“Why did the judges score her only 99.8 points? Is it because she is not a professional pianist?”
“But, she performed better than Emily!”
“Yeah. Besides, won’t there be a three-way tie in the preliminary round if Janet receives 99.8 points too?”
“Damn! Isn’t the competition too fierce?!”
“Perhaps the judges felt that she had too many similarities with Sweet Tune. However, they don’t have any evidence to prove it either. So, they had no choice but to give her the same score as Emily!”
“It makes sense when you put it that way.”
The audience was buzzing with excitement, and the backstage area even more so.
Emily’s mood could not get any worse at the moment. Just who does Janet think she is?! How dare she compete with me?! Moreover, she also accused my music of being very similar to Sweet Tune’s! If I think about it, isn’t she saying ‘if I am plagiarizing, then Emily’s performance can be considered plagiarism too’? She clenched her fists tightly. It felt as if her head was so tense that it could explode at any moment! How dare Janet accuse me of plagiarism?! Didn’t she herself plagiarize Sweet Tune’s songs?! How can she be so shameless as to scold me for it?! How disgusting! What’s more, I can’t even expose her plagiarism now. If I expose her for it, then I’ll be done for too! Right now, Janet and I are in the same boat!
After Hazel listened to what Janet said, she combined those words with the fact that Janet’s song and Emily’s song had very high levels of similarity. Then, she frowned in response as a trace of doubt appeared in her eyes.
A few seconds later, her puzzled expression turned to rage. Looking at Emily, she questioned, “What does Janet mean? Is she implying that if the judges decide that she is plagiarizing, then you are also plagiarizing? Isn’t it obvious that she is putting Mr. Hilbert in a difficult position?!”
“Forget it, Hazel. I don’t want to bother about it!” Emily felt slightly aggrieved. Her eyelashes couldn’t help trembling. At the same time, her voice was low and cold. It was as if she had suffered the greatest grievance in the world.
Despite how wronged Emily felt, she refused to let Hazel do anything about it. When Hazel saw that, she felt even angrier. “How can Janet act so shamelessly? It’s obvious that she was plagiarizing Sweet Tune’s song yet she still wants to drag you down with her! That’s so shameless of her!”
However, Emily had an ominous feeling for some reason. She greatly regretted playing the song ‘Fireworks’. Even more than that, she regretted allowing Janet to appear in this competition. If Janet wasn’t here today, this competition would have proceeded smoothly. What a mess. She sighed and clenched her fists. “Hazel, stop bothering about her. It won’t be good if this issue gets bigger.”
Even so, Hazel couldn’t stand Janet’s triumphant and proud expression. “Emily, you’re being too tolerant. That’s why she dares to say that about you.”
“It’s fine. Even if she doesn’t believe me, you believe me, right?” Emily was feeling very annoyed. She did not want to turn this into a bigger issue.
Hazel looked at Emily’s expression and seemed to understand something. Mulling over it, she started scheming in her heart. However, she quickly recovered her composure on the surface. “Fine. I’ll let her off this time. In any case, there’s still the advancement round!”
When Emily heard what Hazel said, she couldn’t help feeling relieved inside. Based on Hazel’s personality, she would not stop until she got to the bottom of the issue. However, it seemed like she was going to end things here because of Emily’s suggestion.
“Let’s go back for the encore!” Emily smiled as she turned back to look at Hazel. It felt as if Hazel had something on her mind, but Emily couldn’t figure it out. All Emily heard was ‘okay’.
