Trapped in a Secret Marriage with a Dangerous Billionaire - Chapter 324

Chapter 324: Gingerbread Competition
Two days after Juliet’s public humiliation, the Scott family decided to bring back the Christmas cheer with something lighthearted—a gingerbread house competition.

With all the tension still lingering from the past few days, the competition was meant to be fun—a chance for the participants to laugh, bond, and put their differences aside.

Or at least… that was the idea.

Each couple was assigned a table filled with ingredients—gingerbread panels, icing, gumdrops, candy canes, and every decoration imaginable.

The teams were:

Xander & Aurora

Old Mr. & Mrs. Scott

Richard & Patricia

Harrison & Eleanor

Owen & Juliet

The rules were simple: build the most creative, sturdy, and visually appealing gingerbread house in the allotted time.

The judges? Old Mr. and Mrs. Scott, but since they were competing, an impartial housekeeping supervisor would make the final call.

The moment the competition began, everyone got to work.

—

Xander, ever the perfectionist, instantly took charge like an architect designing a real mansion. He studied the gingerbread panels like they were blueprints, making precise measurements with his fingers before setting them in place.

Aurora, on the other hand, was tense. She wanted to win but kept making mistakes, from applying too much icing to knocking over one of the candy cane fences.

At one point, she accidentally snapped a piece of the roof and groaned.

Xander looked at the damage before shaking his head in amusement. “Sweetheart,” he murmured, smoothing a hand down her back, “this isn’t a corporate takeover. Relax.”

Aurora exhaled, then nodded. “I just don’t want to lose,” she admitted.

“You won’t,” Xander reassured her with a smirk. “We never lose. Trust me.”

And true to his words, he quickly fixed the broken piece, guiding her hands as they secured the walls together.

A smile returned to Aurora’s face as she stared at their fixed project. She clapped her hands excitedly as her proud gaze fell on Xander.

If not for the fact that there were others around, she would have kissed his cheeks.

—

On the other hand, the old couple worked seamlessly together, their decades of teamwork evident in how effortlessly they built their gingerbread house.

It wasn’t flashy, but it was sturdy and perfectly decorated. Every gumdrop and frosting swirl was neatly placed.

“This isn’t our first time doing this,” Old Mrs. Scott chuckled as she lined the roof with peppermint candies.

Old Mr. Scott, applying icing with precision, nodded. “We’ve been building things together for years.”

They smiled at each other knowingly, a sight that left the younger couples silently envious.

Meanwhile, Richard and Patricia were at war.

“That’s too much icing, Patricia!” Richard snapped.

“And you’re taking too long to place a single candy cane!” Patricia retorted.

They bickered over every single detail, their gingerbread house looking half-finished as a result.

“You’re impossible!” Patricia huffed.

“And you’re stubborn,” Richard shot back.

Harrison, who was overhearing the argument, smirked to himself.

—

Harrison and Eleanor were working together well, but there was just one problem.

They weren’t good at this.

Their house leaned dangerously to the side, and the icing looked more like it had been smeared rather than applied.

Eleanor pursed her lips. “I think we might have structural issues.”

Harrison sighed. “We should’ve gone with a modern design.”

Eleanor side-eyed him. “This is gingerbread, not real estate.”

—

Unlike the other teams, Owen and Juliet weren’t talking.

Owen refused to build anything with her.

“Don’t touch anything,” he muttered, focused on assembling the gingerbread house himself.

Juliet stood beside him, awkwardly pretending to help. She picked up a gumdrop, placed it on the table, and then picked it up again—doing absolutely nothing.

She had tried to apologize to Owen multiple times in the past two days, but he had completely ignored her.

She had made him lose favour with Xander. She had ruined his last chance to return to the family business. And added to the fact that he was now regretting why he married her,

How could he forgive her?

Even worse, since her humiliation in front of the family, Juliet now greeted Aurora with her head down, not daring to meet her gaze.

She had felt bold and entitled after marrying into the Scotts. She had disrespected Aurora.

Now? She was overpaying the price without a choice.

—

Just as the competition was about to end, an unexpected “accident” occurred.

Eleanor, adjusting her sleeve, “accidentally” knocked into Richard and Patricia’s gingerbread house.

The entire thing collapsed.

Gasps filled the room.

Eleanor covered her mouth, her eyes widening in fake shock. “Oh my! That wasn’t intentional.”

All eyes turned to Patricia, who looked like she was ready to lunge.

Patricia’s fingers curled into tight fists. She didn’t believe that witch, Eleanor, for a second. She wanted to attack her straight away for ruining her hours of hard work.

“Patricia,” Richard warned, grabbing her arm. “Mother is watching.”

At the mention of Old Mrs. Scott, Patricia hesitated. She turned slightly—and sure enough, the old lady was watching them.

Patricia took a deep breath, forcing herself to step back.

Then, shockingly, Old Mrs. Scott spoke. She tilted her chin and looked at the supervisor.

“Disqualify those two teams,” she ordered, nodding toward Richard & Patricia and Harrison & Eleanor.

A tense silence followed.

Eleanor and Patricia exchanged sharp glances before quickly looking away.

The old lady then turned to the supervisor. “Judge the remaining three gingerbread.”

The supervisor nodded and made his rounds.

After a few minutes had passed, the results were announced.

“Master Xander and Madam Aurora, congratulations. You’ve won.”

Aurora’s eyes widened in surprise. “We won?”

Xander smirked. “Of course we did.”

Aurora turned to the gingerbread house, realizing how perfectly structured it was compared to the others. Their win was all thanks to Xander’s obsessive attention to detail.

Xander leaned down and murmured, “You were worried for nothing, sweetheart.”

Aurora rolled her eyes, but a proud smile spread across her lips.

The rest of the family gave polite applause, though some clapped more enthusiastically than others.

Patricia and Eleanor? They sat in silence, clearly seething.

—

With the gingerbread competition over, the Scott family began preparing to leave the following day.

The vacation had come to an end.

Their suitcases were packed, and the private jet was prepared for departure.