At noon, Mr. Walden insisted everyone stay for lunch.
By afternoon, the guests began to take their leave.
After spending over ten hours on a ne, Rena and her twopanions were exhausted. With jetg still weighing on them, they returned to their hotel to rest.
Once Rachel had said her goodbyes to Rena and the others, she was about to leave when Colby called out to her.
With a gentle, refined smile, Colby offered, "Rachel, let me give you a ride home."
Colby''s features were handsome-perhaps not quite as striking as Haynes, Joshua, or Jasper, but his family background was impable.
Rachel was more than willing to befriend him.
She had long noticed Colby''s interest in her.
She didn''t turn down his kindness.
Haynes had grown increasingly distant, Joshua was impossible to control, and Jasper was currently locked in a fierce rivalry with Sellers, barely able to keep his head above water.
A sudden realization struck her: she no longer had any reliable allies by her side.
Meanwhile, Ste had Neville Connolly, Antoney, and the entire Williams family in her corner.
Even Foreman, who used to remain neutral, was now quietly helping Ste behind the scenes.
Clearly, Ste was pulling strings, drawing these men to her side-why else would they go so far out of their way for her?
Rachel smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Colby. That would be lovely."
...
Ste quickly advanced to the finals.
News of her making it to the final round had gone viral several times already.
Online, she was showered with praise-everyone called her the goddess whobined beauty and genuine talent.
Abby had done a fantastic job managing Ste''s social media presence.
No matter the tform, Ste''s followers had all surpassed ten million.
Rachel, despite the publicity she''d received from Haynes and Jasper in the past, had amassed a decent following, but her fanscked the same loyalty as Ste''s.
Rachel''s fanbase was all over the ce, and not many were willing to actually buy tickets to her concerts.
One day, Abby came rushing to Ste, practically glowing with excitement.
"Star, we justunched the first wave of presale tickets for your concert today, and they sold out in under five minutes!"
Abby''s voice was trembling with joy. "This concert is going to be so much bigger than Antoney''sst event! I''m nning to open the second round of presales next week!"
She paused, as if something else hade to mind, and then burst outughing.
"Oh, and get this-Rachel started her presale a day before ours, probably hoping to poach our audience. But she couldn''t even sell out in a whole day. The tickets only disappeared once our presale started. If you ask me, she probably hired bots to scoop up the leftovers se things wouldn''t look so embarrassing."
Ste was just as surprised.
Concerts, unlike pop shows, didn''t usually have such broad appeal. Especially in Novaris, where celebrities drew bigger crowds than ssical musicians.
That her tickets sold out so quickly was almost unbelievable.
? Joovge
Abby went on, "It''s all thanks to thepetition. You making the finals really put those haters in their ce the ones who said you only got by on luck and looks."
Her eyes sparkled as she clenched her fists in excitement.
"Star, after the finals, as long as you take home the championship, this concert will
be a smashing sess! With your talent, I have no doubt.
And so what if Rachel has Mr. Walden backing her? The public has already spoken."
Abby had been in show business long enough to spot fake numbers a mile away. Rachel''s little stunt hadn''t fooled her for a second.
And she was right.
Over on Rachel''s end, she was on the phone with Joshua.
"Joshua, I really appreciate your help this time. If it weren''t for you, I would''ve been humiliated."
The way Ste''s tickets were flying off the shelves had genuinely shocked Rachel. She''d thought with Mr. Walden''s support, there was no way she could lose to Ste.
Especially since she''d started her presale a whole day earlier.
Yet after an entire day, she''d only managed to sell half her tickets.