From Nobody to Star: Her Love with CEO

9.Lyra was eliminated?

Lyra was staring blankly at the closed door when suddenly, she didn't notice that Evelyn had stormed up to her.

“‘Have we met somewhere before?’ What a cliché way to strike up a conversation! You better give up. Everyone knows that Damien Ashfield has an unattainable loved one. I am sure that's not you.”

Lyra was already used to Evelyn's sarcasm, but at that moment, a sense of disappointment welled up in her heart, and she didn't even know why.

She stood up, ignored Evelyn, and was about to go change out of her wet clothes. What a pity about the clothes Mrs. Susan had painstakingly prepared for her, Lyra thought regretfully.

“You!” Evelyn was furious when she was ignored. She was about to reach out and grab Lyra, but unexpectedly, several figures suddenly appeared in front of her.

“Hello, Miss Lowell. I'm Emily, the chief aesthetics consultant from PM Company sent by Mr. Ashfield. He specifically asked me to come over.”

Emily bent down humbly, looking apologetic. Behind her were a group of employees in uniform suits, each holding a set of clothes in their arms.

“I'm very sorry. Because of the time constraint, I didn't have time to prepare custom-made clothes for you. I could only buy all the new seasonal items from six luxury stores according to your approximate size.”

Now, everyone was stunned. Even Evelyn's face twisted with jealousy, and she blurted out:

“She doesn't deserve it!”

Emily glanced at Evelyn, and her smile deepened:

“The decision is made by the Ashfield family and PM Company.”

Chloe shook the camera in her hand and also stood in front of Lyra.

“Miss Grayson, watch your words. You know, us tabloid reporters love to exaggerate. If you dare to target Lyra again, I can't guarantee what will be in tomorrow's newspaper.”

Then, Chloe whispered to Lyra: “Go change your clothes quickly. There's not much time. Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on her. She won't dare to do anything.”

Lyra gave Chloe a grateful look. Under the envious gazes of everyone, she walked past the resentful Evelyn and left under Emily's escort.

She entered the fitting room and started choosing clothes while paying attention to the voices outside.

The competition didn't pause because of this incident but continued. The next contestant to appear was Cora, that sweet-looking girl.

She sang a sweet love song. Her voice was pleasant but not outstanding. What was thoughtful was that she brought a violin and sang while playing, which was somewhat creative.

This was at a level of three judge votes and 450 audience votes, Lyra assumed.

Just then, the excited voice of the host came from outside.

“The last pass card of this competition is given by Judge Vivian to contestant Cora!”

Lyra was startled but immediately understood.

Vivian wanted to ensure her daughter Evelyn's championship, so she would surely try to save her pass card for a mediocre contestant. Because strong contestants would be Evelyn's fierce competitors....

Vivian's behavior couldn't convince most of the audience. Lyra heard a commotion. But the rules were like this. The remaining contestants were out of luck. However, Lyra didn't count on getting Vivian's vote anyway, so she didn't care.

With Emily's help, Lyra quickly changed into a new look. When she walked out of the room, she saw Evelyn already waiting there, with a venomous expression.

“Don't be nervous, Lyra.” Evelyn gave a ladylike smile. “Don't worry about me doing anything to you because your hope of advancing to the next round is slim.”

Lyra was shocked. She saw Evelyn walk over and whisper to her.

“Johnson, the judge from PM Company, has been bribed by me. He won't vote for you, and my mother... You know what that means.”

This was beyond Lyra's expectation.

All four pass cards had been given out. That is to say, no matter how hard Lyra tried, she would at most get two judge votes.

Evelyn looked at Lyra and laughed loudly:

“Advance? Don't even think about it! You'll be eliminated!”

“Evelyn, don't be too complacent. Even so, as long as I get at least 450 audience votes, I can still advance to the second round of the competition.” Lyra said calmly.

“450 audience votes? You?” Evelyn snorted, full of disdain. “Well, we will see.”

Lyra's mind stirred because she remembered that Daniel had said exactly the same thing when he called her a few days ago. At that time, Lyra didn't take it seriously, but now, she had a bad feeling.

Evelyn walked away, and the competition continued.

After several mediocre contestants finished their performances, a very cold-looking girl in black stood up.

She was the second-last contestant to appear. Lyra remembered her name was Raven. She was a singer who had just become popular online recently. Because of her dark and niche style, her fans called her the “Dark Queen”.

