My Great Escape Led Me to You (Emily Blair) novel Chapter 671

Alex White gave a small smile. “Alright, let’s head to the hospital first.”

As they reached the car, Alex offered his hand to Isabella Austin. “Let me hold those for you. I’ll just leave them on the seat.”

She nodded and handed over her certificates and awards.

He glanced casually through the papers and paused when he spotted her ranking. “Third place, huh?”

Already sliding into the passenger seat, Isabella stiffened at his words.

Everyone around her knew how fiercely competitive she was—she always wanted first place, nothing less. It didn’t matter what the competition was; anything short of victory felt like defeat. And Alex, more than anyone, understood that about her.

To Isabella, taking anything but first felt like a public humiliation.

But this time, after falling out with Rose Ward, she hadn’t been able to find another accompanist she could trust—not someone who’d keep her secrets and not betray her like Rose had. So Isabella had no choice but to go it alone.

Her piano arrangement had suffered for it.

She’d been nervous before going onstage, worried that her less-than-perfect piece wouldn’t even get her into the finals. She was anxious, too, about whether Emily Blair and Rose Ward would try to expose her, just like last time.

Both worries sat heavy on her shoulders, making her nerves nearly unbearable. Before her performance, she kept glancing back at Emily Blair, searching for any sign of trouble.

In the end, though, she’d managed to deliver a solid performance that helped make up for the weaker arrangement—just enough to scrape into third place and reach the finals.

Given everything that had happened, it felt like a stroke of luck. But in terms of her career, it was a disaster.

It had already been two days since Emily Blair had called him about the hospital visit.

He’d told Emily he didn’t care and wasn’t paying attention, but the truth was something he kept to himself.

He and Matthew Ross had been classmates—good friends, really. Matthew hadn’t come from much and had to work side jobs just to get by. Alex had once thought about staying out of his business, but Matthew’s diligence, in everything from schoolwork to daily life, had left an impression.

It was Matthew who had quietly warned Alex in class when he was about to make a mistake, saving him from embarrassment in front of everyone. And when Alex hadn’t realized he’d gotten food poisoning, it was Matthew who’d noticed and rushed him to the hospital.

All those moments had led Alex to help Matthew out financially.

Matthew was earnest to a fault. So when Alex heard, through Emily, about Matthew’s misdiagnosis, the news had shaken him deeply.