Read Chapter 18: A BETTER SCANDAL

Élise stopped trying to prove the Delaroche shortlist had been fixed.

Instead, she asked a different question.

How many competitions at Saint-Aurelie required jurors to disclose prior contact with applicants?

The answer was almost none.

How many scholarships published scoring criteria before applications?

Three out of eleven.

How many school-sponsored gallery introductions had open application processes?

Zero.

How many paid internships were advertised to all students before candidates were nominated?

Two out of nine.

Nora helped her gather five years of records. Camille interviewed students under the excuse of a “student experience project.” Hugo supplied old emails without revealing his recording. Even Solène quietly sent lists of Orphée-arranged opportunities.

The result was not a scandal about one villain.

It was a dataset.

Élise built charts. Nora mocked her typography and fixed it. Camille named the document The Saint-Aurelie Access Audit because “Manifesto” sounded like someone would start wearing a beret unironically.

They documented patterns without accusing individuals of crimes. Certain students repeatedly received opportunities before public calls. Jury conflicts were inconsistently disclosed. Donor-connected applicants were overrepresented in private introductions. Scholarship students were frequently displayed at fundraising events but underrepresented in alumni salons.

The evidence was dull.

That was its power.

When Lucien saw the draft, he was silent for a long time.

“This is worse than exposing Maxime,” he said.

“Good.”

“No, I mean strategically. He can survive an accusation. The school cannot dismiss tables without producing its own numbers.”

“Exactly.”

“What are you going to do with it?”

“Publish after Delaroche.”

He looked at her.

“After?”

“Yes.”

“Why not before?”

“Because if I publish before and lose, they call me bitter. If I publish before and win, they call the prize compromised. I want the work judged first.”

Lucien smiled slowly. “You have become terrifying.”

“I had good teachers.”

“Do I get credit?”

“No.”

“Cruel.”

The audit created another problem: it implicated Lucien.

His name appeared beside gallery visits, prize coaching, and closed-door introductions. So did Solène’s. So did Hugo’s.

Élise refused to anonymize student beneficiaries while naming institutional processes; she instead removed all student names and used coded categories.

Nora objected.

“Why protect them?”

“Because students did not design the system.”

“They used it.”

“So did I.”

Nora looked at her.

Élise continued, “If we make this about bad rich students, the school will condemn Orphée and keep every adult structure intact.”

Nora leaned back.

“You sound like Solène.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It hurts because it’s true.”

The week before the Delaroche final, Maxime asked Élise to meet him alone.

They sat in Atelier 7.

He looked older than usual.

“I know about the audit,” he said.

Élise’s heartbeat kicked.

“How?”

“You are not the only person who understands networks.”

“Are you going to threaten me?”

“No. I am going to offer you something.”

He slid a folder across the table.

Inside was a nomination for a six-month residency in Berlin, fully funded. The program normally accepted only graduates. A Saint-Aurelie partner could nominate one exceptional student.

“Elise,” Maxime said, “you are talented. More than that, you have institutional intelligence. Do not waste both on a purity campaign that will end with a committee and a new web page.”

She stared at the nomination.

“Withdraw the audit?”

“Delay it. Let us reform internally.”

“You mean let you control the reform.”

“I mean do not destroy opportunities for everyone because you dislike how opportunities move.”

She closed the folder.

“I want the Berlin nomination.”

Maxime smiled.

“And I’m publishing the audit.”

His smile vanished.

“You cannot have both.”

“Then it wasn’t an opportunity. It was payment.”

Élise stood.

For the first time since entering Saint-Aurelie, walking away from access felt better than receiving it.