Raven walked onto the stage like a real queen with her original song “She's gone”.

In the first few seconds, she sang a cappella. Raven chanted like a sweet little girl, which was quite different from her appearance, but it beautifully demonstrated her solid singing skills.

Then, the accompaniment started. The distorted and heavy drumbeats dragged people into the abyss, fierce and dark. Raven's female voice suddenly changed, like a bolt of lightning tearing through the night sky.

This was amazing! Blaze had already stood up and cheered, but the applause couldn't suppress that powerful female voice. When the chorus came, the woman's angry voice was like a sharp blade piercing the eardrums, still very clear in the dense roar of the instruments.

At the end of the song, Raven's voice gradually became low and hoarse, and she ended with a very beautiful note in a soft voice.

“Champion! Raven!” Even the host couldn't help showing an excited expression in front of the camera. And the judges one by one pressed the pass button. One vote, two votes, three votes...

Four votes!

The only contestant in this competition to get all-pass votes from the judges was Raven. The name of this talented singer was bound to be remembered in the history.

However, Raven's audience votes weren't that ideal-479, which was still high but not the first.

Death metal, her style was a bit niche, which was also why Vivian didn't mind voting for her. Raven wouldn't be Evelyn's competitor as their styles were very different.

Although Raven advanced smoothly, Evelyn wasn't worried. Instead, she looked at Lyra with a gloating expression.

And many others also looked at Lyra sympathetically:

The woman's style was too unique. The audience would be immersed in Raven's music and completely ignore the next singer.

As for Lyra, she was the last contestant to appear today, the unlucky one who came after the talented singer Raven.

No one thought Lyra had any chance of winning.

Lyra took a deep breath, knowing it was her turn to go to the “battlefield”. She passed by Raven. Lyra moved her lips and said sincerely, “You're really good.”

The expressionless cold queen glanced at Lyra and said nothing.

Lyra took the stage.

Originally, even the host's announcement was drowned out by the audience's discussion about Raven.

But when Lyra appeared, everything fell silent.

The audience stared at Lyra in astonishment.

The stage background was black. Lyra was wearing a white high-end evening dress. The silent black set off the pure white, making her look noble and elegant, and the sapphire necklace around her neck shone brightly.

The dress and the necklace clearly cost a fortune, but everyone was attracted by Lyra herself.

Even the owner of the luxury brand Rhea, one of the invited audience members, couldn't help thinking at this moment:

It would be an honor for such a beauty to wear the dresses of his brand.

However, he was still very surprised. This dress was Rhea's masterpiece. Vivian from the Grayson family had asked him to borrow this dress for her daughter Evelyn, but he had refused.

The Grayson family doesn't deserve this masterpiece.

Who was this woman on the stage?

At this time, his secretary whispered to him that the person who borrowed this dress was Damien Ashfield from the Ashfield family.

Damien Ashfield!

Rhea almost stood up excitedly.

The Ashfield family, a powerful and wealthy family, was completely different from the gradually declining Grayson family. More importantly, Damien Ashfield-the CEO of the world-class music company, had shown favor to Rhea for the first time!

You know, although Rhea was a top-tier luxury brand, in the high-end custom-made clothing industry, it had always been overshadowed by another brand in the past.

Yes, in the past.

Because he knew that from the moment the Ashfield family borrowed this dress and this beauty, who seemed to have stepped out of a Western classical oil painting, wore it and appeared on the stage of “Rising Music Star”.

Rhea was bound to be remembered by the world.

But... A trace of worry crossed the man's mind.

As the stunning beatuy of this girl, is her singing also worthy to be remembered?

Just as he was thinking, the music started.

A lively and playful flute sound, accompanied by an elegant and slow piano, pulled people into an avenue lined with trees.

Everyone present at the competition today, from the contestants to the judges, the audience, and even the host, had a certain musical background. As soon as they heard this familiar accompaniment, they immediately knew what Lyra was going to sing.

“It can't be. It's actually ‘The Song of the Puppet’!” The host showed an exaggerated expression in front of the camera.

And the judges, the audience, the contestants backstage, all stirred restlessly. Even Rhea, who had been full of joy just now, changed his expression to worry and doubt.

Yes, Lyra was going to sing “The Song of the Puppet”.

This was a very famous French coloratura aria in the history of music, from the opera “The Tales of Hoffmann”.

