Chapter 573 Entering the Competition

Meryl had no idea she had thoroughly offended Christine.

What surprised her more was Rachel stepping in to defend her earlier. Rachel had never seemed fond of her.

Meryl wondered, “Could it be because I sent her that dress last night? Did that really change her opinion of me?”

During the orchestra’s group session, the instructor announced a performance scheduled for a month later.

This performance, held every three years, required a soloist from the cello section. Traditionally, this honor would go to the principal cellist, with the rest of the section providing accompaniment. However, this year, the rules changed. The soloist would be chosen through an internal selection process involving the entire orchestra.

The selected cellist would represent the orchestra in a 48-hour extreme composition competition, requiring not only musical skill but also well-rounded talent.

Meryl didn’t think much of it because she was a newcomer and knew nothing about composition. But when Harvey heard about the competition, he looked at her sternly. “You’re really not participating?”

Meryl nodded.

“You’re my student. If my own student doesn’t even compete, people will say I have no successors.”

Meryl paused to consider. “Mr. Herty has a point. He has a stellar reputation. If I, his student, don’t even dare enter an internal competition, wouldn’t that invite ridicule? It’s one thing to embarrass myself, but I can’t drag Mr. Herty’s name down with me.”

Even so, Meryl was realistic about her abilities.

“But my skills aren’t good enough. If I enter and get eliminated in the internal selection, wouldn’t that be even worse for you?”

Harvey frowned. “Who said your skills aren’t good enough? There’s still a month until the selection. With me personally coaching you, you’re worried you can’t outplay them?”

Meryl realized Harvey was fiercely competitive. Then again, anyone who reached his level in this field had to be.

He continued, “Unless you don’t want to improve your skills, having me as your tutor for a month is worth five years of lessons elsewhere!”

Meryl nodded. Having a month of personal lessons from Harvey was an opportunity she couldn’t refuse.

“But what if I win the selection? The orchestra will send me to the composition competition afterward,” she pointed out.

For the internal selection, she would only need to practice a single piece. Repetition would give her some confidence. But composing wasn’t something that could be done haphazardly. Without the inspiration and experience in this area, composing within 48 hours would probably leave her unable to even write out a simple score.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll guide you step by step. Inspiration often strikes in a moment. For some, it takes only half an hour to create something extraordinary.”

Harvey was very confident about this. He even thought that Meryl’s concerns weren’t an issue. Meryl didn’t want to discourage him too much, so she could only agree with the mindset of giving it a try.

To help her improve rapidly, Harvey arranged for Meryl to skip all group sessions. Instead, he focused on one-on-one lessons with her every day.

With Meryl playing and Harvey offering guidance, the days seemed to fly by.

One afternoon, Meryl took half a day off to pick up Anne and her baby from the hospital.

When she arrived, she saw a breaking news story playing on the hospital TV.

The Walker Villa had caught fire the previous night: The Walker family was a prominent real estate dynasty in Kingsdom. At least one-fifth of the city’s homes were developed by their company.

For such a wealthy family, their villa was equipped with a state-of-the-art fire suppression system that would activate sprinklers at the slightest hint of danger. Yet the fire had consumed the entire villa. It was an inexplicably eerie event.

Yancey went downstairs to handle Anne’s discharge procedures. Meryl and Anne sat on the hospital bed waiting, and when they saw the news, both of them found it very strange.