Matchmaker Mayhem
Chapter 95: Julian’s Public Defeat

Chapter 95: Julian’s Public Defeat

The grand hall of the L’Amour Élite Matchmaking Showcase was packed with Paris’ elite, a sea of polished faces, glasses of champagne, and the hushed murmur of expectation. Golden chandeliers cast a warm glow over the ballroom, illuminating the tension crackling in the air.

The stage had been set for the final live demonstration, and at its center stood Ava Lee and Julian Ashcroft, their rivalry about to reach its boiling point.

Julian looked composed as ever, his sharp suit tailored to perfection, but there was a tension in his jaw as he faced the crowd. Beside him, Ava stood with calm confidence, her eyes scanning the room.

Margaux Duval, their ever-poised host, stepped forward, her smooth French accent filling the space.

"Tonight, we witness the future of matchmaking," Margaux announced. "An age-old battle—instinct versus innovation. Our finalists have each selected two individuals, believing they are the perfect match. And now, we shall see... who was right."

Ava let out a slow breath, her fingers curling slightly at her sides.

Ryan, standing near the edge of the crowd, caught her eye and gave her a small, reassuring nod.

Ava straightened her shoulders.

She had this.

---

Julian went first. His Perfect Pair Algorithm™, a program he had been smugly boasting about for weeks, had determined that Eloise and Pierre—two well-dressed, sophisticated Parisians—were a flawless match.

"This is the future," Julian proclaimed, flashing a smug grin. "A pairing that eliminates human error, personal bias, and any... unnecessary distractions."

The crowd watched as Eloise and Pierre took their seats at the elegant table set for two at center stage. A hushed excitement rippled through the audience.

Ava, meanwhile, narrowed her eyes.

Something felt... off.

Eloise and Pierre exchanged stiff smiles.

Then, Pierre opened his mouth.

"I must say," he began, taking a sip of his wine, "this is quite ironic, isn’t it?"

Eloise blinked. "Excuse me?"

Pierre chuckled, setting his glass down. "That we ended up here. Again."

The audience stilled.

Ava’s brow arched. Again?

Eloise’s expression darkened. "I should have known this would happen."

Pierre rolled his eyes. "Oh, don’t act surprised, Eloise. You always play the victim."

Ava’s eyes widened.

Julian’s smug expression froze.

The murmurs in the crowd grew.

Margaux, ever the professional, tilted her head. "Pardon, but... do you two know each other?"

Eloise let out a sharp laugh. "Oh, yes. We know each other. We were engaged."

The crowd gasped.

Ava tried not to smirk.

Pierre sighed dramatically. "And she left me stranded in Saint-Tropez."

Eloise threw her hands up. "Because you flirted with my cousin at our engagement party!"

The audience was fully invested now.

Ryan covered his mouth, shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

Margaux turned to Julian. "Monsieur Ashcroft... did your algorithm take this into account?"

Julian looked like he wanted to melt into the floor.

Eloise turned to the audience, arms crossed. "I cannot believe I was tricked into another date with this man."

Pierre scoffed. "Believe me, I feel the same."

Julian cleared his throat, visibly sweating. "Perhaps... the algorithm focused on their compatibility and overlooked certain past factors."

Ava bit the inside of her cheek to keep from bursting out laughing.

Pierre stood up. "Yes, well, excuse me, but I do believe I’ll be leaving before she throws wine in my face again."

Eloise huffed. "Oh, I was considering it."

With that, they stormed off in opposite directions.

The room erupted into whispers, some outright laughter.

Julian’s jaw was tight, his face a shade paler than before.

Ava could have let it go.

But she wouldn’t.

Not after everything Julian had done.

Instead, she stepped forward.

"Well," Ava said, her voice carrying through the room, "that was... insightful."

A small chuckle rippled through the audience.

She turned toward the crowd. "I think we’ve just learned something important."

Julian stiffened.

Ava smiled, but there was steel behind it.

"Algorithms are impressive," she admitted, nodding toward Julian’s failed experiment. "But they’re only part of the equation."

She gestured to the crowd. "Love isn’t a perfect science. It’s a mess. It’s unpredictable. It’s imperfect."

Her eyes found Ryan’s for a moment, something warm and unspoken passing between them.

Julian glared at her.

Ava continued. "You can’t reduce love to numbers and percentages. You can’t predict the spark between two people, the way they make each other feel, the way they grow together. That’s what real matchmaking is about."

She turned slightly, facing Julian now.

"It’s about seeing people for who they really are. Not just as data points."

The audience erupted into applause.

Julian’s hands clenched into fists.

Margaux, smiling now, stepped forward. "And now... Ava Lee’s match."

---

Ava’s clients, Noémie and Sébastien, took their seats at the table. Unlike Julian’s disaster pairing, there was an instant ease between them.

Sébastien, a laid-back bookshop owner, smiled at Noémie, a florist who had a habit of overthinking everything.

"I should warn you," Sébastien teased as he poured her a glass of wine, "I’m terrible at small talk."

Noémie laughed. "Good. So am I."

The room softened.

It wasn’t fireworks. It wasn’t over-the-top romance.

It was simple. Real.

Margaux, watching them with interest, turned to Ava. "And what made you pair them?"

Ava smiled, glancing at her match.

"They balance each other out," she explained. "Sébastien slows down when life rushes too fast. Noémie brings color into spaces that need it. And neither of them needed an algorithm to tell them that."

Julian, silent and fuming, looked away.

Margaux turned back to the audience. "Well, I believe we have our winner."

Ava’s breath hitched.

Margaux smiled. "Ava Lee."

Ryan let out a loud whistle. He, ever the supportive and chaotic boyfriend, clapped dramatically. "Ladies and gentlemen, I think we just watched magic happen."

The audience erupted into applause.

Julian?

He stormed off stage.

Ava exhaled, feeling the weight of victory settle in.

Not just winning the challenge—but proving, once and for all, that instincts and real human understanding would always be more powerful than cold, calculated numbers.

And that?

That felt really, really good.

---

Later that night, when the excitement had settled and the crowd had thinned, Ryan found Ava standing on the hotel’s private balcony.

She was leaning against the railing, staring out at the Paris skyline, lost in thought.

Ryan walked up behind her, slipping his arms around her waist, pulling her back against him.

"Still processing?" he murmured against her hair.

Ava sighed, leaning into him. "Something like that."

Ryan kissed the side of her temple. "You won, Matchmaker."

Ava smirked. "You sound more excited about it than I do."

Ryan turned her around, hands still on her waist. "That’s because I knew you would."

Ava searched his face, her heart stuttering at the way he looked at her—like she was the only thing that mattered in the world.

She swallowed. "Ryan..."

Ryan smirked. "Yeah?"

Ava looped her arms around his neck, pulling him down.

She kissed him.

Soft at first. Then deeper.

Ryan made a low noise, his hands tightening around her waist, pulling her flush against him as the night stretched on, the city lights glowing around them.

The competition was over.

Julian was defeated.

And for once—

Ava let herself have this.

---

The celebration at the gala had been grand, dazzling, and filled with champagne toasts in Ava’s honor. But after the final cheers had faded and the last congratulations had been exchanged, all Ava wanted was quiet.

More specifically—quiet with Ryan.

The ride back to their private suite was silent, but not awkward. Ryan’s fingers rested lazily over Ava’s, their hands intertwined between them as the Parisian city lights flickered outside the car window. There was an electricity between them—unspoken, simmering, waiting.

And Ava knew it wasn’t just about the victory tonight.

It was about them.

By the time they stepped inside their suite, the door clicking shut behind them, the air was different.

He hadn’t let go of her hand.

Ava exhaled, turning to face him, only to find Ryan already watching her.

