She and the other judges looked at each other and saw surprise and doubt in each other’s eyes.

Why did Alarieka choose this piece?

There was a bit of disappointment in Paloma’s eyes.

Based on Alarieka’s performance in the prelims, if she played this piece in the semifinals, she’d probably just get a low score, and there’s no way she could make it to the finals.

If Alarieka picked any other song, it couldn’t have turned out like this.

Alarieka was confused.

Alarieka didn’t know anything about what Paloma and the others thought. She was lost in the jumping piano keys and the clear, flowing sound of the piano in her ears.

Alarieka was also doing the math in her head.

Actually, she planned to show her real skills in the second half of the piano piece. When the judges got bored listening to the first half and were about to finish scoring, she wanted to give them a surprise, so the score could be a bit higher.

Alarieka planned things well, but there were always surprises.

In the middle of the airy, winding piano music, the big door at the back of the audience suddenly made a loud noise.

Bang!

Someone kicked the door open from outside; the door got hit hard and slammed into the wall.

With the sound of the door slamming, there was also a man’s angry shout: “Alarieka, you dared to come to the competition?!”

The movement came out of nowhere, and the sound was really loud. It was jarring to hear it in the middle of the beautiful piano music.

Alarieka couldn’t help but be affected; her heart skipped a beat, and her wrist twitched without thinking.

Luckily, she steadied herself in time, so the piano piece didn’t go off track, and there weren’t any mistakes in the melody.

Alarieka’s fingers and wrists didn’t stop; she took a deep breath and kept dancing on the piano keys, and the piano music flowed out smooth and gentle.

Paloma stood up right away and turned to look.

She saw a man, Sammy, who had somehow been hiding at the back door of the performance room. At the crucial moment, he rushed out and tried to interrupt Alarieka’s competition.

Sammy’s face was full of anger, holding up a two-meter-long red sign. There were only two words on the sign:

“Dark Secret”

The two red words were shining really bright. The lights in the performance room were already dim, mostly focused on the people on stage. The audience area was even darker, so these two red characters, “Dark Secret,” stood out a lot.

Sammy looked at Alarieka on the stage with a fierce expression.

It had already come to this; things had already gotten this bad, but Alarieka still treated him like he was nothing, didn’t even spare him a glance.

Even Alarieka could actually play the piano just like she was all alone, without any trouble.

The piano music rose and fell, long and lingering. As soon as he heard it, he knew which piece Alarieka was playing. Not only could he tell what song it was, but he could also hear that Alarieka played it steadily, without any mistakes.

The judges, including Paloma, all noticed it; their expressions changed.

They thought Alarieka would freak out and stop playing, but Alarieka was so calm and steady, not affected at all, like she didn’t even hear the noise Sammy made.

Even those judges were influenced by Sammy.

Paloma looked at Alarieka with more and more confidence in her eyes, and the other judges' looks at Alarieka slowly changed too.

They looked at each other a few times, decided to hand Sammy over to the security guard, and then sat down again, paying full attention and listening carefully to Alarieka’s performance.

Alarieka could still stay focused, so as judges, they couldn’t fall behind. They had to give the contestants a fair and just environment to perform in and a group of judges who were focused on scoring.

Watching the judges treat him like he was invisible, Sammy’s anger shot straight to the top. He suddenly yelled, “Alarieka, how do you still have the nerve to keep competing!”

This voice almost drowned out Alarieka’s playing, and the judges, who had been focused on Alarieka, all got startled.

Paloma’s face turned sour, and she immediately looked at Alarieka.

Luckily, Alarieka stayed calm, didn’t waver at all, and the piano tune was still steady.

Paloma felt a bit relieved.

“You judges, and the organizers, always claimed to be fair and just, but you were all up to shady stuff. As long as I was here, there was no way I’d let Alarieka get to the finals!”

“Mcintosh Piano Competition had shady stuff going on, who could stand up for me!”