Let’s start all over again,shall we?

Chapter 278 Yearning for a Kiss

Once Maggie wrapped up her performance, her eyes were teary.

Not because of anything else but because tragedies tend to hit close to home.

She couldn’t shake off memories of her past life with Nathael and the lingering what–ifs of this one.

Mixing up feelings of relictance, excitement, and a dash of sweetness, it all boiled down to a sad soup.

Grace was dabbing her eyes back in the dressing room, and even Danielle seemed a bit misty–eyed.

“Maggie, you nailed it out there. I’m so moved, I could cry, Grace chimed in.

Danielle nodded along, adding, “Seriously, you aced it. You’re gonna get top marks for sure.”

“Thanks, Ms. Joyton, thanks, Grace. I’ll catch you guys in the audience seats later, Maggie murmured sofily.

“Sure thing. Once they announce the scores, you can bounce if you’ve got stuff to do,” Grace replied.

Sierra stayed quiet, her gaze fixed on Nathael’s Twitter feed, lost in her world.

Before they realised it, Maggie was next, ready to face the judges‘ feedback.

With a grin, the host piped up, “Any guesses on your score, Maggie?”

Maggie said, “Well, what do you think, Mr. Surrez?”

“If it were up to me, I’d toss you an eleven, with an extra point just to boost your ego,” the host quipped

back.

The room erupted in laughter, and Maggie couldn’t help but smile too.

The camera shifted to the judges below the stage, capturing their mixed reactions. Some showered her praise, while a couple seemed to find faults in every nook and cranny.

Maggie glanced at the two critics, recalling their lukewarm feedback from the first round, It felt like one of them had a bone to pick with the Pierces, and the other might’ve had some ties she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

boiled down to Sierra.

feedback on Sierra. Despite a few subtle hints for improvement,

the roof, both inside and outside the venue,” the host exclaimed, peering at the latest stats with a

Bagging the top spot in the group and sailing straight through to the

bow, Maggie eagerly awaited the host’s rundown of the votes for the other

for a

to duke it out with their

exited from the stage, only to bump into Sierra backstage, who seemed to be

Maggie a cold glare, her hand clenched tightly at her side. “Don’t go

with a casual smile, her tone light. “Ah well, gotta give credit where it’s due. Thanks to my

left Sierra fuming, feeling like she was punching cotton, unable to

across.

you can, Maggie. But mark my words, I’m gonna come out on top! The championship trophy is

stayed quiet, but in her mind, she couldn’t shake off thoughts of the two judges up there who seemed friendly with the Pierces. Seeing Sierra’s unwavering confidence, it all clicked

like the Pierces and the Camerons had teamed up, hell–bent on

Maggie, she couldn’t help but dive deeper

She wondered if the supposedly random song selections in the competition could be rigged, hiding some sneaky tricks up

Sierra, she swiftly dialed

greeted as he

the song selection for the university competition? Particularly, see if there’s anything shady

get on it ASAP, Lucas

been keeping tabs on the competition, Lucas wasted no time.

were onto something, sis. It looks like most folks‘ songs are randomly picked, but is it yours? Not so much. Here’s the proof,” he explained, sending a code snippet to Maggie’s

understanding why she got stuck with one of the most

she asked,

was preselected. She’s got ‘Waltz in G Major,” Lucas

“Help her get rid of that

a similar piece for her? That way, she gets to feel what

Yearning for

nodded in agreement. If the competition wasn’t playing fair, they had no reason to

who had previously been on edge, now seemed confident, probably thanks to mastering the

waltz.

had been honing in on perfecting just one, undoubtedly making her

it was time to bring her down a