My Great Escape Led Me to You (Emily Blair) novel Chapter 199

A few people were whispering, “How can Emily Blair stay so calm?”

“What else can she do? If she panics now, everyone will know she pulled some strings to get here. All she can do is put on a front.”

Isabella Austin sneered inwardly.

Emily Blair—honestly, was there anyone in this room who actually liked her? Ridiculous.

Isabella lifted her head, her voice turning gentle. “Let’s not be so harsh. Emily has been working really hard.”

Someone shot back with a scornful laugh. “Oh, working hard, is she? Working hard at pulling favors, maybe. Tell me, is there a single person in this competition who hasn’t worked hard?”

Isabella’s brows knit together in a look of fragile sympathy. “Emily really does care about this competition. Yes, she hit a wrong note, and her piano wasn’t the best, but overall—”

That person interrupted with a mocking scoff, “Exactly. We all heard her miss that note. So why is she moving on to the semifinals?”

Their face turned cold, and they stared Isabella down. “Ms. Austin, I give you credit for winning first place in the preliminaries. I respect that. And I get that you’re kind-hearted, always trying to defend Emily. But this is different. Emily’s taking a spot that should belong to one of us. We’ve all spent months preparing for this, and now it’s being taken away by someone who cheated her way in.”

A troubled look flickered across Isabella’s face.

The same person continued, “Ms. Austin, if you insist on defending Emily Blair, don’t expect me to play nice.”

Isabella lowered her eyes, pressing her lips together, visibly torn and aggrieved.

“Isabella.”

Andrew Lane’s voice was low and warm, the kind of tone that sent a shiver of heat down her spine.

She looked up at him, eyes soft and pleading. “Andrew.”

He rested his hand lightly on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring pat.

Sure enough, the others grew even angrier. “Everyone heard the mistake, Emily Blair. So why is she in the semifinals? Isn’t this an obvious case of favoritism? Do you think we’re idiots?”

“I demand the judges release the details of Emily Blair’s scores so we can all see exactly how she advanced.”

Arianna George frowned. “I’ve said this many times: The Starlight Piano Competition doesn’t allow for any favoritism or bribery. Please, calm down—”

She was cut off by a man’s harsh voice. “Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down when someone like Emily Blair is in the semifinals? I feel sick just looking at her in that line-up. If I let this go, I’ll never sleep easy again.”

“And you, Ms. George—I always thought you were a fair and honest teacher. I didn’t expect you to get dragged into this mess with Emily Blair. Back when you fought for her to get extra time to fix her piano, I didn’t think much of it. Now it’s obvious—you were afraid she’d get eliminated.”

He gave a mirthless laugh. “Tell me, did Emily Blair pay you off? Ms. George, I remember your score counts for thirty percent of the total—that’s more than enough to decide whether someone makes it through.”

Things had reached a boiling point. If Emily Blair didn’t speak up soon, this whole situation was going to spiral out of control.