After I Amazed the World the Cold Alpha Regretted

Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Aria's voice rang out, sharp and clear, cutting through the celebratory atmosphere like a knife.

The room fell into a stunned silence as all eyes turned to her.

"This competition was rigged!" she declared, her tone accusatory.

"Orlando Martin, one of the judges and Elizabeth's father, couldn't possibly be unbiased. She only won because of her connections! This entire competition is a sham!"

Murmurs rippled through the audience, disbelief and shock on every face.

The judges exchanged uneasy glances, unsure how to proceed.

The atmosphere that had been jubilant just moments before was now thick with tension.

But at this point I was the only one standing very calmly on the stage, as if I had known this was going to happen.

Before anyone could respond, a member of the competition's staff stepped forward, microphone in hand.

"In this connection, please allow me to introduce the rules of the competition," he began calmly, "in cases where a participant has a close relationship with a judge, that judge is required to abstain from scoring that participant. In this instance, Mr. Orlando Martin did not participate in the scoring of Miss Elizabeth Martin's performance. He recused himself to maintain fairness and transparency."

The staff member's explanation seemed to quell some of the murmurs, but Aria wasn't done.

She opened her mouth to argue further when suddenly, the large screen behind the stage flickered to life.

The audience gasped as security footage began to play.

There, on the screen, was Aria, instructing a staff member to swap out my sheet music.

handing over money and giving specific instructions

The evidence was undeniable,

as she turned to look at the screen, her bravado crumbling in an instant. The room erupted into chaos, with gasps and whispers filling the space as the truth came

that had been replaced with the

play from," I said, my voice steady despite

erupted into applause, admiration for my ability to play

minutes without the score.

the

we must disqualify

the first time in the history of this competition that such a penalty has been necessary. We uphold the integrity of our event and cannot allow

as Aria, her face a mask of shock and humiliation,

every

face, but there was no escaping the scandal that

it

15:35

World, the Cold

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Chapter #1

evidence,

host turned back to me, the

this time louder and

A

the trophy, its weight solid and reassuring in my hands, and turned

deafening as I held the trophy aloft,

found Orlando in the crowd, who was leading

him, knowing that this moment,

night of the Serevia International Piano Competition