than before and she has—yet again—used and spit out the people who are still left to put up with her.
She blames her damaged relationships on GG but yet continuously, autonomously hurts the ones she still has left. And Zoya was tired of being her #1. Couldn’t her sister see the hypocrisy of it all?
Zoya swore not to feed into Julien’s delusions anymore but this time she couldn’t stand to be a bystander. Nicholas Lott was held responsible for independently orchestrating the De Haan’s union busts all because they had set him up to take their blow. He had been wrongly accused and dragged into a heap of drama that didn’t concern him. GG can gossip about her, her sister, her friends, but when her dad starts getting roped in, it’s a different story.
He works day in and day out so Zoya can attend Constance. Her dad continuously sacrifices his pride and morals just by working under the De Haan’s to keep their place here in NY.
Yes, there’s been doubts about staying in NY and Zoya had them too, but she had claimed she wanted to stay and he listened. She wanted her dad to know how much she appreciated how good he had been to her. Zoya was determined to prove that it would all be worth it. She would get into a great college, have an amazing career, well-paid job and her dad would no longer have to bust his ass for them anymore.
Then just when her dad decided to finally do something for himself—to open his own law firm where he’d at least be content doing his job—it was ruined. Her dad who had done absolutely nothing wrong just lost his job, his law firm and his reputation. All because he got caught in the crossfire of a feud between rich people and their rich people circle—a rich people circle that Zoya willingly put herself into.
Her sister told her what happened at the summit the other day, how Camille De Haan had almost caught GG’s real identity, how GG was 100% one of the hundred people that attended the event. If only Julien was able to get her hands on that guest list… Maybe Zoya could try and help her get it… as well as other things that might have the potential to clear her dad’s name… and run the De Haan’s to the ground.
Zoya was angry, unsure at what mainly— herself for being the reason her dad’s life was so hard, at the De Haan’s for being evil spineless pieces of shit, or at the fact that society was designed in a way that easily allows rich people to avoid consequences at the convenience of good-hearted people. She just knew she was mad and ready to do something about it. Justice will prevail. Zoya's gonna take care of her dad just like he does her. Yes. She’s gonna go set things right.
—————
Two hours passed. The venue was packed and bustling. People were talking, laughing, a little tipsy—a perfect time to sneak into Camille De Haan’s office and onto her computer.
They had decided Julien would keep an eye on Camille as lookout all while her sister—who nobody ever cared for—would slip into the evil queen’s lair and download her entire database using a handy dandy flash drive Milo Sparks gave her.
The evening was coming to a close. It was now or never. A telepathic look was shared between the two as they set their refreshments down and parted ways. Zoya headed back to the entrance where a staircase had split off, leading upstairs. It was obvious it was off limits. A velvet rope acted as a barricade at the bottom of the stairs—the area being completely dark and quiet compared to the glowing ballroom whose noise and light shone in. She slipped under the rope.
Zoya peered over the balcony at the top. Camille was surrounded by some of her regular donors as she conversated. Julien could be seen close by, her back facing them. She was highly unconvincing as her nerves were high on display. She was nodding as if intently listening to someone talk but there she was: standing next to nobody. Whenever anyone had walked by or looked at her weird she’d slightly sip her drink and smile. It seemed umm—how would you say—inauthentic.
“I swear to god Julien if you mess this up,” thought Zoya. Then she remembered herself, as she also had something to not mess up.
Sneaking through the dim hallway, Zoya peeked into every room until she came across one which looked to be an office. She tiptoed in. It was eerily quiet.
Zoya turned on the computer, revealing Camille De Haan’s profile along with a request for the password. Jackpot. She quickly fumbled around looking for the USB port and plugged in the flash drive her tech genius friend had gotten her. A box sprung up.
DOWNLOADING
A blue bar slowly started to color its way toward the end of an empty rectangle.
—————
Julien was staring into space as she eavesdropped on the proximiting people. Words flew in one ear and out the other. It really didn’t matter to her what was being said, as long as Camille De Haan’s voice was in the mix.
“Hey.”
Julien jumped, bringing her out of her daze. “Oh, hi Obie!”
“You look a little odd standing here all alone,” he said with a smirk. “Need someone to talk to?”
“Thanks but I’m actually like really busy.”
“Really? You don’t look very busy. Actually, you kinda look a lil bored.”
“No I do not!”
“Yea Julien. You do. I literally just caught you daydreaming.”
“I was not daydreaming! I was… spying.” She whispered.
“Spying!” Obie laughed. “On who?”
“Sshhhh.” She pulled him down, glancing around. “Could you be more quiet?”
“Okay okay.” Obie slowly backed out from under her grip. “Let me guess. Is it Gossip Girl?” he joked.
“No. Don’t be stupid. It’s… it’s Camille de Haan.”
He looked at her confused.
“I’m hacking into her computer files to see if there’s anything on GG from the summit. Remember? I told you she was there the entire time? Plus it's to help clear Nick Lott’s name. Zoya’s in her office as we speak.”
