Chapter 209: Spending the Night at Your Place

A single sentence left Sierra inexplicably uneasy and flustered. Normally, Olivia would watch her practice piano at home; however, Sierra barely practiced while staying at her grandparents' house. Her grandparents were often out, so she often pretended to practice when they returned. Feeling aggrieved at times, they would coax her to cheer up and wouldn't mention practicing again.

But on second thought, Sierra reassured herself. Grandpa had already used his connections and pleaded with old friends on her behalf. Grandma had been actively seeking help; more than half of the judges had already been contacted. With another push in the past couple of days and the support of judges and fans, there shouldn't be any problem.

When Sierra snapped out of her thoughts, she noticed Maggie had already lowered her head and was looking at her phone. Nathael had sent a message: "I'm waiting outside for you. I'll take you home."

Maggie blinked and replied, "Take me home?"

Is this guy trying to trick me into going to his place again? she thought.

Nathael read the message, placed some documents on the nearby desk, and replied: "Then I'll sleep at your place tonight." Most likely, he typed too quickly, and autocorrect changed his intended message.

As a result, when Maggie saw the message, her mind was filled with question marks. Insanely shameless, Nathael sent: "Then I'll sleep with you tonight."

Maggie immediately replied: "!!!"

"Are you out of your mind? Nathael, I have a competition tomorrow! Are you even human?!?"

Nathael stared at the message, stunned for a few seconds. Realizing his mistake, he chuckled lightly and quickly edited the message: "Then, another day."

Maggie looked at the short message; her cheeks flushed bright red. Was Nathael doing this on purpose? Was I reading too much into it?

Chapter 209: Spending the Night at Your Place

Maggie's face burned—a mix of anger and annoyance. She immediately replied: "You are not yet friends with this person. They have enabled friend verification. Please add them." After seeing the message, Nathael couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Feeling quite pleased, he didn't reply.

Maggie exited the page, intending to watch the competition. Then she received a message from Timothy: "Maggie, I have a new idea about the house. Are you available to take a look?"

Maggie calculated the time. Danielle said she drew the 18th group, and her competition time was tomorrow morning. However, the competition continued until the morning after tomorrow, with public vote counting and verification. The earliest she was available was the afternoon of the day after tomorrow.

"Sorry, I have a competition these next two days. Can we meet in the afternoon the day after tomorrow, or later?"

"Is it the recently acclaimed University Piano Competition? I remember you're a student at First Institute, right?" Seeing Timothy's question, Maggie confirmed. After agreeing on a time, she put away her phone. The next day, Maggie performed in the morning session, with Sierra scheduled immediately after. Grace and Jack were scheduled for the afternoon session.

Early that morning, before the competition began, Maggie and Sierra were called backstage for makeup. As the first day officially started, the number of viewers inside and outside the venue increased, and the atmosphere grew tense.

Since it was still early, Danielle gave them instructions: "The pieces haven't been finalized, but all options have been sent to you. You should have prepared diligently. In the first round, you should both be fine. However, there's a strong competitor in each of your groups. Besides aiming to advance, pay attention to the order of advancement. The final ranking will be based on the total votes from all three rounds."

Maggie took Danielle's words to heart, feeling the final round's reliance on total votes was unfair. However, she was aware that the influence of capital and the Camerons' intentions to use the competition as a springboard had already destroyed the competition's semblance of fairness.

"I'll check if the costumes have been brought over from Ms. Agnes. You two can start with makeup now."

Danielle was very busy, handling many things on and off stage, inside and outside the school.

After Danielle left, Maggie had her makeup done by the school's makeup artist, while Sierra continued with hers. Maggie closed her eyes and focused, while Sierra watched videos online. Some behind-the-scenes videos from yesterday had already been uploaded. Ronald had arranged for people to handle it, and her fan count increased by a few thousand—a welcome change compared to the recent backlash.

Sierra read some comments and saw many people were falling for her persona. It lifted her spirits. Shortly after, she clicked on Maggie's Twitter.

"'Maggie, get out of the University Piano Competition! @University Piano Competition Official

'Yeah, this shameless person who only cares about money doesn't deserve to participate!'

'Even if Maggie considers the favor to the Camerons, she shouldn't deceive us like this.'

'Are you all out of your minds? Maggie didn't decide on Luster Corporation. What say does she, an adopted daughter, have?'

'I agree. Even if her adoptive father wants to do this, she can't just say, "You're immoral and unethical! You're a black-hearted businessman!"'

'Luster Corporation, come out and compensate us! Your delayed delivery of jewelry caused my girlfriend to break up with me! D*mn it, Luster Corporation is a lifetime of darkness!'

'Years ago, my parents chose Victory Group for renovation. We hadn't even lived there for two years before it started leaking and drafty, and the formaldehyde exceeded standards, forcing us to renovate again. Then, we bought a property from the Camerons after getting married, and it still hasn't been delivered. Later, when we married, we ordered jewelry from Luster Corporation, and they ran off with our money! Godd*mn it, all the problems are gifts from the Camerons!'

'I'm just saying, the lady is so beautiful! It's a shame she's surnamed Cameron. Oh, wait, actually, she isn't.'

'Luster Corporation, compensate us!!!'"

After reading the comments, Sierra felt pleased. She glanced at Maggie, who was closing her eyes for makeup, a trace of coldness flashing in her eyes. She signaled to the makeup assistant, Shania, who looked uneasy but nodded. Shania took two cups of coffee and walked toward Maggie's makeup artist, Heidi Brook.

"Ms. Brook, this is coffee from Sierra. It's for you and Maggie."

13:10 Thu, 23 May Ku

Chapter 209: Spending the Night at Your Place

Maggie opened her eyes. From the mirror, she saw Shania approaching with two cups of coffee. Heidi was stunned, initially wanting to refuse, but then thought it was a kind gesture. "Thank you very much," Heidi said, reaching for the coffee. But Shania's hand slipped, and one cup fell. In her haste to catch it, she spilled the other cup as well.