"So that's what it is." Daisy instantly understood the reason behind Jovana Shaw's actions. She paused for a moment, then added, "Aurelia's father is not a good father."

Caspian didn't know what he was thinking of; he was momentarily stunned, then let out a bitter laugh.

The performance on stage struck its final note, and the entire hall erupted in thunderous applause.

Daisy asked Caspian, "Do you want to go down and say hi to Aurelia?"

Caspian gazed at the stunning, dazzling girl on stage. He said nothing, leaving his thoughts unreadable.

Daisy shrugged helplessly and chose not to bother him. She watched as Aurelia handed the microphone to the host and walked off the stage.

As she passed by Jovana Shaw, Aurelia's steps halted, and a slight smile curled on her lips.

"There was one thing you said that was right." She lowered her gaze to her own hand. "Even after all these years of not touching the piano, I still play better than you."

Her voice was very soft, only loud enough for the two of them to hear. To onlookers, it simply looked like Aurelia had politely nodded to Jovana in passing—making everyone's favorable impression of her rise even further in that instant.

Meanwhile, their contempt for Jovana's self-inflicted misfortune also grew stronger.

Jovana had no idea her reputation was already in ruins. A surge of anger burned in her chest; how dare Aurelia say something like that to her in front of so many people? She was determined to report this to the journalists—she would tear off Aurelia's mask, no matter what.

She stormed backstage, hunting for a reporter, but was suddenly stopped by a group of girls.

Leading them was none other than Emma Clarke—Aurelia's number one fan from her own support club.

Emma was also a student at Q City High, and had witnessed the whole scene backstage. Someone had the nerve to set up her Queen right in front of her eyes. As a die-hard fan, she absolutely could not let that slide.

Emma's tone was still rather calm. "You, come have a talk with me."

"What—what do you want?" Panic appeared on Jovana's face. She trembled as she backed away, catching sight of several boys nearby from the corner of her eye. Adjusting her stance, she made sure the boys could see her pretty, anxious-looking face.

"What do we want?" Emma sneered. "You really don't know what you've done? A bastard child brazenly moving into the real daughter's home ought to keep her head down, not act all arrogant—and now you're trying to ruin our Queen's reputation?"

"I didn't," Jovana cried, shaking her head as tears welled up and spilled from her eyes. Hair tousled, she bit her lower lip hard, looking like she was furious but didn't dare speak up.

If all that hadn't happened before, the boys nearby might really have stepped out to defend her.

But now, if they spoke up for her, it'd be going up against their own parents.

Anyone with a bit of money still had to depend on their family for allowance; who dared risk openly pissing off their mom and dad?

Jovana bit her lip, her tearful gaze darting desperately around, not expecting things to turn out like this.

This trick had always worked for her—why wasn't it working today?

Every time it had anything to do with Aurelia, something unexpected always happened. That damned bitch! She truly hated her.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what I did to upset you. I'm so sorry, really, please, don't be mad at me, okay? We're all classmates—can't we just get along?"

Big tears rolled down Jovana's cheeks. Her eyes were red like a rabbit's, and she'd bitten her lower lip so hard it bled.