Chapter 24 The Miscarriage Incident
"...Yes, I'm with her right now. I'll take her there myself in a bit." Following the sound of footsteps, Jeffrey knocked and walked in.
With just one glance, Jeffrey froze.
"Are you... Amelia?"
Jeffrey's words carried hesitation and doubt.
You couldn't blame him - she had lost a lot of weight, was wearing a mask, and in this outfit, she was breathtakingly beautiful.
Even if Mia were standing here, she might not recognize this was Amelia!
Amelia turned around, and seeing Jeffrey's reaction, she nodded helplessly.
"It's me." Amelia responded, "Let's go."
Jeffrey nodded woodenly, his heart racing.
Amelia had been beautiful before, but now she was stunningly gorgeous.
It's just that her former beauty was gentle, while her current beauty was more aggressive.
Half a beat slow, he grabbed a long coat from the side and draped it over Amelia.
Jeffrey helped Amelia out, and they got into the van.
A makeup artist was already waiting in the car to do the finishing touches - applying nail tips, selecting high heels, and other decorative details.
The car started, heading toward the "Voice of Heaven" broadcast venue.
At the same time, another car was heading in the same direction.
In that car was Isabella.
Isabella was directing the makeup artist to make her look fragile and delicate while calling William.
"William, it's me, Isabella." Isabella said with a smile, "Yes, today is the first live broadcast. You must come to the venue later. I saved you a seat."
"Yes, they're only taking care of me because of you, William."
"William, I understand how good you've been to me. I'll perform well."
After hanging up, Isabella sent a message to someone.
[William will be there today. Get the follow-up materials and positions ready.]
Getting an [OK] reply, Isabella's face showed a satisfied smile.
...
Shadow City, "Voice of Heaven" broadcast venue.
Amelia waited backstage with the others.
Following a commotion, Amelia saw Isabella walking over with her assistant.
Everyone present was a singer being promoted by various companies, so the companies had all warned their contestants that Isabella couldn't be crossed.
So now, as she entered, everyone present stood up to greet her.
"Ms. Taylor!"
"Ms. Taylor!"
"Hello, Ms. Taylor."
Amelia, wrapped in her long coat, stood calmly at the back of the crowd, watching it all.
She had understood the ways of the industry many years ago.
This time, Isabella was backed by Shadow City giant the Brown Group, even backed by the Brown Group's CEO William, so naturally everyone gave her respect.
However, she didn't care to greet Isabella.
Amelia didn't speak, just stood up and walked out, avoiding this scene.
Isabella warmly returned greetings to everyone who greeted her. Finally, she glanced in the direction Amelia had left.
Her eyes flickered slightly. She had reviewed the information on all 12 contestants and was clear about 11 of them, except for this one called "Lika."
The Adams Group's top promoted singer, with confidential information.
Even when she used the Brown Group's name to pressure them, the staff didn't provide the information.
The staff also said this was an artist Jeffrey personally handled, with information held by the Adams Group, and they as regular staff didn't know the details either.
Isabella had just glanced at that person and had no impression of her. She must not be someone she knew.
She seemed quite proud - was she Jeffrey's mistress?
But it didn't matter. She had dealt with William's wife Amelia so thoroughly, let alone Jeffrey's mistress.
Thinking this, Isabella didn't take this person seriously.
On the other side, Amelia was checking the stage setup.
"Voice of Heaven" had 12 contestants, 3 judges, and a 5-round format, with one week between each round.
The show used live broadcasting first, then edited the highlights from the live content for production and release.
Both types of audiences could be accommodated.
Today was the first live broadcast, mainly for the judges and contestants to appear and choose teams.
The 12 contestants would be divided among the 3 judges' teams.
One judge was Isabella, and the other two were well-known professional singers in the music industry.
Amelia carefully walked through her positions on stage.
There had been rehearsals before, but she had been too weak physically at the time, so she had only watched remotely and gotten a general idea. Even other coordination had been done through remote communication.
There had been rumors before about Lika acting like a diva, but Jeffrey had settled it internally with senior management using a medical record with the name removed.
It seemed to say there had been a serious accident ten days ago.
Looking closely now, the staff could still see bruises on "Lika" that weren't completely covered by foundation.
This was indeed an injury-related absence, so there was no diva behavior after all.
Amelia noticed the staff's probing looks, but she didn't know what it was about, so she ignored it and just examined things carefully.
After a while, a commotion came, and Amelia instinctively looked up.
Then she saw William.
"It really is Mr. Brown!"
"Didn't they say William doesn't usually come to these kinds of events?"
"Look who the judge is."
"I get it, he must be here for Isabella."
"Of course, although the Brown Group is involved in entertainment, it's in other areas. Their main business is high-tech. Look at all the judges and contestants here - besides Isabella, who else could make William come?"
"So the online rumors about Isabella and William are true?"
"Most likely."
"But doesn't William have a wife?"
"Isn't this situation pretty common among rich people? Plus Isabella is dying soon. I bet that Amelia just turns a blind eye. And I think Isabella is better than Amelia. Amelia has no backbone at all. She can tolerate this - probably can't bear to give up the Brown family's money."
"I think so too. If my boyfriend found another woman, I'd dump him, let alone in this situation. Women who can't be independent deserve it."
"What are you talking about?" Jeffrey walked over from the side, looking displeased. "Don't you know you can't gossip randomly?"
The gossipers immediately shrank back.
Jeffrey walked over and looked at Amelia with concern.
With so many people around, Jeffrey couldn't say much, just signaled with his eyes.
Amelia smiled and gently shook her head.
She had long made up her mind not to want William anymore. What did she care about a little gossip?
"I found someone to go over the details with you again. They're in the back. Let's go now." Jeffrey said.
Amelia nodded and followed Jeffrey toward the backstage.
On the other side, Isabella had reached William's side.
"William!" Isabella called to him with a smile.
William nodded in acknowledgment. When he looked up, he just saw Jeffrey protecting a woman in a long coat heading backstage. He saw a back view.
Isabella followed William's line of sight, then smiled and said, "That's Lika."
"The mysterious contestant I mentioned to you before, William. I suspect she's Jeffrey's mistress."
William raised an eyebrow at her.
Isabella explained: "She missed rehearsal a couple days ago. Some people made a fuss saying Lika was acting like a diva. Later Jeffrey submitted a medical record internally. Ten days ago, Lika had an accident and literally couldn't get out of bed during rehearsal."
"I didn't think much of it before, but I just learned some top-secret information."
Isabella smiled mysteriously and said, "The accident ten days ago was a miscarriage."