2.3. The buttered bread always fall on the wrong side

I entered the house and immediately went to the confessional as the production asked me to. I sat on the armchair and waited for the director to ask the first question.

"How does it feel to be the first person on earth to receive a compliment form chef Nova?"

"Nothing."

The director raised his eyebrows.

"Really? It's the best chef of the year, a compliment from him is exceptional. In particular with his personality…"

I pouted in a cute way.

"I know. But I'm still mad at him for what he said about kicking me out of the competition."

Of course I'm mad. The original was a fan of him and was completely destroyed by his words —I can feel the original's sadness. He's mad at the chef and for him, the best revenge would be to surpass him and earn his respect. Seeing his reaction when he ate my food, it's already half done.

I won't kill him because he never knew about Dany's schemes and genuinely thought Angel was a bad person and bad cook. But instead, I'll teach him what modesty is. Damn, how can he have such an ugly personality with such a beautiful face?

The director chuckled but soon became serious again.

"Are you mad at your brother too?"

I looked down and bit my lips. I took a deep breath and looked up again, with a fake smile spread on my face.

"It's been a while since I stopped being angry at him. My brother has always been a bit petty and I held it in for a long time but my patience has limits…"

I paused and brushed away the tear that had fallen down my cheek.

"I thought I would just ignore his existence after what happened eight years ago but looks like I can't anymore. It's… That competition means a lot for me —I won't let him do as he pleases again. He never cared about cooking so why would he even care if I win instead of him?"

The director glanced at the rest of the crew. They were all excited about a drama between twin brothers. It was sure to catch the viewers attention, even if the show already had the biggest audience.

"What happened eight years ago?"

I bit my lips even tighter —it was almost bleeding. My hands were fidgeting in nervousness and I didn't say a word. Not now, I'll say it later but not in the confessional. It needs to look like they caught a private conversation, like I didn't want people to know but one of the filming crew overheard me.

Seeing that I wouldn't answer, they shifted subject.

"You said that this competition was important to you but not for your brother, right? Why is that?"

I looked at the camera and gave a small smile.

"Our father said he would give his restaurant to the one who will go the furthest in the competition."

The whole crew was speechless and excited at the same time. A competition inside a competition. Moreover, for a legacy as big as Andrea Castillo's.

I beamed suddenly.

"It's been my dream to become a chef ever since my father brought me to his restaurant when I was seven."

"And it's not your brother's?"

I shook my head in disappointment and despair.

"Dany hates cooking. I think he just wants me to fail —he doesn't want to see me succeed if he doesn't. But I'm fine, I got used to it by now."

A tear fell down my face. I swiped it and left the room hurriedly. I went to my bedroom —thankful to the original for taking a single room and not a dormitory— and closed the door before the camera could enter behind me. I needed to spend a little time alone.

The cameras are on the whole day, filming absolutely everything, and only stop at night. They edits the tapes during the night and the episode is broadcasted the next morning. It's perfect for my revenge but honestly, having cameras always on me is suffocating.

Luckily, it will only last two weeks and then I will be able to leave this world to the next one. I wish I could stay at home during that time —away from people's eyes— just like the last world.

But in fact, it's better that way because the last world didn't bring a lot of power. One thing I've noticed while I was still enslaved by the system is that the more I suffered, the more power I was able to get. So it means that the more difficult the revenge is, the more power I'll get. This world seems to be in the middle —not too difficult but not too easy either.

I should chose the next world more carefully or it will take me years to go back to my world.

When it was time to eat dinner, I went downstairs and joined the others to the dining room. Half of the candidates were already there. A girl with braided black hair waved her hand and patted the seat next to her.

"Come sit next to me."

I sat next to her with a smile.

"Hello, I'm Amira."

"Nice to meet you Amira. I'm Angel."

She nodded excitedly. Amira was a kind girl. At the beginning of the competition she was the only person to talk to Angel and Dany sabotaged her so she would be kicked out. He was worried that if they became too close, Angel's real personality and his cheating would be revealed.

The poor girl lost the competition after the second challenge and was never able to become a chef. I'll save her too, while I'm at it.

She was about to answer when Dany and Greg entered the room, tensing the atmosphere. Greg had a crush on Dany and helped him in his vendetta against Angel in the original timeline. I'll just make him fall for the real deal and then break his heart —it won't be that hard since Dany's just a boring copy of myself.

I ignored him and took a piece of bread because I was starting to get really hungry. Dany made a fake apologetic smile and walked towards me.

"Hi brother, how are you?"

I barely glanced at him and started to spread butter on my piece of bread.

"I'm fine."

"I'm really sorry. I didn't want to sabotage your dish but the director said it would be more entertaining if there was a bit of drama… You know how greedy people in this business can be, right?"

I turned my head to look at him and handed him my bread.

"You want some?"

Dany's face lit up. As if I would ever forgive you with such an half-assed apology.

"What is it?"

I smiled mockingly.

"Buttered bread… with salt on it."

His face distorted as the others laughed.