My Great Escape Led Me to You (Emily Blair) novel Chapter 205

“Everyone knows the Lane family kicked her out ages ago. Honestly, they never should’ve adopted her in the first place—she turned out to be a total ingrate.”

“And I heard that Emily Blair only got to compete because she missed the registration deadline, and Arianna George gave up her own spot for her. If you ask me, there’s definitely something going on between those two. No way it’s all above board.”

“Tsk, tsk. Isn’t Arianna George always preaching about being fair and impartial? Guess she’s not even trying to hide it anymore.”

As the post heated up, flooded with comments and speculation, the original poster finally emerged and pinned their own reply to the top:

“Who else could it be but Emily Blair?”

They went on, “I have a few questions for the organizers: Why was Emily Blair allowed to compete after missing the registration deadline? Why does Arianna George keep speaking up for her, again and again? And why did someone like Emily Blair, with zero experience in other piano competitions, get into the semifinals? Is the Starlight Piano Competition really as fair and impartial as you claim?”

“I demand answers from the organizers—immediately.”

“Starlight Piano Competition, are you really living up to your promise of fairness and transparency?”

There was little doubt—the poster was the same man who’d caused a scene at the competition, Larry Mitchell.

His blunt accusations sent the post trending even faster.

Emily Blair didn’t hesitate. She copied the link and sent it straight to Arianna George.

None of this was her fault.

She trusted her abilities. In fact, she’d deliberately played a wrong note, certain that she’d still make the cut. The way the semifinalists were announced was unexpected, but the result was exactly as she predicted.

She’d earned her spot fair and square—there was nothing shady going on, no matter what Larry Mitchell tried to claim.

If Larry insisted on dragging her and Arianna’s names through the mud, that was his problem, not hers. This was something for the organizers to worry about.

Emily’s expression didn’t change. She strode out of the dining hall, unfazed.

Suddenly, a completely different voice rang out, clear and forceful: “I don’t know what you’re all talking about, but anyone with half an ear can tell Emily Blair played beautifully. Sure, she missed a note, but she absolutely deserved her place in the semifinals.”

“And what about the rest of you? Can you honestly say that none of the semifinalists made a single mistake, or that you all performed perfectly, note for note, with zero errors?”

“Larry Mitchell is just sore because he ranked dead last. He’s picking on Emily because he thinks she’s an easy target. We all saw the results—he didn’t even come close to qualifying. And now he’s got the nerve to say Emily stole his spot?”

Emily couldn’t help but look back, a flicker of surprise in her eyes. There, standing in the middle of the crowd in an elegant evening dress, was a woman, her face flushed with indignation, as if she herself were being attacked.

It was the same woman Emily had helped earlier in the waiting room, stitching up a torn dress.

Their eyes met, and the woman gave her a quick, reassuring nod.