Chapter 18: Stop at the Right Moment, Leave Gracefully
Ava's expression was even more dramatic - she was practically grinding her teeth, and her upright posture trembled for a moment.
The audience below erupted in commotion.
"Sophia can play the cello too!"
"And she's playing a world-famous piece! Even our teacher couldn't play it in class. I've studied it myself - you just can't get it to flow smoothly."
"What's Sophia's background anyway? How does she know everything? I heard she even saved someone at a party last time."
"I thought she studied law - how does she know instruments too?"
Meanwhile, Ivy was excitedly applauding for me from below. "Sophia, you're amazing! Well done!"
Facing the voices below, I let a faint smile play across my lips.
Even Kaida was won over by my performance. She picked up the microphone, still clearly amazed.
"Ms. Brown, have you studied the cello before?"
A carefree smile appeared on my face. "I started teaching myself in my senior year."
As soon as I said this, another wave of gasps came from the audience.
"Oh my god, she taught herself? That's incredible!"
"It's hard even with a professional teacher, and she taught herself."
"You actually believe that? She must have studied it properly. Self-taught? Yeah right."
"But everyone says she's a housewife, and there's never been any news about her learning cello. I think she really did teach herself."
"..."
Ava's whole body went rigid, and she unconsciously bit her lip.
"That's amazing. This piece is really difficult - I know lots of students who worked themselves to death trying to learn it." Kaida started chatting with me.
I kept smiling. "I worked really hard too. My family was against me learning instruments back then, so most of the time I had to practice in secret. Maybe it was exactly that persistent determination that pushed me forward."
Kaida's face was full of admiration for me, and even those who had initially doubted me fell silent. All I received now was praise.
I looked at Ava and saw her hands gripping the hem of her clothes tightly, as if trying to hold something back.
But I still didn't feel satisfied, so I deliberately said, "Ms. Davis must know how to play it too - after all, she's a famous cellist."
At these words, Ava's face looked terrible, and even her smile seemed forced.
The crowd below started chiming in too. "Ms. Davis, play one too! Let's see who plays better."
"Yeah, Ms. Davis is a professional cellist - she must play really well."
"Let them compete! This piece sounds pretty good anyway."
I looked at Ava, my eyes signaling her. "Ms. Davis, please go ahead."
Instantly, Ava's face turned awful. Her forehead was covered in tiny beads of sweat, and both hands were trembling.
As the shouting from below grew louder, Ava looked around in panic, too nervous to meet my eyes.
I could see her distress and guessed that her ability probably hadn't reached the level needed to play this piece.
Thinking back on Ava's performances over the past few years, most of them were repeated pieces with nothing new, and even her new works had melodies similar to her previous ones.
It seemed that these past few years she'd been enjoying the benefits of fame and fortune without continuing to improve.
As the heckling around us grew stronger, Ava completely panicked. A tired and bleak smile slowly appeared on her face.
I wasn't as ruthless as Ava - knowing when to stop was enough.
So I picked up the microphone and continued, "Today is a birthday party, and it's getting late. Everyone didn't come here to watch a performance. Ms. Davis is tired too, so let's leave it at that."
Ava looked at me in disbelief, while I just glanced at her casually and left the stage.
Ivy had already pushed her way to the front. She looked at me with admiration all over her face. "Sophia, how do you know everything? This is too amazing."
I smiled modestly. "I put in a lot of effort too."
Only I knew that the reason I taught myself cello in my senior year was because Tyler and Ava were dating then. I was unwilling to accept it and pestered my parents to let me learn cello too, but they had no intention of letting me pursue that and told me it was too late to start learning cello. But I was stubborn back then and used my scholarship money to buy a secondhand cello. Whenever I had free time, I'd learn from online videos. I can't count how many days and nights the strings tore up my hands, but because my determination was so strong, over time, I really did learn.
But actually, this world-famous piece was the only one I could play. I never imagined it would come in handy today.
"I saw Ava's face looked terrible, and I don't think she can play it at all. Why did you give her face? You should have just seen whether she could actually play it or not."
I smiled slightly. "There's no point arguing with her about this kind of thing. If we argue too, wouldn't that make us the same type of person as her? Knowing when to stop is enough."
Ivy's eyes were full of admiration for me. "Anyway, tonight was really satisfying. I'm going to tell Kaida later to stay away from Ava and not make friends with just anyone."
"No need. These things are all personal choices. What if your friend thinks Ava is a good person? We don't need to interfere."
"Sophia, you're just too kind."
I just smiled lightly, then said, "I want to leave. The second half is starting - you have fun with them."
"You're not staying with me?"
I shrugged. "It's not appropriate for me to stay at this kind of occasion anymore, and I don't want to either. You guys have fun."
Ivy understood me, so she didn't try to stop me. She said, "I'll have the driver take you home."
"Okay, thanks."
I got home half an hour later. I took off my shoes at the entrance, and as soon as I walked into the living room, I found Tyler sitting on the sofa.
I glanced at the clock on the wall - it was already ten-thirty at night.
"You're not asleep yet?"
"My wife isn't home yet - what am I sleeping for?"
I was starting to resist hearing him call me that, because I found it really fake.
"Where's Jasper?"
"I just finished reading him a story. He kept asking for you and even cried. I just got him to sleep."
Hearing this, a warm feeling rose in my heart. In my heart, Jasper was the only person who really mattered to me.
"I'm going upstairs to clean up."
Just as I was about to leave, Tyler suddenly spoke. "Tonight, you ran into Ava?"
My heart skipped a beat, and my tone was indifferent. "Yes, quite a coincidence. Didn't you ask her to look after me? Very thoughtful of you."
At these words, Tyler frowned. "That's what she told you?"
"Yes."
"Why did you come back so early?" Tyler asked again.
I was a bit tired. "I don't know anyone there. I left after the first half. Ivy is still there having fun."
Just then, Tyler's phone rang. He glanced at it but didn't answer.
I seemed to guess who it was, and said calmly, "If you have something to do, just go. Just don't wake Jasper when you come back."