Chapter 52
Let Roschelle have all the applause and honor, and just be the man behind Roschelle. How much love did it take to do something like this? Kieran didn’t say anything else, just went along with it.
The teacher suddenly sighed, “It’s been so long, and Mr. Argent and Ms. Whitaker are still so close. Back then, I thought you two wouldn’t last.”
“It was my narrow view, judging a gentleman with a petty mind,” the teacher laughed at himself and shook his head. “I hope you two can be happy together for a hundred years. Let me be bold and ask, if Mr. Argent and Ms. Whitaker get married in the future, can I be invited to your wedding?”
Alarieka turned around and walked a few steps away. When I looked back, I couldn’t hear Kieran’s voice anymore; I just saw Kieran’s lips moving. It probably meant agree. Agreed to go to his and Roschelle’s wedding with the teacher.
Alarieka was a bit out of breath, kept her head down, and let out a few stifled breaths. She thought she couldn’t feel pain anymore. But reality gave her a hard slap.
She still couldn’t stand seeing Kieran and Roschelle happy. I couldn’t stand seeing them get along. Couldn’t stand to see them live happily ever after and have that only son who stepped on her daughter to get ahead. She was like a rat or cockroach in the gutter, dark, hated by everyone, and sneakily hoping their relationship would fall apart.
Alaricka took a few breaths, closed her eyes, and pushed down the surge of hatred in her heart. At that moment, Roschelle’s piano music came out from the speakers. Everyone in the audience stopped shouting and just quietly listened to the piano music. Alarieka stood behind the curtain, watching Roschelle’s back from a distance.
It seemed like no matter how many times, no matter what she realized, she always stood under the stage like this, watching the dazzling Roschelle on stage. With an elegant posture, her slender, strong fingers tapped on the piano keys, and the flowing, graceful melody slowly poured out. Kieran was just like her, also watching Roschelle from offstage. But she was just like a shady cockroach. Kieran was loving and focused, such a good match.
Time passed, and Alarieka looked down and smiled. Roschelle really didn’t bother to hide it; it was almost exactly the same as the original. I really didn’t know if Roschelle was just gutsy, or if it was because she had Kieran backing her up. That’s why I was fearless.
Roschelle finished a piano piece, and there was a burst of applause from the audience. After all the performances, the applause and cheers for Roschelle’s act were the loudest, and she was the most popular. The piano piece ended, and Roschelle’s fans started cheering again from the audience.
Even the teachers who always resisted students chasing celebrities admitted, “Ms. Whitaker was really popular, almost as much as an internet celebrity.”
“But Roschelle really was worth following.”
Kieran started clapping way before the audience. Alarieka lifted her skirt and walked past Kieran, who was clapping for Roschelle, and slowly went up on stage. She brushed past the outgoing Roschelle. Both of them kept their eyes straight ahead and acted like the other didn’t exist. It was just that Alarieka slowly showed the most genuine smile tonight. When she said the name of the original song in front of everyone, at that moment, her smile was the brightest tonight.
“The school anniversary program ended here, and we wrapped up this journey with a piano piece called ‘Aspiration.’ This piano piece ‘Aspiration’ was the last work by the late author Lindsey Weaver, and it was released three years ago.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the backstage crew played the piano piece “Aspiration” right on time. Because Alarieka came on stage, everyone in the audience went quiet, so the “Aspiration” playing from the speakers was really clear. The hosts next to her were all signaling Alarieka to get off the stage, but Alarieka just stood there quietly and didn’t move at all. The other hosts just had to stand on stage with her.
Time passed, and some people in the audience looked shocked. Some of Roschelle’s fans knew about piano or worked in piano-related jobs, so it really wasn’t hard for them to tell that the “Aspiration” released three years ago and the new “My Love” by Roschelle were almost exactly the same. The melody was the same, and the emotion in the piano piece was the same too. So much, all exactly the same.
“Isn’t this the same? It’s just like Roschelle’s piano piece just now. I never learned piano, and I could tell.”
“So Roschelle copied?”
“Did Roschelle really plagiarize?”