Reincarnated As the Enemy's Wife: Married the Rival, Bound by Revenge-Chapter 263: That Miss Taylor

Three days in the blink of an eye.

Standing in the kitchen, Eva looked through her phone and found no reply of any kind from Nicholas.

A knock came from the door.

Without needing to ask, Eva knew that it was Nicholas’ assistant bringing ingredients.

For the past three days, he seemed to have disappeared into thin air. However, his assistant continued to visit every day, bringing things she needed. This was his way of caring for her.

Eva opened the door and accepted the cooler, then placed it on the ground.

"Don’t bring any more things," Eva said to the assistant and indicating that he should take the box away.

Nicholas’ wasn’t here so she had no appetite.

But the assistant only mechanically replied, "This is Mr. Brown’s orders. A parcel must be delivered everyday."

Eva had no choice but to accept it.

"Where’s Nicholas?" Eva asked bluntly, "When is he coming back? Or is he back already?"

"I’m sorry, Miss Loraine," the assistant replied, the same way he had the last three days, "it’s a secret. I also don’t know."

After the assistant left, Eva closed the door and carried the box of ingredients to the kitchen.

On the kitchen counter, there was a small plate of green onions.

...

Eva stared at the green onions for a moment.

She remembered that Nicholas was deathly allergic to green onions so she dumped them into the trash without a second thought.

Having done this, Eva returned to her room and lay quietly on the bed.

There was still no message on her phone.

She sighed.

Putting her phone aside, Eva pulled out an invitation from the drawer beside her bed.

Invitation to the Hiltonan Theatre.

She received this invitation three days ago. It was an invitation for her to hold a private concert as a young pianist at the theatre.

She was not in the mood to accept this invitation and had been about to reject it, but then her contact told her how much she would be paid for the performance... so she accepted it. The performance was in two days.

Who would have thought that the performance fee for a pianist was so high?

Eva reflected on why she hadn’t started live-streaming music earlier.

...

Two days later, at the Hiltonan Theatre.

Eva sat in her dressing room.

Two makeup artists walked into the room, chatting as they went.

"Did you hear the news? I was browsing my social media yesterday and saw that the young lady of the Taylor family had been photographed going to bars late at night!" one of the makeup artists said.

"Ah, is it the young lady who showed up with Mr. Leinster the other day?"

"Yes, I think her name is... Yvonne Taylor."

As the makeup artists approached Eva, they fell silent and began to work.

"You can continue," Eva said with a smile, "it helps me relax."

Eva was confident in her abilities and wasn’t nervous at all but she wanted to hear more about the woman she had met twice before.

The two makeup artists looked at each other before spilling all the gossip. "It’s said that she was photographed drinking by herself in a bar!"

"Something must have happened. These women are pretty good at handling stress," one of the makeup artists said.

The other continued, "They said that an old man came in near the end. People think it’s her dad and he tried to take her away!"

"Frank Taylor? The CEO of the travel company? Did they argue?" The makeup artist’s eyes lit up with excitement.

"I’m not sure. It should be her father. He came personally the bar to get her and left in a huff."

"If had such a rich father, I would be smiling all day. I wouldn’t even dream of running away from home..."

The makeup artist telling the story rolled her eyes at the other girl asked, "Guess who showed up later?"

"I’m not guessing, you’re going to tell me anyway."

"Guess! It’s incredible."

"A handsome young man?"

"No. It was Zachary Leinster! And he left with her!"

"What? The president of the Leinster Group? My god, that face, that figure, even in my dreams I want... how could Miss Taylor be so lucky?"

"Don’t be silly. You’re off the rails."

The makeup artist quickly took control herself again.

Eva listened with great interest. Zachary Leinster? Was he the man that made Yvonne so nervous at the bar that time?

After her makeup was done, Eva put on a white dress and walked gracefully toward the concert hall.

She greeted the audience then sat down in front of the piano.

Thousands of people had come to the concert today. It was the largest concert in Hiltonan.

A wave of applause rang out across the hall as the lights dimmed. Eva sat in the center of the hall like a goddess of moonlight.

Gently, she raised her hand.

The applause faded as her hand went up and when her hand came down on the keys, the hall was completely silent.

There was a moment of expectant silence.

Then a sound rang out. It was not the sound of Eva playing the piano, instead, it was a shout.

"How could you be qualified to perform here?"

...

The voice came from the first row.

