The Ex-Wife's Burning Elegance

In the very same second, half a million new viewers surged in. The numbers were odd-suspiciously so.

Howard asked, "Are those bots?"

The tech guy shook his head. "No, they're all verified accounts. But the timing is a bit fishy. It looks like someone's trying to manipulate the stats."

Howard's frown deepened. He hated fake numbers; it was unfair to everyone else. "Do we have any solid evidence?" he pressed.

If they did, Howard couldn't disqualify Rachel outright, but he could definitely cut down her camera time, maybe even remove her from the highlight reel altogether.

The tech shook his head again. "Nothing concrete for now. We'll need to keep monitoring. It's too soon to make a call."

Howard nodded. "Alright. Keep an eye on it."

Meanwhile, out front, the host was wrapping up Rachel's interview.

Next up was the judges' scoring round.

Both Stella and Rachel were called back onto the stage.

our judges to

violinists-well-respected, though not as internationally renowned as someone like Rena. Still, for a national contest, inviting foreign judges

comments and serve as

among themselves for a few moments, before jotting down their scores. Of the ten judges, nine gave a perfect ten. Only one judge gave a

a

scored mostly eights, with her highest

a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I was worried the judges might

himself a

job is to be objective and fair, not to

back everyone's extra canter

now.

is

Venet

Besides, when it came international competitions, no one

like Rachel's tricks only worked on Haynes and Jasper- not on the savvy audience. Goes to show,

"Still, that persona she's built? It'll attract a lot of attention- maybe even more