Your Guise Is Slipping, Miss Pearl

Mobius’ face turned livid. He clutched Richard’s arm and complained, “Listen to how righteous she tries to sound about spending other people’s money. And all the stuff she bought is for her. She didn’t buy a single thing for Hanz!” Pearl rolled her eyes at Mobius’ complaints. Night fell. After dinner, Pearl put on a simple one-piece dress and went to the concert with everyone. Their seats were in the second row, and Abby occupied the seat beside Richard. Unconcerned, Pearl sat beside Sean. Soon, the concert started and Hanzel stepped onto the stage dressed in a black suit. As a top celebrity, he truly was handsome. The fans started cheering, and Pearl grimaced at the blaring noises attacking her ears. For the next hour, Hanzel sang many songs. Following that was a special segment. The emcee came onto the stage and announced, “Today is the tenth anniversary of Hanzel’s debut, so we have a surprise for you. We’re going to pick one lucky fan to come up here and sing with Hanzel!” The audience burst into thunderous applause, and the fans screamed excitedly. The numbers on the big screen started flashing and finally stopped at number twenty-six. The fans that did not get chosen sighed sadly but soon grew curious about who was sitting in seat twenty-six. Sean suddenly exclaimed, “Holy cow! Pearl, you’re twenty-six!” Pearl was stunned. The emcee said, “Let’s welcome fan no. twenty-six onstage!” Pearl narrowed her eyes and knew there were no such coincidences. She glanced at the people beside her and saw Abby’s gloating expression. Pearl then understood that someone wanted to see her make a fool of herself. But having no choice, she slowly went to the stage. Hanzel was shocked when he saw the chosen fan. It turned out to be Pearl. The emcee smiled and asked, “Wow, you’re so pretty, miss. May I know your name please?” “Pearl Leighton,” she answered nonchalantly. Her statement shocked the audience. Pearl? She was the one who had a marriage contract with the Waldorfs, right? And surprisingly, she was beautiful. More than half the audience were Hanzel’s female fans who saw him as their boyfriend. They started discussing this and looked at Pearl enviously. “Okay, we’re going to cover Goodnight by Nancie. You’ve heard of it, yes, Miss Pearl? You only need to sing the chorus with me.” Nancie was a famous but also mysterious female singer. No one knew what she looked like, but her music was popular all over the world. When the emcee handed Pearl a microphone, she pursed her lips and said, “Yes, I know that song, but I’m a poor singer. I’m sorry.” The audience started jeering. “Get off the stage! How embarrassing! Why do the Waldorfs fancy you when you can’t even sing?” “Yeah, don’t stand there with my prince charming. You’re embarrassing.” “Get the f*ck off the stage!” Pearl narrowed her eyes. She knew that the person who wanted to see her embarrass herself must be having a great time. And she just loved proving others wrong. She took the microphone from the emcee and said calmly while looking at Hanzel, “I can’t sing but I can play the accompanying tune.” The accompaniment for this song was played on the piano. Hanzel looked at her doubtfully. ‘She can’t sing but wants to play the piano? Is she pulling my leg?’