Ronan knew I was afraid of the dark, so why did not he wake me up?

Without having to think longer, I immediately stood up and ran while turning on the flashlight on my mobile phone.

The door sign of the room flashed with the word "Director's Lounge", but inside came the voice of Wendy.

"It's just a rehearsal, why is she here? What a bummer."

Ronan's voice sounded more anxious than hers.

"No need to think about these things for now. Why don't you think about what to do with the performance? And how to do live-streaming? Do you want to bet on the future of the two of us?"

Yes, how did Wendy know about the new style of ancient Greece song I had innovated?

Why didn't she take a break after rehearsing?

I immediately pushed the door open and both of them looked at me, but it was obvious that Wendy's gaze was one of contempt, while Ronan's gaze was one of guilt.

Ronan stood up to give his seat to me as he smiled awkwardly and said, "Michelle, I was too busy just now and forgot to take care of you. Don't be angry."

I ignored him and remained standing there, quietly looking at the girl who had her arms crossed over her chest.

"I heard you're going to perform an ancient Greece music? Can I ask who your teacher is? I clearly remember my teacher only had me as his student, so are you also my classmate?"

She did not panic at all, but Ronan hurriedly spoke up, "I know Wendy. She has a strong ability to learn since she was young. Michelle, can you just ignore it?"

I shook off his hand. He knew that the ancient Greece music was something I had to inherit and protect for the rest of my life, but he told me to ignore it. How could it possible?

Wendy sneered and rolled her eyes. "Don't be so pretentious. How I learn and how I act is my business. You should cure your depression first."

She looked at me sideways, then got up and prepared to leave in her high heels.

Ronan grabbed my sleeve again and I could not help but spit out my guess. "Did you copy my innovation?"

His hands stiffened, I knew I guessed it right.

Wendy turned back disapprovingly, with a look of indifference written all over her face.

"So what? I have popularity, even if I sing so badly, there will still be people cheering me on."

"What about you? Aren’t you also learning for popularity? No one will care about an ordinary person like you. "

Every word that came out of her mouth made my body shudder, but it also made my anger grow stronger.

Ronan pulled me behind him, trying to ease the atmosphere and gently blamed her. "Wendy, how could you say that? It's so disrespectful."

She arrogantly threw her bag on the ground and looked at him.

"Why are you pretending to be such a good person? You showed me her innovation. We are on the same boat."

I suddenly looked at him, but what greeted me was only a pair of eyes filled with guilt and remorse.

Ronan's silence indirectly confirmed that she was right.

I collapsed to the ground in disbelief. The medicine bottle rolled out of my pocket and landed at her feet, then she kicked it away.

"I will attend the annual ceremony, I will perform the ancient Greece song and the popularity will only be mine."

As the words fell, the room fell into silence, leaving only the sound of her footsteps as she left.

I trembled as I tried to stand up, but I had no strength at all. I could only slowly crawl over to pick up my medicine bottle and stuff it back into my pocket.

Ronan lowered his eyes, then he frowned at me and said, "Michelle, I didn't mean to hide it from you or to give her your innovation, it's just ...."

He paused for a moment, his voice was getting lower and lower as he continued. "It's just that she and I both need it, whether it's my directorial career or her popularity ...."

I stared at him, seeing the complicated expression on his face and I just felt heartbroken.

Therefore, he could completely disregard my feelings for the sake of his own and Wendy's career, even though he knew how much effort I had put in.

Seeing him lower his head, I suddenly had many doubts and questions in my mind and finally I could only ask, "When did you show it to her?"

Ronan stammered, could not say a complete sentence. I kicked him against the wall and he finally stammered out the truth.

"Mi-Michelle, don't be angry ... it's-it's when you wanted to go out to see your teacher, Ms. Carlisle ...."

Everything went dark before my eyes as I was hit by painful and cruel reality and I almost passed out on the spot.

Janet Carlisle was my teacher and mentor. The only time I opened her material was before she passed away.

I would never forget how helpless I felt that day.

I wanted to let Janet listen to my new song before she passed away, but that day I could not open the door of the study no matter how hard I tried.

The material was on the table in the living room, but the study, which was never closed, was locked. I always thought I was too anxious and accidentally locked the door.

For more than four hundred days, I was immersed in self-blame.

Now I knew that Ronan did all this on purpose.

Just for the sake of their careers.

Ronan knelt on the ground, trying to wipe away the tears from my face, but I pushed him away with my trembling hands.

"That was the last time I saw my teacher. She had been waiting for me and didn't even close her eyes at the end of her life, but how ... how could you be so selfish!"

He kept repeating sorry, but what was the use of saying sorry?

Janet would never wake up again, would never hear my new song and I had no way to stop the annual ceremony from going on.

He tugged at the hem of my clothes, his face full of guilt.

"Michelle, I can gain more popularity by letting Wendy sing your new song and it won't be too late for you to promote it later."

Three days passed quickly and the annual ceremony arrived as scheduled.

I walked into the backstage without telling Ronan and at that time, the atmosphere was tense everywhere.

Only Wendy was still leisurely signing autographs for her fans.

I looked coldly at the pile of signed photos in front of her and said calmly, "Miss Waltz, you look so relaxed. Are you confident in yourself?"

Seeing me, she was slightly surprised. She lowered her voice and asked, "Why are you here again?"

She dragged me into an empty corner, her eyes full of vigilance.

"What do you want?"

Seeing me remain silent, Wendy began to panic. "You're not really going to ruin me, are you? I'll be on stage soon."

To be honest, I had not made a decision yet.

On the one hand, I knew how important this annual ceremony was to Ronan and ruining it would mean ruining his life.

But on the other hand, how could Janet rest in peace in heaven when seeing someone like Wendy singing ancient Greece song?

Just as I was thinking about it, she suddenly knelt down in front of me.

There were even her fans outside the door calling her and there were only the two of us inside, staring at each other in bewilderment.

She knelt down and held my legs. "I beg you, Michelle, please don't ruin me. I only need the popularity from this annual ceremony to be promoted to be a celebrity."

She spoke even more vigorously as I turned my gaze away.

"Look, there are so many staff members, including Ronan. Everyone's hard work is put into tonight. Can you please not be so selfish?"