Betrayed by Blood: My Second Life as a Queen novel Chapter 28

She hadn't shown up yet, which meant she probably wasn't coming at all.

Tessa happily muted her phone. The next few hours were the most critical moments of her life, and she absolutely refused to let anyone ruin them.

Before long, Julian guided Vivienne Vance into the room. "Tessa, Ms. Vance is here."

Tessa's face lit up, and she hurried over to greet her.

Draped in a custom haute couture gown and wearing a multi-million dollar diamond necklace, she looked the picture of delicate elegance. "Ms. Vance! You're finally here."

Vivienne's expression remained neutral, neither warm nor cold. "Hold off on the formalities, Tessa. You know my standards. If your performance today doesn't meet the mark..."

Tessa's smile faltered for a fraction of a second before she answered sweetly, "Don't worry. I promise I won't let you down!"

Vivienne nodded, saying nothing more.

Tessa lowered her eyes to hide the toxic resentment swirling in them.

She had originally met Vivienne through sheer luck. Tessa had entered a high-stakes piano competition just to pad her resume, but the competition was fierce, and her rivals were playing original pieces.

Refusing to be outdone, Tessa had panicked and stolen a composition Willow had written years ago. To her shock, the piece had blown Vivienne away, sparking the maestro's interest in taking her on as a student.

But Vivienne was a perfectionist. She felt it was too sudden and insisted on evaluating Tessa several more times.

Cocky and convinced that Willow's success was just dumb luck, Tessa confidently played her own original compositions for the subsequent evaluations. Vivienne ripped them apart.

She called them mechanical, flashy but devoid of soul, disjointed, and entirely lacking emotion. She had even brutally added that the market was over-saturated with garbage like that, and advised Tessa to give up composing entirely.

Tessa had been furious. Desperate, she had spent a year polishing another original piece, only to have it rejected again.

Vivienne had only agreed to attend this banquet because Tessa had sworn on her life that she would deliver a flawless masterpiece today.

If she failed Vivienne again, she would lose this mentorship forever.

She couldn't comprehend why a piece written by trash like Willow was treated like gold! But to secure her future, she had no choice but to steal from Willow again.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify