Chapter 62
On stage, Amelia gripped the piano, took a deep breath, and spent about a second pulling herself together.
Then she walked to center stage and, along with the band members Mars had brought to help, bowed to the audience.
She saw all the faces below, all those misty eyes.
Her lips parted slightly.
“Thank you.”
She spoke quietly, her voice neither happy nor sad–just a simple, normal phrase.
The audience erupted in thunderous applause.
It could’ve blown the roof off the entire studio.
Amelia looked away, slowly turned, and exited with the band.
She could feel Nathan’s stare burning into her the whole time.
But she wouldn’t look back.
They’d loved each other once.
But now? Not anymore.
She never doubted genuine feelings, but genuine feelings could flip in a heartbeat.
He was here for another woman anyway.
The second “Voice of Heaven” broadcast kept rolling.
Amelia had performed fifth; more singers followed.
This broadcast’s quality was insane, so during voting, the final rankings were crazy tight.
Amelia’s live audience votes were through the roof, but weirdly, her online votes were meh.
Not terrible, but a stark contrast to the live response.
So when the weighted scores got tallied, her overall score was solid but not the highest.
When Louie hit up Amelia’s private dressing room, he was shaking his head.
He’d busted his ass trying to fix things but was still too slow.
Sebastian was still fucking around.
Amelia brushed it off–no biggie. Once Louie handled the others, everything would get sorted.
For now, she just needed to avoid getting booted.
And she knew it wouldn’t be much longer.
In the audience, Harper was losing her mind with excitement.
This was infinitely better than watching on her phone or those garbage livestream clips.
She knew it, she just knew Amelia would kill it!
Mr Harrison Wake Up Your Wife’s Gone
Chapter 62
During the commercial break, she kept gushing about the performance with her audience members.
Suddenly, she spotted something!
Someone was secretly recording!
Without causing a scene, she quietly crept closer, scoping out their gear.
Confirming it was legit recording equipment–tiny but real–her eyes lit up.
Just as Harper was figuring out her approach, she heard the person muttering furiously:
“Thank god I scored another overpriced scalped ticket from Rain. This time I got my own recording–let’s see you trolls keep trashing me!
“Elena’s fucking incredible as always, every performance is fire!”
“Whatever, I’m becoming Elena’s biggest stan. Y’all pushed me to this point, can’t blame me–I’m just a contrarian basement dweller!”
Harper got hyped hearing this.
Friendly fire!
Se7ven was celebrating when he heard movement behind him. Turning around nearly gave him a stroke.
Someone was eyeing his equipment hard.
Electronics were banned from the venue.
And he’d been caught red–handed!
“Chill, I’m on your team!” Harper immediately said. “Same energy–those broadcast clips are totally screwing Elena over.”
Se7ven relaxed slightly but didn’t fully trust her.
Harper couldn’t waste this golden opportunity. She glanced around and said: “Can’t talk here. Hit me up after this wraps–trust me, you won’t regret
it.”
Meanwhile, the guy who’d tried asking about the demo last time was locked outside the venue.
He was absolutely raging.
“I had a legit ticket! What gives you the right to keep me out!”
“Trying to buy me off? Fuck your money, I want inside!”
“Are you Vivian antis? So what if I stan Vivian?”
“Let me go! Let me the fuck go!”
This Vivian superfan got temporarily detained again.
Online, everything “Voice of Heaven” second broadcast was crushing the trending charts.
First, news that all three major family powerhouses had reps at the venue caused a trending explosion.
Then candid footage of Vivian laughing and chatting with the Wessex siblings triggered another spike.
As various contestants delivered killer performances, discussions went wild.
But what ultimately dominated trending was #VivianCrying, #VivianHasClass, and #Saint Vivian.
Mr Harrison Wake Up Your Wife’s Gone
Chapter 62
These hashtags featured clips of Vivian tearing up during contestant Elena’s performance and praising her vocals.
“At the charity gala, didn’t Elena jack up the price on that tanzanite Vivian wanted? Vivian’s such a class act–not only has she never talked shit abou Elena since the gala, now she’s giving props where props are due.”
“For real? She’s so sweet. If that were me, I’d definitely hold a grudge.”
“I don’t know what Elena’s deal is, but I always get the vibe she doesn’t like Vivian. During team picks and at the charity thing too. Don’t know what she’s so salty about–her performances are whatever.”
“Right? I don’t get why the live votes were so high. Her performance was decent but not mind blowing”
“Insider favoritism maybe?”
“Who knows? Isn’t Elena supposed to be with Cavendish Entertainment?”
As people speculated, everyone’s focus got hijacked again.
“Yo, is that pendant Vivian’s wearing the 6–carat Burmese pigeon blood ruby Nathan dropped 28 mil on at the charity gala?”
“Holy shit, it totally is! And Nathan showed up to the venue again–he never used to hit up these things, but he keeps breaking his rules for Vivian!”
“Only bending over backwards for her, absolute relationship goals, I’m obsessed!”
So #VivianPigeonBloodPendant rocketed up trending again.
Time flew.
Soon, the recording wrapped.
Amelia followed Louie toward their ride.
But the second they stepped outside, someone yelled: “Elena!”
Amelia spun around to see the three Wessex siblings.
Lester was bouncing with energy, charging over: “You absolutely killed it up there!”
Charlotte was right behind him, nodding: “We met quick at the charity thing. Had no idea your live game was this strong.”
Amelia knew the Wessex family rep and had always respected their family vibe.
After the charity gala, even though she was playing Elena and hadn’t asked Lester to keep Amelia’s info on the down–low, he’d stayed quiet anyway. Despite being loud as hell, his word was solid.
With that in mind, Amelia smiled and nodded: “Miss Wessex, Lester, you’re way too nice.”
“Can I snag an autograph?” Lester beamed. “And maybe snap a pic with us? Cool?”
Amelia grinned and posed with them, while the perpetually quiet Arthur just ung back without joining in.
Right before the photo snapped, Amelia felt something and looked up.
At that exact moment, Nathan, who was leaving with Vivian, also glanced their way.
(17)