A/N : Here is the new chapter! I think I like it because of what I make Blair do and because of the new character (I'm introducing to Cornelia! ;)). Anyway, I just wanted to say I got a review from M who said Monaco wasn't a kingdom but a princedom - that's true! I'm sorry, I made a mistake by calling Louis's mother the Queen. I wanted to make a parallel between the Queen/Blair and Sophie/Queen B (you may understand my weird idea later ^^ ). From now, I will call Sophie, the Princess. Enjoy :)
Paris-Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport, next month.
Cornelia was waiting for the checking at the airport with her parents and her luggage. She was feeling awfully anxious, she was about to meet her father and the people that cared the most about her biological parents.
"Are you sure you have to go? You owe nothing to these persons. They abandoned you, Cornelia." Cornelia's little brother said. She smiled at him, he didn't want to see his sister hurt or go away but she knew she had to go. Her father's health worried her and even though the story of her parents startled her, she had to admit she had expected much worse – such as a rape story.
"You don't understand what I'm going through since my last birthday. I know my life from the day Isabelle and Daniel adopted me but I don't know who conceived me, who my looks, my inner me come from. I'll come back in two weeks, don't worry lil' brother." she told him. Isabelle and Daniel were as worried as Maxime – even more worried, to say the least. Cornelia was leaving France for the first time – in first class, thanks to a certain Serena van der Woodsen – for a foreign country to give a piece of her liver to a complete stranger – that appears to be her biological father. How complicated!
"Yeah but why don't they come? I don't understand, if they want to see you, they could all come! They're rich after all, aren't they?" Maxime asked.
"It's not that easy. My father – my biological father – is sick and he can't travel, I'm the only one who can help him and together we will help my biological mother. It's hard, I know, but it's necessary, I see it now." she said. And eventually, it was her turn to check in. She kissed her family goodbye and boarded. She was first class the first time she took a plane – and that was awesome. The hostesses were so nice and kind to her – they were such big fakers!
She sat on a beige leather seat twice bigger than her next to the most handsome man she had ever met. She was screaming inside – she loved that Serena! She put her handbag under her seat – there was room above her where she should have put it but she didn't want to.
She glanced at the man next to her and couldn't believe her eyes. He was wearing the kind of suit that must have cost like twice what her parents earned in a year and it fitted him very very well. He was typing things on his laptop and he seemed quite concentrated. She didn't dare glancing again. She waited quietly – and quite impatiently – for the plane to take off. Thirty minutes – thanks to the kind of person that waits until the last minute to board.
Once the plane had finished taking off, she started reading a book. From times to times, she glanced at the man next to her. He was freaking handsome. She thought about Ivan – he was nothing compared to him, a piece of shit.
"I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself earlier but I see you're reading Harlan Coben's novel, Innocent and I'm a huge fan of this author. I'm Damon Salvatore and you are?" he said.
Cornelia winced. She hadn't expected something like that but she was too happy. "I-I'm Cornelia Dupont." she stammered. She finally had the opportunity to examine him closely. He had the most wonderfully blue eyes of this world – that was a heck of an understatement in Cornelia's mind – and he was dark-haired.
"Oh, you must be French. I'm sorry, my French is so poor you'd probably laugh at me. Do you like Harlan Coben? I didn't notice "e" at the end of the title, that's why I guessed you were English." he said. She was bewildered, he was talking to her as if they already knew each other – well, it wasn't as if she didn't like that! They started chatting about Harlan Coben's novels, Paris and even New York. She learned he was a famous lawyer of New York, he worked for Wolfram & Hart, but he was about to become an associate – that meant that his name would soon be on the front door.
"That's amazing! You must be – what? - twenty five and you're already at the top. I'm eighteen and I'm crawling under school work and I can't seem to find my way out!" she said. He laughed and she blushed at the thought that the sight and the sound of him laughing was like a piece of heaven on earth. Gosh – was she that much crazy? Was he that handsome?
"I'm 27. Almost ten years older than you! I feel so old now I've said it. Never mind, I was like you when I was studying at Yale but I grew up. You'll find your way out, I'm sure." he tried to reassure her.
"Yeah, whatever. Why don't you tell me something about the case you're actually working on? Something entertaining. I swear I won't repeat it!" She was craving gossip – only for entertaining purpose, she wouldn't say anyone.
"I can't, I'm sorry." he said. "But," he added when he saw the sad face she made "I can tell you who I work for these days!"
"Spit it out!"
"Bass industries' CEO, the famous Chuck Bass." she winced. He worked for her father. He noticed her reaction but assumed she knew the name. "He's been my client for five years, he's really nice you know, compared to what newspapers say."
