Marrying His Nemesis: Kicking My Scumbag Fiancé Away!-Chapter 86: Serves You Right!

"You!"

Julia Chamberlain was furious and took a step forward, ready to lash out.

Just then, a staff member walked by, frowned, and coughed.

"Please remain quiet, everyone. Don’t disturb the contestants!"

Julia Chamberlain glared at Claire Clayton with resentment and stepped aside.

Claire chuckled lightly and pulled Seraphina Thorne to the side.

"By the way... why haven’t I seen President Sterling?"

"Oh..." The mention of Ethan Sterling made Seraphina’s smile fade, "He had an emergency at the company and went on a business trip. He won’t be back today."

"No worries, no worries." Claire quickly comforted her, "With your ability, you can perform well even without President Sterling being present."

Seraphina nodded gently, "I’ll take your kind words to heart!"

The contestants’ order was arranged in reverse based on their selection scores; Julia Chamberlain scored second, performing just before Seraphina Thorne.

After the other contestants finished their performances, Julia, in a white dress, lifted her skirt and walked onto the stage.

This time, she again chose a classic piece by Paganini as her competition piece.

This piece was the very piece Chloe Foster had recommended to her.

At the end of her performance, the judges scored, and the host loudly announced.

"Contestant No. 2, Julia Chamberlain, scored 98 points."

The audience erupted into applause.

This score clearly exceeded Julia’s expectations.

A look of barely contained excitement spread across her exquisitely made-up face.

Holding her violin, she walked down from the performance stage.

Seeing Seraphina waiting at the backstage entrance, Julia raised her chin and walked past Seraphina proudly.

"Next is the final contestant, Contestant No. 1, Seraphina Thorne, please come to the stage!"

Amidst the applause from the judges and audience, Seraphina slowly walked onto the stage and bowed.

"My competition piece is ’Zigeunerweisen.’"

After bowing to the audience, she turned her face towards the conductor of the orchestra performing with her and nodded lightly, indicating she was ready.

This was the piece she had loved and mastered the most since childhood.

Taking a deep breath, Seraphina placed the violin on her shoulder, prepared herself, and began to play earnestly.

The judges, remembering this top-scoring contestant from the preliminaries, were deeply impressed.

Seeing her appear, they all smiled.

This included the chief judge, Professor David.

On stage, Seraphina stood at the front of the orchestra, wearing a bright red gown.

The music flowed, touching every heartstring.

Most contestants, to earn high scores, would choose a style similar to their preliminary selection.

For example, Julia Chamberlain.

Such choices were safer, as the first impression lingered with the judges.

Seraphina’s piece was completely different from her preliminary style.

Not only did it showcase her broader skills, but it also demonstrated her performance ability and mastery of different musical styles.

The judges nodded in agreement, appreciating not just her performance but also her courage.

Chloe Foster, sitting in the audience, watched the figure on stage from a distance, her eyes showing a hint of amazement.

Seraphina’s performance completely exceeded her expectations.

Even she had to admit that in terms of musical expressiveness, Seraphina was indeed above her.

The performance ended.

The audience erupted into thunderous applause.

Seraphina bowed, and the judges started to score.

"Contestant No. 1, Seraphina Thorne’s final score is..." The host announced each score, "The first judge, 100 points..."

Hearing this score, the audience went wild.

Ivy Langley, in the stands, had already stood up excitedly, clapping hard for her.

"The second judge’s score, 100 points!"

...

Nine consecutive judges, all without exception, gave full marks.

With each score the host announced, the audience burst into applause.

"Now I announce, Contestant No. 1, Seraphina Thorne’s final score—100 points!"

The crowd cheered, Ivy raised her hand to her lips and let out a loud whistle.

"Seraphina rocks!"

Many people laughed from the audience.

The girl’s voice seemed somewhat out of place in such a setting.

But Ivy didn’t care at all, just cheering loudly for her friend’s victory.

Backstage, Julia Chamberlain’s fingers tightened around the bowstring.

She originally thought that with a score of 98, she could match Seraphina, but who would have thought Seraphina scored full marks.

"Well, let’s congratulate Seraphina and all the contestants," the host announced loudly, "The current round of competition is over. Now, please wait as the contestants prepare for the second half."

After bowing to everyone, Seraphina turned and stepped off the performance stage.

"Ah... Seraphina, you were amazing!"

Claire was the first to rush over, hugging Seraphina’s shoulders, jumping with excitement.

"The championship must be yours this time!"

"Yes, Seraphina, congratulations!"

...

Many fellow musician contestants also came over sincerely to congratulate Seraphina.

By achieving full marks in this competition, Seraphina had already won over these fellow competitors with her skill and talent.

On the performance stage, the orchestra musicians left.

The rotating stage lifted, bringing a black grand piano to the center of the performance stage.

Knowing the second half of the competition was about to start, Claire hurried away from Seraphina, going with her hired pianist to prepare at the entrance.

Seraphina checked the time on her watch, glanced toward the entrance.

It had been so long, where was the pianist she hired?

Turning around, she quickly went back to the dressing room, took out her phone, and dialed the pianist’s number again.

"Are you almost here?"

"Sorry, Seraphina, I’m stuck in traffic, but I’ll be there soon, in at most... fifteen minutes."

Because in the first half, some musicians performed average, not scoring above 90, the second half had only eleven participants left.

Each musician required different lengths of time based on their pieces.

Still, ten or so people would take at least half an hour, fifteen minutes should be enough time.

As the last to perform, Seraphina had some leeway.

"Okay, I’m in the middle of a competition and can’t keep my phone with me, just wait for me at the backstage entrance later."

"No problem."

The pianist agreed without hesitation.

Checking the time, Seraphina put her phone back on the table and returned to wait backstage.

At this time, Claire’s performance had just ended.

Because of her excellent performance in this piano ensemble, she received a score of 95 points.

Although it was challenging to rank with such a score, Claire was still beaming with happiness.

Coming down from backstage, after thanking the accompanying pianist and seeing him off, Claire walked over to Seraphina with a smile.

"Oh my god, it’s finally over, my life is complete."

Seraphina smiled and patted her shoulder.

"You did excellent."

"Of course." Claire showed her white teeth, "My biggest dream in life was to complete a competition."

Meanwhile, other contestants were going on stage for the second half.

"Seraphina..." Claire glanced around, "Where’s your pianist?"

"He’s a bit stuck in traffic, but he said he’d definitely arrive within fifteen minutes, no worries."

"That sounds unreliable." Claire patted her arm sympathetically, "No worries, I’ll get your phone, call him again to urge him."

Julia Chamberlain stood not far away, listening to their conversation, the corners of her lips curled.

"Seraphina!" Claire jogged over with Seraphina’s phone, "Hurry, call and ask."

Seraphina took the phone and dialed the pianist’s number again.

There was an automated message from the phone receiver.

"Sorry, the number you dialed is turned off."

"What happened?" Seeing her expression change, Claire hurriedly asked.

"Phone’s off, maybe... it’s out of battery."

"Are you kidding, this is so unreliable!"

Claire took out her own phone, dialed, but got the same result.

"What... if he doesn’t make it, how will you compete?"

"He should be here, he promised; let’s wait a bit longer." Seraphina glanced toward the entrance, "We contacted each other a few minutes ago, I guess he should be arriving soon."

Contestant No. 3 had finished their performance and entered the scoring phase.

Julia Chamberlain adjusted her dress and walked to the backstage entrance.

"With no pianist right before the competition, it seems some people are going to forfeit, it’s... deserved!"