“And what about you guys? Could you really guarantee that none of the contestants who made it to the semifinals played a wrong note, or that all of you played exactly like the original without a single mistake?”

“That Sammy just saw Alarieka was in last place and thought she was easy to pick on, so he kept going after her. Everyone saw the rankings just now—Sammy was behind, couldn’t even make it to the semifinals, and still had the nerve to say Alarieka took his spot.”

Alarieka looked a bit surprised. She turned around and saw a woman in a formal dress standing in the crowd, looking angry and talking, like she was the one everyone was gossiping about.

That woman was the one who helped fix the dress in the waiting room.

Alarieka’s eyelashes fluttered a little, and the woman just happened to turn her head and meet her gaze.

Alarieka curled her lips and nodded at her.

The woman suddenly got a little embarrassed, bit her lip, then lifted her chin and nodded proudly.

Alarieka turned around with a light laugh.

She had just lifted her foot when Patrick’s voice came from beside her.

“Ms. Huston, where did you go?”

Alarieka didn’t stop walking, and Patrick was still saying, “I had something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Alarieka still didn’t say anything.

She walked out of the restaurant and left Patrick behind.

Patrick said, “Did Ms. Huston have some urgent business? She wouldn’t even spare me a few minutes.”

Alarieka still didn’t respond.

The playful smile on Patrick’s face suddenly froze, and he stared at Alarieka’s back, who walked away without a hint of hesitation, his eyes turning dark.

He strode forward, grabbed Alarieka’s wrist, then yanked hard and threw Alarieka against the wall.

Alarieka had a flash before her eyes, and as everything spun, she closed her eyes. Her body and the back of her head hit the wall hard, and for a moment, everything went white in front of her.

She hadn’t opened her eyes yet, just heard a soft chuckle from Patrick by her ear.

Alarieka opened her eyes and raised her hand right away.

Alarieka used all her strength, and her palm and whole arm went numb from slapping.

Patrick’s face got slapped to the side by her, his head turned, and his face and expression were hidden in the shadows, so you couldn’t see how he looked.

Alarieka just saw with her own eyes that a faint slap mark slowly appeared on Patrick’s cheek.

Alarieka put her hand down and said coldly, “I haven’t even come looking for you, but you came to find me.”

Patrick was silent for a moment before he slowly looked up.

His eyes were dark as he stared at Alarieka, lowering his voice: “Alarieka, you dared to hit me?”

Alarieka smirked sarcastically, “What? Hurt your pride?”

She laughed softly, “If you want, I could slap you again.”

Patrick narrowed his eyes, grabbed her wrist tightly, and pinched her chin with his other hand, his gaze cold as he looked over her face: “Alarieka, you think I don’t dare to hit a woman?”

Patrick’s hand gripped her chin hard, and Alarieka frowned.

Patrick used a bit too much force, and her jaw did hurt.

Alarieka quickly raised her hand.

Patrick quickly let go of her chin, grabbed her wrist, and lowered his voice: “Alarieka, you actually dared to hit me?!”

Alarieka looked calm. “What am I afraid of?”

Patrick stared at her and suddenly laughed, his smile gentle: “Alarieka, you were never as pretty as Rose, and now, you look even worse compared to her.”

Alarieka actually didn’t care about her looks, and she didn’t think about comparing herself to other women.

She didn’t even think about comparing herself to Roschelle.

She just really couldn’t stand Patrick being so cocky.

She gave a light laugh, her eyes mocking: “No matter how pretty Ms. Whitaker was, she wasn’t your woman. In this life, you were only fit to be a…”

“Bootlicker.”

Patrick’s face really did fall.

“Alarieka, I saw you really didn’t—”

Alarieka suddenly pushed Patrick away, and Patrick didn’t see it coming. He stumbled back a few steps.

Alarieka quickly stepped up again, grabbed Patrick by the collar, and pulled him in the opposite direction.

Patrick actually couldn’t shake off Alarieka’s hand for a moment and just got pulled along.

“Alarieka, where were you taking me?”

Alarieka kicked open the door to the competition hall, stood at the very back of the audience, and looked at the piano in the center of the stage.

Patrick stood behind her, his eyes narrowing a little.

Alarieka stood in front of him. He couldn’t see Alarieka’s face; he could only hear Alarieka’s voice, calm as water.