Chapter 144 Shattering the Mask
Jeffrey looked at Zaid standing before him, and suddenly, he smiled.
His smile left Zaid completely baffled.
"Zaid, you know what," Jeffrey suddenly spoke, his voice carrying a rare calmness for someone with his hot temper. "You and Beck overestimated me, but underestimated Lika."
Zaid looked like he'd just heard the joke of the century.
He leaned against the wall, laughing so hard he could barely stand straight.
"Jeffrey, what are you talking about?" Zaid thought back to what they'd done these past few days.
After the fourth livestream, he and Isabella had a falling out.
But later Isabella showed her sincerity and demonstrated her ability to make a big deal out of Lika's donation fraud, so Zaid made up with her again.
And he agreed to let Isabella handle things on the Adams family's side.
"Still making a last-ditch effort?" Zaid's mind raced. "That day at the Adams Villa, if it weren't for William's compensation and Otis stepping in, you would've had no choice but to make Lika withdraw from the competition."
"These past few days, with Beck and me watching, there's no way you could've tampered with that auction list to clear Lika's name. Even if you made up the donation afterward, we have ways to make your reputation even worse."
Zaid stared hard at Jeffrey, but Jeffrey just looked back at him with a half-smile.
He suddenly had a strange feeling.
Although Jeffrey hadn't said anything, he felt uneasy.
Zaid kept thinking back.
He looked at Lika on stage, then at Jeffrey in front of him.
"Lika's reputation online is already completely ruined. Setting aside the sex-for-favors allegations, as long as the donation fraud is confirmed, there's absolutely no way she can make a comeback."
"These past few days, I know your people have tried to clean up her negative press, but it's been completely useless."
Zaid could hear his own heartbeat.
"Could it be she didn't commit donation fraud?" Zaid suddenly doubted himself, but immediately dismissed the thought.
That charity auction dinner was hosted by the Adams family. Although they were having internal conflicts, when it came to verifying the auction, he and Beck had worked together. Jeffrey could only keep them from knowing Lika's identity, but nothing else—a small fry like Jeffrey didn't have enough power to hide things from both of them at the same time.
Lika's paddle number definitely hadn't purchased any items or made any donations. He was certain of that.
So what was going on?
Was Jeffrey just bluffing?
After thinking through everything, Zaid felt reassured and laughed scornfully. "Jeffrey, I think you've really lost it. Still hoping for a miracle to happen."
"Think about it yourself." Jeffrey shrugged, turning his gaze back to Lika on stage.
His job was just to keep Zaid under control.
Jeffrey smiled. "Maybe there really will be a miracle."
...
Backstage, watching Lika's performance, everyone had different expressions.
People hadn't forgotten about Eloise threatening Lika here earlier.
Among all the people who came to record the show, as long as they were legitimate contestants and guests, except for Isabella, they all understood music. Even the host knew something about it.
Of course, everyone assumed Isabella understood music too.
Now, after seeing Lika's stage performance, everyone looked at each other, and some even stole glances at Eloise.
Eloise gritted her teeth, but held her head high. She sat there, not backing down at all.
With such a huge wave of online boycotts right now, so what if the stage performance was really good? She'd still face being blacklisted!
But no matter how confident Eloise was, a corner of her heart couldn't help but feel relieved that Lika was caught up in donation fraud rumors and couldn't make a comeback.
...
On stage.
Lika's performance continued.
Her powerful dance kept changing styles, like a sculpture that had just come to life, trying out various artistic styles.
Artistic, chaotic—it seemed to have all kinds of styles.
As her singing continued, finally, this sculpture seemed to make some kind of decision.
She held the carving knife in her hand and pointed it at her face.
This was also the last part of her body that still had plaster on it—the only part left uncarved.
In that instant, she captured everyone's attention.
The question of who Lika really was had been sparking discussion since a month ago.
The Sound of Heaven was for up-and-coming singers, with "up-and-coming" defined by age—maximum 25 years old.
People had made lists and guesses before.
Especially after the third episode's stage performance went viral, countless eyes focused on Lika.
But people searched through all singers 25 and under and couldn't seem to find such a powerful singer.
Among singers 25 and under, her musical talent was exceptional, her stage aesthetics were top-notch. Even though the fourth episode revealed royal family insider information, she could still crush the rumors with her ability.
Now, this mysterious Lika was pointing that knife-shaped microphone at her own mask.
Those who had just been loudly shouting "Boycott Lika" now unconsciously stopped and stared blankly at the plaster woman on stage.
A crisp sound rang out.
The sound of the carving knife.
Then everyone saw the piece of plaster on the woman's chin slowly fall away, revealing the woman's red lips.
Only then did those who had been holding their breath start breathing again.
At the judges' table, Isabella clenched her hands.
She didn't understand—what was Lika trying to do?
Even if she revealed her face, what difference would it make?
She had gone over it with Zaid countless times these past few days—that day, Lika's paddle number had no record whatsoever!
They had even calculated extreme scenarios.
Since Jeffrey had won an item that day, they considered the possibility of Jeffrey and Lika getting married.
Counting it as marital property.
Later Zaid had tested Oliver many times and confirmed that Jeffrey wasn't married yet.
And even if they got married recently, they could claim it was a fake marriage to avoid the controversy.
Isabella's phone vibrated.
She looked down, sneaking a glance at her phone under the table.
It was a message from Zaid.
Zaid: I feel like something's off. What is Lika trying to do? Should we stop her?
Isabella: Who cares what she's doing? We'll stick to our plan. This time, she has no chance of making a comeback!
Zaid: But I still feel...
Isabella: You don't trust me?
Zaid: It's not that, I just feel very uneasy, extremely uneasy.
Just as Isabella was about to reply, her eyes swept across William in the audience.
William was frowning as he watched Lika on stage.
He felt that sense of familiarity again.
The familiarity he'd felt when he first met Lika.
Who was she really?
Another sound of the carving knife rang out.
Lika pointed the microphone at her forehead, and after an invisible wind blew past, the woman's forehead was also revealed.
Now, only the plaster from her eyebrows to the tip of her nose remained.