Chapter 189

Alice Sterling frowned slightly, trying to comfort herself. “Maybe the audience was just being polite with the applause.” Jessica Lane immediately shot that theory down. “That many claps? That'd be some next-level politeness.” Thinking of how Ryan Bennett had framed Alice last time, she couldn't help but guess, “Do you think the show's trying to stir up drama again?” Alice had thought about that too at first. But after the last mess, Edward Hawthorne had already warned the people behind it. They probably wouldn't dare mess around again… right? She shook her head, pushing those messy thoughts aside. “I wasn’t really known to begin with. And I’m not professionally trained like the others. Maybe after comparing, the audience just thought the other singers did better.” Right after that, Jason Morgan, who'd been quiet this whole time, chimed in, “Slow songs aren’t really a fit for a competitive stage anyway… maybe that’s where things went south.” Alice nodded in agreement, but Jessica’s eye