Chapter 862
Kelly could no longer play the violin. Nearly the entire world had abandoned her, while Sharon stood radiant beneath the lights, basking in glory. How could Kelly not hate her? (1)
The whispers around her stung even more-praise for Sharon, and worse, comparisons to herself.
“Maestro Warner must be sick with regret. He foolishly took Kelly as his final student, and she almost ruined his entire career.”
“What was he thinking? To ignore a genius like Sharon and instead choose that liar, Kelly?”
“Maybe Warner himself isn’t any better. Look at his student, Harry-you can tell what kind of man Warner is.”
“I heard Sharon is Carter Biggs’s ex-wife. Imagine giving up a wife so beautiful and talented, only to tangle himself with Kelly. Was he blind?”
“You don’t get it. To a scumbag, even filth outside smells sweet.
“For a fraud like Kelly, he divorced Sharon? Carter must be losing his mind with regret.”
Kelly bit her lip until it nearly bled. She wanted nothing more than to storm the stage and kill Sharon on the spot.
Her hand had been destroyed. The world had abandoned her. And now her mind was twisted. She could not bear to see others living better than herself.
If not for the fact that, when Johanna’s people came to take her, she had sensed something wrong and
secretly sent a message to Nate-who rushed to save her in time-her face would have been ruined as
well.
She hated Sharon.
She hated Carter.
She hated Warner.
She hated everyone.
But above all, she hated Johanna.
Against a pampered heiress like Johanna, Kelly could only resort to underhanded tricks in the shadows. Yet Johanna had struck at her openly, without hesitation.
Since Johanna had ruined her, she would never let Johanna go unpunished.
As for Sharon… once she finished with Johanna, she would deal with her.
1/2
Her gaze dropped to the small bottle hidden in her hand.
Inside it sloshed a full vial of concentrated sulfuric acid.
Johanna had destroyed her hands. Now, she would destroy Johanna’s face.
This was Amstern City. The Walton family’s reach did not extend this far.
At worst, she would stay here forever and never leave the country.
Sharon’s performance was an unprecedented triumph.
Even she had not expected her concert to go so smoothly.
Backstage after the curtain call, she hugged Wendy, who had lost weight over the past weeks.
“Wendy, you’ve worked so hard.”
Wendy teased her with a laugh. “We’re besties, what’s all this about hard work? It’s not like you don’t pay
me.’
”
Sharon smiled. “Then I’ll raise your cut by another ten percent.”
Wendy blinked, startled, and quickly shook her head.
“Sharon, what you already give me is more than enough. I don’t want more. How could I take more than you, when you’re the one exhausting yourself on stage?”
As Sharon’s agent, Wendy handled everything personally.
At first, Sharon had wanted to split profits fifty-fifty. Wendy had flatly refused, saying the cost of running the studio was already high, and with such a division, she would end up making more than Sharon, despite doing less.
Sharon still had to pay employees, cover salaries, buy instruments-that alone took nearly thirty percent of her income.
Wendy had only wanted ten percent. But under Sharon’s insistence, she settled for twenty. Later, Sharon raised it again to thirty.
Any higher, and it would make Sharon’s work thankless.
As the two women spoke, John and Casey entered. Both wore faint smiles, their expressions relaxed and happy.
2/2