His gaze was unreadable—but beneath it, there was something deeper. Something that made her breath catch, her pulse quicken.

Ryan slowly reached up, his fingers brushing against her cheek, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"You did it," he murmured. "You won."

Ava swallowed, nodding. "Yeah."

He smirked. "And I don’t even get an ’I told you so?’"

Ava let out a soft laugh, her nerves easing just a little. "You did tell me so."

Ryan’s thumb lightly traced over her cheekbone. "And now you finally believe me?"

Ava did.

Not just about her ability to win, but about him. About them.

About the fact that she had never felt safer, more seen, than when Ryan was by her side.

A beat of silence stretched between them.

And then, Ryan leaned in.

This time, Ava met him halfway.

The kiss was slow, deliberate, unlike their playful ones before. This wasn’t teasing, this wasn’t stolen in the middle of chaos—this was them choosing each other, fully and completely.

Ryan’s hands slid to her waist, pulling her closer until there was no space left between them. Ava’s fingers curled into the lapels of his suit, her heart pounding as the heat between them deepened.

Ryan kissed her like he had been waiting forever for this moment.

Maybe because he had.

Ava didn’t realize they were moving until her back hit the edge of the bed. Ryan broke the kiss only long enough to look at her—searching, making sure.

Ava exhaled.

There was nothing stopping her now.

She wanted this. Wanted him.

Slowly, she reached for him, pulling him down until their lips met again.

Ryan groaned softly against her mouth, as if something inside him snapped, and suddenly the space between them was gone.

Jackets slipped off.

Fingers traced over heated skin.

Breathless whispers in between stolen kisses.

Ryan’s hands were steady, reverent, like he was memorizing every inch of her. Like he wanted her to know that he was here, that he wasn’t going anywhere.

And Ava let him.

For once, she didn’t overthink. She didn’t hold back.

She let herself fall.

And when Ryan whispered her name against her lips—like she was something sacred—Ava knew.

This wasn’t just passion.

This was love.

And as they lost themselves in each other beneath the Parisian moonlight spilling through the window, Ava realized—

There had never been anyone else she wanted more.

---

The Next Morning

The soft light of dawn filtered through the curtains, casting a golden glow over the tangled sheets and the two figures lying beneath them.

Ava stirred first, feeling the comforting weight of an arm wrapped securely around her waist.

Ryan.

His breathing was even, steady, his bare skin warm against hers.

Ava blinked, taking in the sight of him.

He looked so peaceful—his usual sharp smirk nowhere to be found. Just Ryan, the man who had been by her side through everything. The man who had seen her at her worst and still thought she was worth it.

Slowly, she reached up, her fingers tracing the curve of his jaw.

Ryan hummed, his eyes fluttering open, and when he saw her, a slow, lazy smile spread across his lips.

"Morning, Matchmaker."

Ava rolled her eyes. "You’re ridiculous."

Ryan smirked. "You didn’t seem to mind last night."

Ava felt heat rise to her cheeks.

Ryan chuckled, leaning in to press a soft, lingering kiss against her bare shoulder.

"Stop thinking so much," he murmured. "I know you’re already overanalyzing everything."

Ava huffed. "I am not."

Ryan raised a brow. "Liar."

Ava sighed. "Fine. Maybe I was."

Ryan tightened his arms around her, pulling her closer, their legs still tangled beneath the sheets.

"You don’t have to overthink this," he said quietly. "This isn’t just Paris for me. This is real. You and me."

Ava swallowed, her heart twisting at how easily he said it—how sure he was.

And for once, Ava let herself believe it, too.

She exhaled, finally letting a real, soft smile break across her lips.

"Yeah," she whispered. "You and me."

Ryan grinned, kissing her slowly, like he had all the time in the world.

And for once, Ava wasn’t in any rush either.

Because she already had everything she needed—right here, in Ryan’s arms.