Chapter 171

Hearing her suggestion, Paloma immediately said no: “No way, that piano was out of tune. If you used that piano, your results definitely wouldn’t be as good as with this one. That wouldn’t be fair to you.”

Alarieka’s eyes were very calm, “It’s okay, Ms. Wyatt, I could.”

Paloma wanted to say something else, but Alarieka went on, “Ms. Wyatt, there was no other way except this.”

Paloma frowned a little, “That won’t do. The most important thing about the Mcintosh Piano Competition is fairness. I’ll talk to the committee and ask them to fix the piano first, then let you compete.”

As soon as the words were spoken, different voices immediately came from the contestants’ seats and the judges’ seats.

The other judges disagreed, saying, “No, the preliminary round time was fixed, there couldn’t be any changes. If we let Alarieka wait a bit longer before competing, it wouldn’t be fair to the other contestants.”

The players also said, “Yeah, how could this happen? We’re all still waiting for the results. We’ve been waiting for so long, and we still have to wait for her. It’s so annoying.”

“It was this Alarieka again, why did things always go wrong with her?”

There were more and more voices of disagreement, and they were getting louder. Paloma frowned even more.

She looked at Alarieka: “Alarieka, we will get to the bottom of this. We wouldn’t let you be wronged.”

“Ms. Wyatt.”

Alarieka interrupted her.

Paloma looked at her and said firmly, “Alarieka, don’t worry. I’ll make sure the competition is fair. I won’t let you be wronged because of this.”

Alarieka shook her head: “It’s okay, Ms. Wyatt, I knew you meant well, but really, it’s fine.”

“I could use another piano for the competition, it wouldn’t waste everyone’s time.”

Paloma obviously didn’t agree with what she said: “Alarieka, no need to get upset. For this kind of competition, you should know when to take it easy or be serious, and you should value the opportunity. There’s no need to rush to reject my decision.”

Alarieka really didn’t care which piano she used in the prelims, and she didn’t want to stand out or draw attention so early, just to avoid unnecessary criticism.

Besides, as long as you were outstanding enough, you could pass the preliminaries with any piano.

She, Alarieka, naturally had enough confidence to get through the preliminaries.

Alarieka’s voice was soft and steady, “Ms. Wyatt, I could. Trust me.”

Alarieka’s black and white eyes were way too calm, way too controlled, and Paloma’s words of advice got stuck in her throat—she just couldn’t say them.

Paloma thought it was weird.

I was always someone with my own opinions, and once I had an idea in my head, it wasn’t easy for others to change my mind.

This time, she had already made up her mind. No matter how loud or strong those people’s doubts and objections were, she was going to make sure Alarieka got a fair chance to compete.

But looking at Alarieka’s determined eyes, her mind wavered.

This was rare.

It was actually the second time it happened to her with Alarieka.

Alarieka said quietly, “Move that piano over here.”

Paloma nodded, her eyes a bit complicated. “Okay, I’ll have someone bring it up right now…”

Alarieka nodded.

During the waiting time, Alarieka unconsciously looked up and glanced at the audience seats.

Kieran and Roschelle sat right in the middle behind the judges’ table, facing where she was now.

Kieran’s eyes looked dark. Sitting in the dim players’ area, you couldn’t really see his expression, but his face looked even sharper and more defined, like a statue hidden in the shadows—silent but impossible to ignore.

Roschelle sat next to him, tilting her head, her hand covering her lips, eyes smiling, whispering something to Kieran.

Kieran seemed to be amused by Roschelle, and the straight line of his lips curved a bit—it was like ice starting to melt.

It was just that there was someone else next to Roschelle.

Patrick.

Patrick didn’t look so good. He sat next to Roschelle without a smile, his face blank. There wasn’t any hint of a smile in those eyes—totally different from usual. He even turned his head away from Roschelle, like he didn’t want to hear the conversation between Roschelle and Kieran at all.

Alarieka took one look and then looked away.

She wasn’t interested in how the love and hate between these three people got tangled up.

It was best if the love-hate mess between these three didn’t involve anyone else, and especially not her.