“Oh, Zoya’s in on it? Didn’t think she’d be a part of this too.”
“Now go away Obie, you’re distracting me. I’m supposed to be on the lookout.”
“It kinda seems like you’re doing a pretty bad job.”
“What?!”
Julien whipped around. Camille de Haan was gone. She spotted the evil queen across the room inching towards the entrance/exit.
“SHIT! I have go.”
But not before Obie pulled her in a hug and left a kiss on her forehead. “Okay but call me after. Let me know how your mission goes, my little double 07.”
Julien didn't hear his last part. She had already walked off in a hurry.
She found Camille talking with two attendees who looked to be a couple.
“-heading out. The car just arrived outside.” she overheard them say
Julien started to worry. Monet’s mother never hung her coat at the coat rack when it was her own event. Camille needed to hang it elsewhere due to her elitism or either because of her detest for being associated with ‘common people’. She always hung it somewhere upstairs… somewhere like her office!
The three started walking out with Julien trailing not far behind. She loitered at the entrance to the actual entrance as she spied from afar. Hands were shook, words were exchanged and jackets were put on, but only two.
Camille didn’t go upstairs. Yesss. A wave of relief washed over Julien once she realized the woman wouldn’t be leaving, she was only escorting out her guests. Her eyes averted to watch something different as Camille walked back to the event.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Julien turned around to find the evil queen standing before her. “Huh?”
“Don’t act like you weren’t just following me around for the past 15 minutes. What are you trying to accomplish here?”
Julien blankly blinked. “I…”
“If you had thought this is somehow how you’d get a little dirt on my daughter then you better be paying more attention in school because this is not going to accomplish anything.”
“I’m not trying to get dirt on your daughter.” She crossed her arms. “It’s obvious that you framed Nicholas Lott. I just wanted to hear you admit it.”
“Oh. Wow, you’re even dumber than I thought.” Camille genuinely seemed surprised. “So you thought I was just going to drop it in casual conversation during a public fundraiser, is that right?”
“You just did.” Julien looked smugly proud.
“I haven’t admitted to anything, young lady. Whereas you’ve just admitted to failing to understand what actually would be held admissible in court…. So you can turn off that cute little video you're recording on your IPhone 14 Pro that daddy bought you and think of another way to get that narrative of yours that you so badly desire.
Julien scoffed. It was actually an IPhone 14 Pro Max not an IPhone 14 Pro but she wasn’t gonna bring that up since that would've only made things worse.
“Now if you’ll excuse me.”
“Karma’s gonna catch up with you.” She interjected, attempting to win the last word.
“Karma’s not real darling. Did karma catch up with you when GG aired out your business with your friends. Did karma catch up with Nicholas Lott? No. Being incompetent did.”
Julien was furious, but her tongue was tied. She didn’t have anything to say back. The silver tongued-devil had bested her once again. She vigorously turned away, upset, making contact with an approaching waiter. His drink tray toppled but it was too far gone for him to catch as it proceeded to pour all over Camille De Haan. Shock spread through the crowd which was now growing in size as people gathered around.
“Here you go again, making yet another scene. It’s like you want to be on Gossip Girl.” She patted herself off, groaning in annoyance.
“Omg. I really didn’t mean to. It was an accident, I swear. I’m so so sorry.”
“Clean this up and call my car.” Camille said to the guard who had come to her aid, ignoring the girl’s apology. “And get someone to fetch my coat.” The guard did as he was told and disappeared amongst the crowd. She turned to the waiter who still stood in horror. “This is strike number one. Another strike and you’re fired. I don’t do third chances.” The blond boy nodded apologetically and frantically rushed off. The woman started leave as well.
“Wait Camille! You can’t leave yet!
“And why is that?”
“Uhh umm.. Isn’t this your event?”
“It’s a fundraiser and I think I’ve raised enough funds for tonight.” Camille walked off mumbling something, in disbelief of the girl’s plain stupidity. Didn’t she know that the host doesn’t have to stay till the very last minute.
“Shit.” Julien pulled her phone out and started texting her sister.
Julien:
SOMEONE IS COMING
SOMEONE IS COMING
GET OUT OF THERE NOW!!!
—————
Zoya was bored out of her mind. She preoccupied herself by looking at the photos sitting on Camille De Haan’s desk which were mostly of family. The De Haan’s looked so harmless, so normal, but Zoya knew it was all through fake smiles. She glanced at the computer. The bar was nearly there. Then, something buzzed. It was her phone.
Julien:
GET OUT OF THERE NOW!!!
Shit. It wasn’t done downloading yet. Zoya peeked out the door. A dark head of hair rose up the stairs—her only exit. She ran back to the computer. The bar was basically full.
“Come on, come on.”
DOWNLOAD COMPLETED
Zoya exed out the box, returning the computer to its original login screen and rushed to a nearby closet. She tore open the door only to find her hiding spot already occupied—already occupied by a girl who seemed just as surprised as her.