From Nobody to Star: Her Love with CEO

5."Cinderella" went to the ball

After chatting with Bunny, Lyra turned off her computer.

It wasn't time to rest yet,she told herself.

《Rising Music Stars》had been held for two seasons and was the largest,most popular among music talent shows.The competition is divided into five rounds:

The competition consists of 42 contestants, 4 judges and 500 audience.

In the first round:

1. get votes from three judges

2. get votes from two judges and more than 90% of the audience’ votes

can advance to the second round of the competition.

Meanwhile:

1. get votes from all four judges

2. get a pass card (each judge has one pass card and can give it to any contestant they like)

can advance to the third round of the competition

Lyra's gotta make it to at least the third round to have a shot at the prize money in the competition. That medical bill is a real killer.

Unfortunately, she saw the list of judges, and one of them is Vivian Grayson, the owner of Grayson Music, and more importantly, Evelyn's mother.

Vivian hates Lyra. It was her who had instigated Lyra's father to drive Lyra out of the family back then.Anyway, Lyra won't be able to get four judges' votes, but she will still do her best.

As the competition date drew nearer and nearer, Daniel gave her a call.

He reproached Lyra for participating in the "Rising Music Star" competition.

This almost made Lyra laugh in anger.And now,she didn't want to endure Daniel anymore.

“I have three words for you,Daniel.”Her tone was gentle.

“What?I love you?”The man was extremely shameless.

“Go f*ck yourself.”

"Lyra, this is not your usual gentle self." The man became angry.

Lyra sneered and added:“You'll never beat me.Because even though you've been in the music industry for ten years, your musical talent means nothing without me!”

“Lyra！”Daniel was almost mad, then he said coldly：

“Well, then, we'll see.” he hung up the phone.

lLyra ignored Daniel's inept rage. She had too much to do before the competition began.

On the afternoon of the competition day, Lyra left her apartment. And before heading to the competition venue, Lyra had one important thing left to do.

She limped on her leg and walked three blocks to the dry cleaner's.

“I've taken care of some yellowish stains and adjusted the waist according to your figure. The missing pearls have also been replaced—they're made of resin, but I promise no one will be able to tell.” The owner of the dry cleaner's gave Lyra a mysterious smile.

“Thank you,Susan.” Lyra stroked the dress, feeling a lot of emotions.

Years ago,Lyra was driven out of her family. This dress, which her mother had worn, was one of the few things she could take with her.

It was a designer dress with a retro style, looking courtly. Shiny pearls covered it. Although the brand of this dress has fallen out of fashion

Lyra hoped that her deceased mother would give her the courage,and this dress matched the song she had chosen very well.

Lyra knew that《Rising Music Stars》was full of tough competitors.

There were already famous underground bands,Web - popular singer ,and singers like Evelyn who were in the limelight.In terms of popularity,stage experience,and backstage capital,Lyra was no match for them.

So she must ensure that her song selection, clothing, and performance are all perfect.

“What's the matter, my child?” Mrs.Susan asked.

“You're still worried about these pearls, right? Don't worry. Even luxurious brands like Chanel are using resin pearls now.” The kind British lady poured a cup of black tea and pushed the cup towards Lyra.

“The only drawback is that its iridescence isn't pink but cold white,and the luster is a bit stiffer.But don't worry,you can't tell from a distance!”

“Oh no,of course,I don't mind. I'm just...”Lyra came to her senses. “I just don't know how to express my gratitude to you. I really don't have any money to pay you right now...”

Susan laughed heartily, and the frown on her face due to worry relaxed a lot.

“Don't worry about that,dear. You looked so pitiful when you were in the hospital, staring blankly out of the window and opening it...”

Mrs.Susan was the patient in the bed next to Lyra's when she was in the hospital.

“If I hadn't asked you if you were okay back then,I really think you would just jump out of the window！”

“I just wanted some fresh air.”Lyra lowered her head a bit shyly, she knew how desperate she was at the time.

“Let's talk about the price. It's a price that might surprise you. Listen carefully. I'm going to charge you...”She held up one finger.

“$1000?”Lyra asked cautiously. She knew that if she sent this dress to a designer store, the repair price wouldn't be lower than$5000.

“One cent,my child.”Mrs.Susan smiled.

“Oh,Susan...”Lyra thought she had heard wrong.

“And...”Mrs.Susan glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already four o'clock in the afternoon.She gracefully pointed at Lyra's teacup.

“'When the clock strikes four,everything in the world stops for tea',Cinderella.Before you go to your‘ball’,you have to drink this cup of tea first.”

At exactly seven o'clock in the evening, Lyra showed up on time at the back door of the competition building.

"Lyra!"Not far away, Chloe was holding a camera. While taking several pictures of Lyra, she waved excitedly. Lyra also waved gently and then left in a hurry.

"Hello. What's your .. Oh..." When the registeration staff saw Lyra's face, he couldn't help being stunned.

Lyra was wearing a gorgeous dress, just like a noble princess walking out of a classical oil painting. The blue gem on her neck refracting a dazzling light.

