Anna was gonna debut as an idol. And she always showed the public her innocent and sweet side. The final round was gonna begin soon, and those photos could be a fatal threat to her career.
A surge of anger grew inside her.
“Listen. You don’t need to do anything right now. Don’t admit the person in those photos are you no matter how many journalists ask you about it, just deny it.” Anna’s agent called her that night, trying to tell her what to do.
Anna blinked, “So I just need to deny it.”
“Yep. Sending nudes will ruin your image. Your fans will leave you,” The manager was pretty serious.
“Can I start to change my style right now? You know. I can be a sexy actress,” Anna suggested.
“The final round is just around the corner. Your image has always been innocent and sweet on this show. If you suddenly change your image, people will only call you fake. God! How can you be so stupid, Anna?!” The agent was pretty frustrated.
Anna clenched her teeth, “Fine! I will do what you told me to do.”
She had been in a relationship with her boyfriend for 2 years. But she acted like she wasn’t dating anyone when she got into the show. Her boyfriend was extremely rich, probably the richest person Anna had ever met. He had already been mad at her since she claimed herself single on the show. It had taken Anna a while to make him calm down and forgive her. Anna loved him. And she knew she didn’t want to lose him. Anna called her boyfriend after her conversation with her agent. But her boyfriend wouldn’t even pick up the phone.
Anna was so sad that she didn’t even sleep all night. She couldn’t even go to the studio to practice her part with other members the next day.
Luna and Beth were both annoyed, but they knew they could do nothing. They thus perfected their parts as best as they could.
The live-stream final came quite soon. Since the live stream began at night. The girls thus practiced all day. They were all exhausted before dinner.
Thea was so tired that she didn’t even have much appetite. But she still forced some food down, knowing she needed more energy on stage.
When the show began, tens of thousands of audiences showed up online. The technique they used to support the live stream was quite advanced. There was no lagging at all. The judges of the show performed first. Paris still didn’t show up. After what happened last time, she insisted on taking a rest before showing her face in public.
The audience doubled when it was the performance of Thea’s team. The voting was skyrocketing as their performance went on.
Thea was wearing a sexy white dress. Her performance was immaculate, and she did her part so perfectly that her fans couldn’t believe how much progress she had made.
Anna, on the other hand, had less luck. Everyone knew Thea couldn’t dance. Anna got higher comments when it came to choreography, but her performance this time was awful. Everyone could tell that she couldn’t catch up at all. She even forgot her parts occasionally. The live chat was going crazy after she made countless mistakes. Anna’s fans were trying to get the comments under control, but the questions and bouts only got more and more.
In the middle of the performance, Anna’s body suddenly lurched forward because she tripped. She fell to her knees right before the cameras. No one had ever made such a big mistake since the show was aired.
That could sabotage the team’s whole performance.
Thea and Jessica instantly went forward to help her up.
However, Anna slapped Jessica’s hand off. Pressing a hand heavily on Thea’s shoulder and struggling to stand up.
She didn’t even look grateful after her teammates lent her a helping hand. She had a resentful look on her face as she continued singing.
It was her fault that she didn’t come back earlier for rehearsal, but now, it seemed like she only blamed someone else for her own fault.
The live chat went mad.
“So she had the time to send her boyfriend nudes. Yet she just couldn’t spare a minute to come back to the dorm for the rehearsal?”
“I heard she only came back in the last three days. I used to think Thea was good for nothing. But after seeing this stage performance, I just have to admit that Thea is at least a hard worker. I mean, she has tried her best not to drag other team members down.”
“Thanks for your positive review of Thea. But please don’t make any comparisons. Our Thea fans don’t want other people to think that we’re badmouthing other girls to make Thea look better.”
“If Anna can debut tonight, the whole show will become a joke. If that rich girl can buy her way through the competition, then it can just prove the show is manipulated.”
Anna looked like she was gonna cry after the stage performance. But she had no one to blame since she was the one who came back late for the rehearsal. She tried so hard to hold back her tears. Crying before the cameras were so humiliating.
She didn’t even want to face it when announcing the girls who got the highest vote.
The top girl band of the nation, Z-One, would debut tonight.
The stage performance of Thea’s team got the lowest score. Of course, no one could blame the judges because they did make a mistake. But it wouldn’t affect the individual performances and the voting.
Because of the incident, it took the judges extra time to argue who should be selected as the members of the new girl group.
During this time, the girls were allowed to go on the stage individually to make a little speech to their teammates and fans.
Anna couldn’t stop crying as she grabbed the microphone, “I’d like to take this chance to thank my lovely fans. I made a mistake during the stage performance, and I felt bad. I want to say sorry to my teammates. You guys worked so hard, and I’m so proud of you.”
She was acting all sad and devastated. But the fans wouldn’t forget how she pushed Jessica away on the stage. It was probably a bit hard for her to win the audience back.
After the heart-warming and emotional speech time, Dylan finally walked onto the stage, holding the name list of the nine members of the girl group.
“9th place, Cora, congratulations!”
Cora was a pretty unfamiliar name. The girl was less popular in the show than the other members. She couldn’t believe that she had actually made it to the group.
Her hands shot to cover her mouth as her tears welled up in her eyes.