?<strong>Chapter 268:</strong>


    The reporters didn’t care about Elyse’ste arrival, leaving Vicky unable to exploit the situation. Instead, she sulked in silence. Once Elyse returned, the reporters directed all their questions to her, excluding Vicky from the conversation. But Elyse, unlike Vicky, didn’t hog the spotlight. She made sure to acknowledge other orchestra members and even mentioned those practicing in the rehearsal room. She suggested genuinely, “If you’re curious, I really rmend checking out our rehearsal. You’ll see how hard everyone’s working. Without that dedication, our first performance wouldn’t have been such a sess.”


    Vicky resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Elyse’s disy of sincerity but held back because of the cameras. She was the only one not happy. With the reporters present, everyone feltfortable talking openly without needing to cater to Vicky.


    After the interview, they guided the reporters to the rehearsal room. At first, the rehearsing members were confused, but soon their excitement grew upon realizing the reporters were there to film them. Once the video was taken, the reporters left.


    Their manager arrived shortly afterward and asked Elyse in a harsh tone, “Where were you just now? How could you vanish at such an important moment?”


    “I’m really sorry. It was my fault,” Elyse admitted softly, her voice tinged with seriousness.


    The manager gave her a few final words before dismissing her. With a nod, Elyse limped back. She couldn’t tell who had locked her in, but she wouldn’t let that person off easily if she found out.


    Vicky had been assigned as the concertmaster for the next performance. Elyse followed the manager’s instructions, blending into the group for practice. She still had responsibilities even without being a concertmaster.


    Half a monthter, Elyse wrapped up her second performance as concertmaster. By now, she’d already gathered a following of fans.


    After the performance, Elyse joined the team as they left the concert hall. As soon as she stepped outside, she was swarmed by a crowd of enthusiastic young fans, all eager to snap a photo with her. A few staff members stepped in, guiding her to the bus while someone joked, “Looks like we’ve got a real star concertmaster on our hands.”


    Flustered by their teasing, Elyse blushed and clutched her violin case as she found an empty seat and quietly sat down. She didn’t notice the dark, bitter expression on Vicky’s face. Vicky had her share of fans and had risen to fame before Elyse; she believed she was the real star concertmaster. She was upset, but now wasn’t the time to show it.


    “Hey, Elyse, you’re trending,” a girl next to Elyse said, pointing at the screen. “Everyone’s praising your performance.”


    Elyse nced over but quickly shifted her attention to another trending topic, “Mabel’sNewAlbum.” Elyse immediately felt uneasy. How could Mabel release a new album so suddenly? Did she get someone else to write new songs for her?


    She quickly pulled out her phone and plugged in her headphones. As she listened to Mabel’s songs, her face went pale. These were her songs. How did Mabel get a hold of them? It never crossed her mind that Mabel would have taken her original works and released them on her album.


    As she watched the fans praising the album and Mabel, Elyse was furious. Those were her works.


    In thete afternoon, instead of heading home, Elyse asked the driver to take her straight to Mabel’s agency. After identifying herself to the receptionist, she was informed, “Mabel isn’t in right now. She’s got a packed scheduletely. Can I help you with anything else?”


    Elyse asked, “Is Mabel’s agent here? I’d like to speak with her.”


    Though puzzled, the receptionist tried her best to ry the message. Soon enough, Mabel’s agent appeared, still on her phone. She approached Elyse in a business suit and high heels, only hanging up after a few minutes.


    “Ms. Lloyd, I remember you. How can I assist?” she asked before fetching two sses of water. One was for herself, and the other was for Elyse.


    Elyse looked at the ss, her expression sullen. “Are you aware that the songs on Mabel’stest album wereposed by me?” she asked sharply.


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