The first row was reserved for VIPs. The tickets were very expensive.

The concert hall was large and not everyone noticed that something had gone wrong.

However, everyone in the first few rows and Eva heard.

A well-dressed woman in her early thirties arrogantly walked up.

She was quickly recognized by the music-lovers in the audience.

"Vivian?"

"Yes, it’s Vivian."

Sitting on the stage, Eva looked at the woman approaching her and recognized her too.

Vivian gained some fame a few years ago.

In recent years, she had played the theme song for a few well- known online games which had gained her some renown among netizens as well as those in more elegant music circles.

She was particularly loved by weebs.

She was known as the sole piano goddess online.

Initially, tonight was meant to be a concert for her game theme music but it abruptly became a concert for Eva’s classical music!

Vivian had millions of fans and billions in income, how could she suffer such treatment?

Another reason she had come to cause trouble was because Eva’s classical piano had become so popular online that it was stealing away some of her fans.

Vivian had experienced a drop in popularity and had discussed with her team a way to disrupt Eva’s performance and increase her own popularity!

As Vivian approached, Eva continued to sit quietly in front of the piano.

There was nothing for her to say at this time.

Sure enough, a staff member came out to stop Vivian.

"Don’t stop me," Vivian shouted toward the stage.

"I’m worked with this theatre for five years! What right does she have to take over my time slot with a solo performance?"

Vivian turned to the audience and said in a loud voice, "I want to duel her!"

A duel was popular way to settle disagreements in the Middle Ages in Euphrania.

It was originally fought between two people with weapons. In the end, only one would remain alive.

It had evolved into a piano duel, a duel between pianists.

The loser would step down from the stage!

Eva knew that although Vivian had studied piano, she had been more of an influencer these years rather than a pianist.

Comparing herself and Vivian was like comparing apples to oranges. Her true purpose was to create trouble and leech off Eva’s popularity.

It was fine to be a leech but this was Eva’s performance. The audience had bought tickets to be there and she had also accepted a performance fee.

If Vivian’s actions affected the overall performance, no one would invite Eva to perform in the future!

That would be the end of Eva’s wealth!

Evidently, there was no bottom line when it came to leeching.

As soon as Vivian finished speaking, some of the audience began to cheer. "Piano duel!"

Those people were actors paid by Vivian and scattered through the crowd to direct the energy.

The cheering was so contagious that a good many people joined in. Vivian was popular enough that many mobile gamers had heard of her.

For a while, the cheers echoed through the hall.

More staff members came out but they couldn’t stop the crowd’s excitement.

At this time, Eva rose from her seat and asked for a microphone.

"Very well."

Eva’s voice echoed through the theatre.

Very well...

With that, she gave back the microphone and returned to the piano.

Her voice lingered in the theatre.

Soon, the audience reacted.

She had agreed to the battle!

She was only in her early twenties and was known as one the most talented young pianists in the world!

The audience burst into applause.

There was no way to control the situation at the Hiltonan Theatre. The staff had no choice but to invite a few talented musicians in Hiltonan to the theatre to act as judges for the duel.

Shortly after, an identical piano was brought onto the stage.

The duel was about to begin.

The rules were simple.

In the first round, the two of them would play the same classical piece.

In the second round, they would play a classical piece but improvise on it live, adding their own interpretation.

In the third round, they would play an original piece.

The five judges would give points and the person with the most points at the end of the three rounds would be declared the winner.

The competition would begin after a fifteen-minute break!

The first track was "La Campanella" by Liszt.

This was a piano masterpiece written by Liszt in 1834. It is known for its high technical difficulty and was once known as the "impossible piece". Even in the present day, countless were still unable to play it!

Vivian went first. She sat before the piano and took a deep breath, then her fingers began to dance over the keys.

Crisp notes echoed through the theatre like pearls dropping into a jade plate, striking the hearts of the audience.

It had to be said that Vivian lived up to the internet’s praise of her.

It was a very difficult song but she performed it smoothly. As the piece reached the climax, the audience felt as if they could see lines of clocks chiming out the time.

Vivian’s fingers flew over the keys, effortlessly completing each difficult section.

She showcased fingering techniques that some people couldn’t even dream of!

Vivian was so passionate that no one could ignore her performance.

Four minutes later, the piece came to an end.

It had been clean and simple, completely flawless.

The audience applauded fiercely as the judges nodded their heads, acknowledging the flawless performance.