Chapter 121 The Little Girl Didn't Let Him Down
"Sir, I'm sorry, this is the backstage dressing room. I'm going to have to ask you to—"
Before Veda could finish, she heard Isabella say, "He's here for me. It's fine, let him in."
Only then did Veda stop talking. She glanced at the man a few more times before turning to leave. "Ms. Taylor, if you need anything, just call me."
Isabella turned around and looked at him curiously. "William? What are you doing here?"
"Am I not allowed to come?" William's dark eyes fixed on Isabella. Through that mysterious mask, all he could see were her eyes.
Her starry eyes sparkled, so beautiful they were impossible to look away from.
Isabella lowered her voice. "Of course you can come, but I don't have time to entertain you today. I'm responsible for playing the piano."
"I don't need you to entertain me." William walked over. "Just came to see you."
Isabella didn't disappoint him, though.
She looked beautiful.
"Are you nervous? First time at an event like this," William asked.
Isabella sat up straight. "I'm okay. Even though there are a lot of people today, I won't be looking at the audience. I just need to do my part playing the piano."
William nodded with certainty.
Isabella had pretty good mental strength.
"By the way, William, will you be in the audience later? Did you buy a ticket?"
Just as Isabella asked this, the door was suddenly pushed open, and then Lawrence's voice came through.
"Isabella, are you ready—"
Lawrence's voice stopped abruptly the moment he saw William.
He paused.
He looked at William.
A second later, Lawrence finally found his voice again, looking at William with a surprised expression. "William?"
What was he doing here?
This was Isabella's dressing room.
Could it be...
Lawrence's gaze fell on Isabella. "Isabella, you know William?"
Isabella didn't deny it. "Yes, we do know each other."
Lawrence's eyes moved back and forth between Isabella and William, finding it stranger the more he looked.
William was known for being cold and distant. How could Isabella know William?
"I have something to do. I'm leaving." William gave Lawrence a cold, deep look and brushed past him as he left.
Lawrence was confused, but the performance was about to start.
"Isabella, let's go."
"Okay."
Isabella had already rehearsed with Lawrence beforehand, so she was fairly calm.
As the stage lights went out and came back on, Lawrence was already standing on stage. The whole venue erupted like it was on fire, with everyone cheering Lawrence's name. The shouting and celebration were loud enough to lift the roof off the entire concert hall.
Isabella was in a corner next to Lawrence. She sat properly at the piano, her mask covering her face, making her look mysterious and unfathomable from a distance.
The music started.
The audience stopped making noise in perfect sync.
Isabella had already heard Lawrence's singing voice beforehand.
They had even rehearsed together yesterday.
But the moment Lawrence opened his mouth, Isabella noticed something.
Lawrence's voice wasn't right.
It sounded rougher than his usual voice.
What was wrong with him?
Was his throat bothering him?
This subtle change didn't seem to affect the fans in attendance. They were absorbed in Lawrence's performance, humming along with the rhythm of the music.
Lawrence was good at interacting with fans, and the atmosphere both on and off stage was pleasant and lively.
But the intermission that was originally scheduled suddenly came half an hour early.
Isabella watched Lawrence's departing figure and followed him backstage.
"What's going on?" Ember asked urgently when she saw Lawrence again. "What's wrong with your voice? Didn't you rest well?"
"No, I..."
The moment Lawrence spoke, everyone present changed their expressions.
Because Lawrence's voice was extremely hoarse.
Lawrence's face looked terrible. "Ember, something's wrong with my throat."
He touched his throat. "It feels like there's a fire burning. I don't know what's happening. I started feeling this way after the first song ended, and it got stronger and stronger. I tried my best not to let the audience notice anything was wrong, but it's getting worse and worse now."
That's why he had signaled to arrange an early break.
Ember frowned warily. "Did you drink something?"
"I drank water before going on stage, but it was an unopened bottle of mineral water, and it was supplied by our own people..."
Before he could finish, Ember asked, "Where's the water? Let me see it."
Lawrence thought for a moment and brought out the half-empty bottle he had left in the break room.
Ember handed it to her assistant. "Get this tested."
Watching the assistant run off, Ember pressed her temples. "Those people's methods have always been this shameless."
This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. There was a previous incident where an internal staff member had switched Lawrence's water and added something to it. Lawrence had developed a fever before even going on stage...
Isabella was confused. "Ember, who did this?"
"Don't know. Could be haters, could be a rival company's doing."
Those haters were especially bold. So what if they were dealing with the Parker Family? They would stop at nothing to achieve their goals, with no regard for their own lives. Who knew why they could have such hatred for someone?
"What about the concert?" Lawrence said in his hoarse voice.
"You can't keep singing like this. The priority is to go to the hospital for a checkup. If something toxic was mixed into the water, it could even threaten your life."
"But what about the concert if I leave?"
Tickets to Lawrence's concert weren't cheap—$550 for regular seats, $1000 for VIP. If he left before even a third of the concert was over, the audience would go crazy.
"What's more important than your own health?" Ember gave stern instructions. "Dash, take Lawrence to the hospital right now for a checkup. We'll handle things here. Make sure the doctor understands the situation. If his voice can recover, he can still come back. If the doctor says the concert can't continue, report back to us immediately."
Dash immediately left with Lawrence.
The remaining staff looked at each other. "But what do we tell the fans with Lawrence gone?"
"Let me think, let me think..."
Ember paced back and forth, pressing her temples.
Isabella stepped forward. "I have an idea."
Ember looked at her. "What idea?"
"I can change the next songs to piano solos. That way we can at least keep the audience occupied. After all, we can't have no one on stage, or the place will explode."
Ember nodded. "That could work."
"But..."
"Isabella, a solo is different from accompaniment. Are you sure you can handle performing entire songs on piano by yourself?"
After all, theoretically speaking, accompaniment was less difficult than solo performance. Solos required more complex fingering and playing techniques. A pianist who was good at accompaniment wasn't necessarily good at solos.