This song was also called a “nightmare” by countless music students. Because this song had extremely high requirements for both technique and emotion, and its difficulty was hell-like!

Even in professional music academies, only a handful of professors could perform this song. How dare Lyra?

Amid countless doubts, Lyra started to sing.

It was the voice of a nightingale singing among the flowers.

Countless people held their breath until Lyra completed the first melodious chant.

This simple sentence contained dozens of complex melisma. If any one part was not sung well, the whole song would be ruined. But Lyra completed it smoothly.

No, but still countless people were clenching their hearts for her because Lyra's expression didn't look relaxed. It was as if she was gritting her teeth to resist some difficulty.

Sure enough, was this kind of song still too difficult for such a young and unknown singer?

Lyra kept singing. There were even more melisma in this paragraph, and the difficulty was even higher. The fast-running scale was like a clear stream in the mountains, rushing rapidly but still maintaining its agility and purity. Every note accurately penetrated the ears of the audience.

This wasn't over yet. In the high-pitch area, Lyra's voice seemed to be endowed with magic. She easily reached a height that ordinary people could hardly reach, going straight to people's hearts.

Unlike the cheering during Raven's performance, everyone was extremely quiet. They greedily stared at the stage, afraid of missing a single note.

Even though she completed a difficult performance so easily, Lyra still frowned, making people worried.

“Ah!” A spectator exclaimed in a low voice. She felt a bit embarrassed and looked around, but no one noticed her. Everyone was looking at the stage worriedly.

Because Lyra's voice had a pause.

“A mistake?”

The host looked at the camera, with a worried expression, making a mouth-shape.

Suddenly, the beauty in the center of the stage was also like a puppet manipulated by invisible threads. She mechanically raised her chin and slowly opened her lips. The song started. In the part that should have been smooth and melodious coloratura, the notes popped out intermittently, showing a strange sense of a puppet's pause.

Everyone held their breath.

The paused puppet returned to normal, and she uttered the last long and beautiful syllable. At this moment, Lyra raised her plain face without any makeup.

Her expression was sad and hesitant.

At that moment, people's hearts broke just because of this expression.

And when the last syllable ended, that sadness disappeared. What remained on Lyra's face was an almost eternal peace and tenderness.

“Ah, I got it!” A contestant blurted out from the stage.

On the stage background, the lyrics of “The Song of the Puppet” were displayed.

“I've become a broken puppet. A puppet that no one wants and no one loves. They don't understand my sadness”

From the very beginning, Lyra's solemn expression, and then to the frequent pause at the end. All of these were to serve the performances!

That is a perfect performance with mature technique, beautiful timbre, and abundant emotions.

After pressing the pass button, Blaze stood up again. He clapped his hands quickly, paying high tribute to Lyra.

And in the audience, people stood up one by one, clapping and cheering, like a continuous line.

The host exclaimed exaggeratedly in front of the camera:

“Oh, my god. It seems I said ‘Champion! Raven!’ too early.”

“Champion!” Someone shouted first, and then more and more people joined him.

The shouts resounded throughout the building.

Lyra stood in the middle of the stage, calming her rapid breathing. Seeing the reaction from the audience, she thought she had won the bet.

She didn't have enough time to polish an original song, nor did she have good instruments, and she didn't have the money to buy music copyrights. So she could only find another way and choose a high-difficulty coloratura aria to let everyone witness her strength.

Maybe a few years ago, she was still a young and inexperienced singer, but now, she had improved a lot.

However, she wasn't in the mood to be happy about the cheers from the audience. Instead, Lyra felt very heavy.

This atmosphere also affected the audience. Restlessness replaced the original cheers, and people talked to each other in whispers.

On the judge's bench, only Blaze's light was on.

And Vivian, Johnson, Mila, they sat there silently, and none of them pressed the pass button.

Vivian could be understood. Johnson was bribed by Evelyn, but Mila, why?

Wait a minute. The name Mila sounded familiar... Wasn't she the music critic who highly praised Daniel's new song when it was released? Combining with the phone call Daniel made to her before, Lyra finally understood.

Mila and Daniel were in cahoots.

And that warning “let's wait and see” that Lyra had ignored now gave her a fatal blow.

Getting only one judge's vote, no matter what, she wasn't qualified to enter the next round.

Lyra was eliminated.