Chapter 26: Career Milestone
The winter gala hall was full long before the lights dimmed.
Every seat was taken. Late guests stood along the walls, coats folded over their arms, eyes fixed on the stage. Crystal lights hung from the high ceiling, throwing soft fire across rows of red velvet chairs. The air smelled of polish, old wood, and nerves. Violins tested their strings in low careful notes. Cellos answered in deep hums that rolled through the room like distant thunder.
This was no longer a school show.
This was a reckoning.
Critics filled the first rows, pens ready, fingers hovering over phone screens. Producers whispered to one another behind folded programs. Three news crews stood at the back, cameras raised, red lights blinking. They had all come for one reason.
Elena Harper B
