Chapter 24 The Performance, a Bewitching Melody

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Chapter 24 The Performance, a Bewitching Melody

Everyone turned to look. It was Lena, the person in charge of Velora Atelier.

Although Lena was already in her thirties, she was immactely maintained, draped in a long ck dress that exuded charm.

But what trulymanded fear and respect was the power behind her. The Velora Atelier.

The guests were bewildered.

Why iwas /iiLena /iihelping /iiSloane/ii? /iiCould /iiit /iibe /iibecause /iiof /iiLucas/ii? /i

Lena held the zither delicately. “My zither is iat /iMs. Rivers’s disposal.”

The others might not know, but the Rivers family did. Lena and Sloane knew each other.

Samantha’s heart started to waver.

Could it ibe/i… iSloane /iiactually /iicould /iiy /iithe /iizither/ii? /i

“Thank you,” Sloane said, epting the instrument and setting it atop the table.

She turned her head slightly and asked Samantha, “You want to stay here and watch me y?”

In ancient times, only maids stood by to attend ady ying the zither.

Sloane’s meaning was obvious. She was treating Samantha like a servant.

Samantha’s face turned cold. She turned and stomped off the stage, returning to stand stiffly by Helen.

Helen lowered her voice and scolded, “Sammy, this is outrageous. If Sloane embarrasses herself, she’s dragging down the whole Rivers family!”

Sloane ced her slender hands gently on the zither, her fingertips gliding across the strings, testing the sound with a few clear, bright notes.

O

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Chapter 24 The Performance, a Bewitching Melody

Then her expression sharpened, and she began to y in earnest.

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At first, the music was soft and flowing, like the murmuring of a stream, spreading tranquility through the hall.

Gradually, the melody intensified, gaining momentum, like the thunderous charge of a thousand horses, every note filled with a shocking force that struck straight into the soul.

It was as if war drums were pounding right beside their ears.

Upstairs, the instant the melody shifted, Lucas’s expression changed. He immediately covered his ears and shouted to Benjamin and the others, “Don’t listen to the music!”

But it was toote.

The guests had already been ensnared by the powerful, seductive music, their souls seeming to drift away, making them unable to hear Lucas’s cries.

Their eyes grew zed, their faces twisted into expressions of terror or ecstasy, as if they truly stood upon a battlefield of life and death.

Some guests swung their arms wildly, fighting unseen enemies; others clutched their heads and tried to flee, mouths screaming incoherently, yet their bodies moved in strange, jerky spasms.

The banquet hall descended into utter chaos. The once–elegant atmosphere waspletely destroyed.

The Rivers family was no exception.

Marshall stared, wide–eyed and disbelieving, his body swaying helplessly to the phantom rhythms. Helen and Samantha clung tightly to each other, trembling uncontrobly, their eyes filled with horror, yet they could not break free from the illusion.

Mason’s eyes were bloodshot with madness.

He roared, “Lucas, go to hell!”

At that instant, the music stopped abruptly. And in the blink of an eye, Lucas

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Chapter 24 The Performance, a Bewitching Melody

vanished from right before Mason’s eyes.

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The guests staggered out of the hallucination, staring around at the wreckage in shock and terror.

Mason was still frozen in mid–lunge, the dagger in his hand poised to strike. Realizing what he had just shouted, cold sweat poured down his back.

“You demon!” Shane’s voice trembled with fear as he pointed at Sloane, “What did you do to us?”

The others red at Sloane with a mixture of fear and hatred.

Sloane only shrugged innocently. “I just yed a song. What else could I possibly have done?”

Then she tilted her head slightly, her tone growing sly and mischievous, “My master once said, ordinary people who hear this piece will feel as if they’re transported into another world. But those with wicked hearts, they’ll have their darkest desires exposed and fall into madness.”

She turned her gaze onto Shane, her smile sweet yet sinister. “So, tell me… What exactly did you see?”

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