Chapter 531 Little Pet

Early the following day, Meryl got up at dawn and headed to the practice room with her cello. She'd texted Harvey last night, and he said he'd come by the orchestra to see her today.

The classroom was empty since she'd arrived so early. Meryl walked in and started tuning her cello, but just as she played the first note, someone walked in.

Christine glared at her. "You again? Still hanging around the orchestra, huh?"

Christine’s eyes narrowed as she looked Meryl up and down, immediately recognizing the expensive cello. "How did you get your hands on that instrument?"

The cello had been a gift from Chandler.

Chandler had paid top dollar to buy it from a famous performer, who happened to be Christine’s idol. Christine had heard someone had bought her idol’s cello at auction recently, but she never imagined it would end up with someone like Meryl.

Meryl stayed silent.

Christine’s face twisted with annoyance at being ignored.

She sneered, "Give up while you can. Everyone knows Mr. Herty doesn’t take students, no matter how fancy your cello is!"

Other people started trickling into the room. Among them were two girls, Christine’s usual sidekicks. They heard cello music from outside and assumed it was Christine playing. Before even entering, they started praising.

One called out, "Christine, you’re playing this piece beautifully! Much more emotional than yesterday."

When they walked in and saw Meryl at the cello instead, everyone froze in awkward silence. Christine shot them a look that could kill.

One quickly backpedaled. "Christine, you’re our section’s principal cellist with your prestigious conservatory degree. This nobody couldn’t hold a candle to you."

Meryl was playing their practice piece from yesterday. She mainly had memorized the score by ear, though she did make some mistakes.

When Meryl hit several wrong notes, the other girl smirked. "See, Christine? She can’t even remember the sheet music properly. She’s not in your league at all."

Christine felt somewhat better and laughed behind her hand. "And she actually thinks Mr. Herty would take her as a student."

"No way! Mr. Herty doesn’t just teach anyone who walks in. Christine, even someone as talented as you only got one masterclass with him."

"Exactly! She’s totally delusional!"

Mark walked in and shook his head at the three women gossiping. Everyone was here to work and learn music. There wasn’t any point to this elitism. Yet they constantly put Christine on a pedestal, finding new ways to brown-nose, all because Christine was the principal cellist and her father was the orchestra’s associate conductor.

"Come to think of it, I couldn’t sleep last night and saw her hugging some guy in a fancy car outside the orchestra hall," one girl whispered.

"You don’t think she slept her way in here, do you? Was that her sugar daddy?"

"No wonder she gets to practice with such an expensive cello. She must be some rich man’s little pet."

Christine’s eyes lit up as she listened to her minions’ gossip. "Makes sense. Those rich guys always fall for the innocent-looking ones. Acting all pure in public, but behind closed doors…" Christine smirked.

Meryl put down her instrument and stood up. She turned to Christine. "Did you brush your teeth this morning? Because your mouth is full of garbage."

Christine’s face turned ashen. "Who are you calling trash-mouthed?"

Meryl gave her an icy glance. "The one spewing the most filth is the one who stinks. Do I really need to spell out something so obvious for you?"

"You…"

Thanks to her father being the assistant conductor, no one in the orchestra had ever dared speak to Christine like this before.

"Just you wait! I’m going straight to my daddy to get you kicked out!"