Chapter One Hundred and Fifty Nine

****

It’s finally your time, he told her, making her nod.

Trisha pouted a little. She has watched, practiced and then watched again. She planned slowly.

Now it is finally her turn.

What was I supposed to do? She asked.

Play on the stage, he said coldly and then leave the rest with us. Perform and win. You will be going up against someone who isn’t up to your par so you can meet Matt in the finals.

Do you understand? Yes, I do, she said vexed.

She was still unable to get through to the preparator behind all these arrangements. The time they choose to shake them is so impeccable it makes her squirm.

If only she could meet with the person who created all this, it would have been better than this minion without manners. She stormed off into her room,

And he finally made the call, she won’t cause trouble as you said.

I have her monitored.

Yes, sir, I gave her all the instructions. All we need to do is wait for her tomorrow.

Noted sir.

****

Ahn hung the call abruptly when Fiona came inside his office.

I can come back if you are busy, she said to him. No, I am not busy so please come in, he said grinning.

You’ve been acting sneaky on the phone lately, got a girl for yourself, she teased.

You are the only woman in my life right now, why are you asking? You are jealous, he pointed out.

Ahh… she rolled her eyes up and prayed for patience. I was thinking of stuffing your face in the dirt after the stunt you pulled earlier on the stage but then you already did yourself so I will let you pass.

You are back to irking him by using me. What can I say? I am so charming no one could resist me. It makes me think how cold your heart is to be able to resist such handsomeness, he exaggerated making her laugh.

The tension she had been feeling relapsed a bit but his next words brought it back up.

I heard you had a visitor this afternoon, he said straightforwardly.

How do you… there is a camera that shows footage of everything on the campus and it is connected to my office.

You see that, he said to her, I can see all that is happening.

I saw Max too chatting with some people but their faces weren’t visible. More like they knew the exact location of the camera, he said to her with a raised eyebrow.

Oh! Fiona sighed relieved. They were old friends, she said.

Okay, he nodded. You don’t know how to lie though, if Ama is an old acquaintance of yours I need to check your criminal records then.

Okay! What!.... You knew her.

That I do, she is too famous not to know. The number one child trafficker in New Zealand she has quite a reputation.

What were you doing with her? He asked.

She was my nightmare. Turner and I were victims of hers before. Oh! The one who kidnapped you.

She works for Xavier, and so does Maxwell. I guess she came because Max wanted out, he thought loudly.

What? Fiona said in surprise. You knew, she furrowed.

It’s not what you think, Ahn raised his hand up.

I saw the news so I pieced it all together, he said quickly when Fiona gave him a threatening glance.

Fiona relaxed a bit but still looked at him suspiciously.

Stop looking at me like that, he grinned at her. Sit down so we can talk about tomorrow, he said.

We need to make a draw, she said to him. Let the pianist pick a name themselves and whoever they choose was their luck which is transparent enough.

Alright, but I want Gifted Hands and Roxane competing tomorrow. I heard they hit it off on a bad note, let’s watch the fun a little.

You would because of your gossip match two people together.

When he looked at her with those pleading eyes.

Fine, she held up her hand. Just do as you please, she said.

****

Alright, you are up with Roxane, he said to her. Who is this Roxane? Trisha asked. She never heard of her before.

She came up some months ago, her fame shot up because of the influence her management company pushed her.

Because of this, she was rude to Gifted Hands at a summit last year. The news blew out of proportion.

They are sworn enemies but she is highly inferior to you as well as her, so know how you will behave.

Alright, I know what to do. She seems cocky, Trisha thought. Trisha’s talent for manipulating people came into play as she thought of how to change the situation into what she wanted. Given that she smiled placidly to her instructor then strutt away.