Oh, the gem must be very expensive. But she was so beautiful that he didn't have time to notice anything else at all.

"Lyra Lowell." The princess opened her lips slightly.

The boy quickly filled in the registration form. Then, he bowed humbly, putting one hand on his chest.

"You're the last singer to arrive. Turn right ahead, and that's the dressing room. You need to finish getting your makeup done first, and then go to the lounge to meet the other contestants..."

The guy paused for a moment and couldn't help asking:

"Do you need me to show you the way, miss?"

Lyra accepted his kindness. She was politely sent into the singers' lounge. After the door closed, the boy leaned against the wall and let out a gentle sigh.

"What's the matter, buddy?" Another staff member passed by, "Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"

"Not a ghost, but a princess." The boy corrected exaggeratedly. "I've never seen such a beautiful woman—and she's even without makeup!"

"Come on, you're exaggerating too much." The staff member burst out laughing. " What kind of beautiful stars haven't we seen? And there are quite a few good-looking contestants of this competition."

He counted on his fingers. "Sweet and lovely Cora, the dark queen Raven... Oh, and Evelyn. Although she just debuted, I've already become her fan. She's so charming!"

The boy shook his head firmly.

"I admit that Evelyn is a super sexy and beautiful woman. If she was willing to sleep with me, I'd be willing to die for her. But Lyra is different. She's the kind of... "

He shook his head, and his expression became a bit gloomy.

"You'd also be willing to die for her—as long as she was just willing to give you a smile."

"That's too exaggerated, but..." The staff member obviously didn't believe it and just shrugged.

"I wish her good luck. After all, there are so many strong competitors in this competition."

On Lyra's side, she knocked on the door of the dressing room with a joyful mood.

Yes, joy. She had met Chloe, said goodbye to Mrs. Susan, more importantly...

She touched the blue gem necklace on her neck with a smile, thinking of the conversation with Bunny yesterday.

She logged into the social app and told Bunny that she had broken up with her boyfriend.

She also told Bunny that she had been shortlisted for "Rising Music Stars" and sincerely invited Bunny to watch her performance. Bunny seemed delighted, and she agreed without hesitation.

At the same time, as a gift to celebrate Lyra's shortlisting for the preliminary selection, Bunny sent her this string of sapphire necklace.

When Lyra was a child on her birthday, she once received a sapphire ring from her grandfather. This made Evelyn so jealous that she gathered her servants around Lyra, and snatched the ring away.

Lyra asked her father to judge who was right, but all she got was an impatient roar and a slap in the face. So Lyra decided to solve the problem by herself.

She threw Evelyn into the pond.

In the end, Evelyn had a high fever, the ring was missing, and Lyra was locked in a dark room for a month by her furious father.

Lyra didn't regret it.

Yeah, Lyra thought with mixed feelings.

Although Bunny insisted that they were just cheap artificial gems, Lyra still felt Bunny's heart.

Lyra believed that friends were the relatives one chose.

Touching the necklace, Lyra felt warm in her heart. And just at this moment:

"honey, I've been waiting for you for a long time." A middle-aged woman smiled and opened the door.

"My name is Mary, and I'm your makeup artist. Sit down, the last singer... Lyra, let me do your makeup."

For some reason, despite Mary's warmth, Lyra still felt a strange pang of discomfort.

Then, Mary pulled Lyra to sit in front of the mirror without saying a word.

At this time, there were only the two of them in the dressing room.

"Your dress is very beautiful, in a court style. Let me match it with a court-style updo for you."

"Uh, no, actually, I was thinking..."

"I'm the professional, dear."

Mary suddenly bent down. Her face was too close to Lyra's. The woman looked cold and expressionless as she stared at Lyra.

"Now I'm the only makeup artist here. Accept it or withdraw from the competition. Choose one."

Lyra understood that Mary didn't like her.

This must be Evelyn's arrangement. No wonder Evelyn hadn't caused any trouble during this period. So she was waiting here.

"Did Evelyn send you here?" Lyra stared straight at her.

"Miss Grayson is kind-hearted and asked me to take good care of you."The woman sneered.

Lyra's worst expectation had come true.

Mary took Lyra's silence as consent and smiled with satisfaction.

She combed Lyra's hair backwards roughly and smiled smugly, even when Lyra cried out in pain, she didn't stop.

"This is to make your hair fluffier."

After Mary finished styling Lyra's hair, she picked up the powder compact and pressed it hard and viciously on Lyra's face, ignoring Lyra's desperate coughing.

Finally, the long makeup time was over.

"Look at how charming you are in the mirror."

Lyra slowly opened her eyes. She stared at the almost strange herself in the mirror in disbelief.

The high updo was almost three times the size of her head. Because it was tied too tightly, Lyra's head started to ache.

And her face was just like a midnight ghost, with exaggerated round blushes, black eyeshadow, and green lipstick that was only painted in the middle of her lips.

Lyra looked like the funny and scary Red Queen in the movie "Alice in Wonderland".

And beside her, Mary's malicious voice was still ringing:

"Classical updo and makeup. The audience will surely love you to death, honey."