"Really? Tell me about him, if you can, of course." she asked. She had told him she was going to New York to look for an internship for the end of her semester because she couldn't possibly tell him the truth about the reason of her trip. Now, more than before, she must remain quiet about that reason.
"Chuck is a wounded man but he is also very strong. I don't know how he manages to do what he does at Bass Industries because it's a pretty huge affair!" He sounded so nice about her father, she wanted not to believe all she had read about him on the Internet but she still doubted.
"Yeah, I heard about Bass Industries. What do you do for him?" she asked.
"Well, I can't really say but I had to go to Paris to look for a certain Amelia Lasserre for some personal reason. Now, I have to tell Mr Bass I haven't found her and he's going to kill me – if you knew why I was looking for her, you'd understand." He winked at her and she smiled. She had winced at the name of the girl he had been looking for – it was that name she was planning to give a piece of her liver to Chuck so she understood very well Chuck's anger.
"I understand. You seem to really like him, by the way." she said.
"He's become a friend. He helped me out with my mom's alcohol issues and I'm trying to do my best to help him out now he needs me." she saw a flash of sadness and pain going through his eyes. She also heard in his voice it wasn't something he really wanted to talk about – that's why she didn't insist and put the subject of the conversation back on Chuck.
"I heard he had some sort of cancer, is that true?" she tried to sound as genuine as possible.
"Yes," he whispered "but I have reasons to think he'll soon be back entirely healed."
She wanted to tell him who she was – it must make him smile and they would talk about that for the rest of the trip but she couldn't, she had promised Jenny she wouldn't and she knew it might affect her future and her parents'.
Therefore, they kept on chatting about everything. He was so interested in her she thought he knew about her secret but she saw in his eyes he was true to her.
Monaco
"S! I'm glad to hear from you, how is New York?" Blair said, hearing Serena's voice in her phone. She was stuck in her room – she wasn't forced, no, she just couldn't bear the sight of the Princess, her son and her future daughter-in-law.
"New York's fine, would be better with you but still. And what about you, how are you handling things?" Serena wanted to sound as cheerful as possible but she was too worried about her two best friends' health. She wanted to be sure Blair didn't know anything about Chuck's disease. It was still a rumor according to the tabloids but still, she didn't need Blair to worry about anything else than herself and Henry.
"We will make this official the day after tomorrow, it's hard to say it but I feel kind of relieved, you know. I haven't been happy with Louis for ages and even though I know it's not the best thing for Henry, I really want to leave this place. By the way, I've heard some rumors about Chuck. Does he really have a cancer?" Blair didn't dare to say she freaking missed New York and his inhabitants – Serena would have perfectly understood that by inhabitants, she meant Chuck.
"Those are only rumors, B! He's only seeing someone to stop drinking – yes, we're talking about the same Chuck – and people are assuming the worst! Anyway, are you coming back to New York?" Serena asked.
"No, not so soon. I'm going to stay at least a month in Monaco for Henry and then I'll go with my mother in Paris for some months, I don't when – if – I come back to New York." She didn't want to rush him or to thrown him in the arena with the lions – the medias and all the gossips that crave only for one thing, destruction.
"Blair, don't tell me you want to be an exile in France for the rest of your life? You know you belong to New York, and the UES belongs to you. We miss you." Serena pleaded. If Blair didn't want to come back to Manhattan, then there would be no chance that she'd be reunited with Chuck and the news of Cornelia must destroy her without his support.
"I'm not the same old B, you know. I've changed, you may or may not have noticed throughout all these years but it's the truth." Blair said. She sighed, she wanted to go back that night, the night when she conceived a child, a pretty young girl who wasn't meant to live, she wanted to talk before Chuck even could. He should have fought harder for her, she shouldn't have been so blinded by an ersatz of happiness and love.
"I know that, B. We used to be closer but I want my best friend – my sister back! Come back to us. Life may not have been easy on you but there's still hope, you're young, fresh, pretty and you could rule over the world as you had planned." Serena's speech made Blair smile. She so wanted to believe her – after all, she had proved them all she could be as cruel as the Devil and even fall in love with him, right?
"I'll come back, then. But not without a challenge - tell Gossip Girl to be ready to fall down, 'cause I'm not going to stop until I take her down. She's hurt us too many times, she deserves, once and for all, to pay for what she did." Blair said. It was Serena's turn to smile, B was back.
Spotted – A young girl walking down the airport of New York with a gorgeous lawyer and then climbing in a black limo. Watch out, Upper East Siders, I don't think that the new girl in town is one you can mess up with – and less forget the name she wears. XOXO, Gossip Girl.
This is the end! I hope you liked it and I wanted to tell that next chapter, I'll start putting some flashbacks from the time Blair gave birth to Cornelia, how everything went in the UES, her wedding, etc.
Don't forget to review :)
Nyah-Cullen