Chapter 170

Kieran looked at him with deep eyes for a while, then walked over in big strides.

Roschelle suddenly pulled his hand down, turned around, and gave Kieran a gentle smile he had never seen before.

“Kier, Patrick came back from abroad. I remember you guys hadn’t seen each other since you and Patrick graduated from high school and went abroad, right?”

Patrick saw his empty palm and his heart suddenly sank.

In a flash, Kieran had already walked up to them.

Kieran said in a low voice, “Dr. Schultz, when did you come back from abroad?”

Patrick smiled, looking like he didn’t mind at all: “Just got back, was busy talking to Rose, and totally forgot Mr. Argent was here.”

Kieran just opened his mouth, and smooth piano music started playing nearby.

Alarieka walked onto the stage, and the seats below were already filled with contestants who had finished the competition and the judges.

Alarieka looked around the room calmly. The seat right in the middle of the second row was empty. She glanced at it. That was probably Kieran and Roschelle’s seat.

She looked away and bowed.

Paloma in the judges’ seat smiled at her, “Alarieka, go ahead.”

In this preliminary round, Alarieka didn’t want to stand out. She just wanted to make it to the finals safely, with her results being not too good or too bad, just average.

So, she picked a piano piece that couldn’t go wrong.

Alarieka sat on the piano bench, and when her fingers touched the keys, she didn’t notice anything wrong.

Until, in the smooth piano sound, she heard some noise.

She heard it from the start, but since it had already begun, she just hoped the noise would get quieter afterward.

At least don’t let other people hear it, especially don’t let the judges hear it.

But later, the noise didn’t get any quieter; it actually got even louder.

The chatter from the audience got louder and louder, to the point where even Alarieka couldn’t ignore it.

Even when Alarieka hit a piano key, the noise almost drowned out the piano sound.

Until Alarieka stopped.

Looking up, she saw Roschelle walking between Kieran and Patrick, smiling sweetly and gently, like someone who had always been cherished.

Kieran glanced at her, his eyes looking very light.

Just one glance, then looked away.

Patrick turned his head and gave her a smile. The smile looked pretty sly, like a fox, and his eyes were deep and meaningful.

At that moment, Alarieka remembered all the conversations she just had with Patrick.

Alarieka was sure this was definitely Patrick’s doing.

Patrick did this for a pretty obvious reason.

It was just to stand up for Roschelle.

The teachers at the judges’ table were confused: “What’s wrong with this piano? It was fine just now, but now there’s some weird noise.”

Paloma’s face fell.

To make sure things were fair, the organizers had already said that everyone had to use the same piano, and no special treatment or exceptions were allowed.

Before the competition started, she had already asked people to tune it several times, so there was absolutely no way this could have happened.

Unless someone did it on purpose.

Someone actually dared to cheat at the Mcintosh Piano Competition, really had no idea how serious it was.

Paloma and the other judges came over: “Alarieka, don’t panic, let’s take a look first.”

Alarieka stepped back and let the judges check out the piano. She just stood there quietly and didn’t say a word.

Other contestants kept craning their necks in the audience, trying to figure out what was going on, and the rustling sounds never stopped.

After a while, there were a few unpleasant voices in the crowd.

“How come nobody else had any problems with this piano, but only Alarieka did? Maybe she was the problem. If she didn’t play well, she just blamed the piano.”

“Yeah, I used it and there was no problem at all, so why did it become a problem when it got to Alarieka? So weird, it must have been Alarieka’s problem.”

“What are we waiting for? I still want to hear the rankings. We’ve been waiting for so long. I don’t want to wait for Alarieka anymore. It was obvious Alarieka wouldn’t make it to the next round. No need to take her so seriously.”

Alarieka stood on the stage and could hear all the different sounds from the audience loud and clear.

She didn’t have any reaction.

The judges had been looking at this piano for a while, and it probably couldn’t be fixed in a short time.

It was okay.

Inside the venue, there was another piano, but it wasn’t nearly as good as this one.