Chapter 387

Chapter 387:
“It stings a little, doesn’t it?” he asked the animal.
“Meow.”
“It’s fine. I expected as much.” He stroked the soft, furry head and watched her taillights fade.
Millie reached home, cleaned up, and went straight to bed. She refused to overthink the encounter. Tomorrow’s competition was all that mattered. If everything went according to plan, she’d remove the mask at the end of the show.
Sunlight spilled through the window as Millie woke, greeted by a cloudless, brilliant sky.
She paused for a moment, taking in the crisp blue above the city, and gave a determined nod. The weather itself seemed to promise good fortune.
Today marked the long-awaited finals. From the crack of dawn, chaos reigned.
Elaborate costumes and intricate hairstyles meant hours of work, so Millie arrived at the designer’s studio well before schedule, determined to get every detail right.
Once her look was perfected, she slid into the backseat of the sedan and headed for the Heavenly Melody finals venue.
But as they approached, Millie immediately sensed something was off.
Before she’d even set foot out of the car, she spotted a dense crowd swelling outside the recording studio. The energy was electric—excited, noisy, maybe even tense. From inside the vehicle, she could only catch snippets of sound, indistinct but urgent.
Barbara, ever practical, leaned forward and instructed the driver to pull over a little ways off. “Serena, wait here,” she said calmly. “I’ll go see what’s going on.”
With that, she slipped from the car, disappearing into the bustling crowd to investigate.
Barbara soon returned, her expression clouded with worry.
“Should we try to drive straight in?” she inquired, glancing anxiously at the driver.
A prickle of unease shot through Millie. She studied Barbara, waiting for an explanation.
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Barbara finally broke, lowering her voice. “There are protesters up ahead—holding signs, making a scene…”
She trailed off, but Millie didn’t need the rest spelled out.
“We’re not getting through that crowd. We’ll have to come up with another plan,” Millie replied, her tone decisive. “They’ve probably spotted our car already. If we push our way in and things get ugly…”
She left the warning unfinished. The implication hung in the air.
One wrong move, and the finals would slip right through their fingers.
Just then, another car rolled past. Vivian’s face pressed to the window, her eyes glittering with mischief. “What’s the holdup? Scared now?” she sneered, a mischievous smile lighting up her lips.
Barbara shot Vivian a venomous glare before getting in. She slammed the car door so hard the whole sedan shook. Without missing a beat, Millie urged the driver to pull away immediately.
Just as the car pulled away, a swarm of protesters surged to their former parking spot, shouting and waving signs.
“Damn it!” Barbara muttered a sharp curse when she spotted them in the mirror, instantly realizing Vivian had deliberately tipped them off. Thank God they’d left in time—if they’d hesitated even a second longer, they would have been completely surrounded.
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