For Paige, everything seemed to be happening so fast. Just this morning, she was being called a thief and kicked out of her house. And now, she was going to be performing on a show tonight.
She pinched herself to be sure she wasn't dreaming, and Jessica, who was staring at her, smiled, "Come on, let's go change your wardrobe.""Thank you very much, Sir," Paige said, wiping the joyous tears which had formed in her eyes."Don't worry about that. Just get ready to perform." Zach said.As Paige walked out, Zach stared at her, recalling his old days. His story seemed similar to hers as he had also been given a chance by someone he never expected.While they went shopping, Jessica asked Paige, "Are you related to Mr. Zach? I mean, he did say you're someone who belonged to him."Paige didn't know Jessica's relationship with Zach, so she didn't want to speak too much. She only said, "He's just helping me.""Come on, Mr. Zach doesn't help people just like that. I mean, everyone knows who he is. He doesn't even like people in his space, neither does he let them get close to him.And yet, he called for you to be taken shopping. Tell me the truth. I've had a crush on him for years, and I don't know how to get close to him. Please, you have to help me, Paige." Jessica revealed her feelings to Paige.Paige stared at her in surprise. "I do not have the kind of relationship where I can recommend or try to pair you with Mr. Zach. He might get upset and kick me out of his house."Jessica sighed, "And here I thought he had a soft spot in his heart. Alright, come on, let's get you your clothes."After shopping, Jessica brought Paige back, and she got dressed in one of the outfits."Zach also called a stylist, who came and fixed her hair and wore her makeup.Afterward, she got into Zach's car, and his driver drove them to the venue of the show.Before they came out of the car, he said, "Look at the time. It's just a few minutes past eight and look at the date. Today is the day your career begins. I want you to start from the bottom and rise to the top so that you can value whatever you achieve in this life."Paige nodded, "Okay, sir.""Good, and also know that you'll face a lot of obstacles on your path. But if you're determined and focused, you will be successful. And as you pass the audition tonight, I will search for a good agency for you and make sure you get a manager when the time is right. Do you understand?""I understand." She replied."Alright now, you can enter through the backstage. Once they see your face, they'll lead you in. I've already spoken to the right people.""Thank you very much, sir," Paige said once again. "I promise I won't fail you.""I prefer actions to words. You can go now." Paige stepped out of the car and took deep breaths as she made her way to the backstage. Just as Zach had said, the moment she arrived, a man approached her."Come with me, I'll take you to the dressing room," he said.She followed him into a room, where she saw different girls busy with their makeup.He said to her, "Your dress has been arranged. You'll all be wearing the same type of dress but in different colors. Blend in with the girls and agree on what to do. When it's time and you hear the Spark Girls being called, come out, okay?"Paige nodded and took a seat. As she sat down, she overheard the girls murmuring. She turned around and finally spotted her sister, Candy. Candy couldn't believe her eyes."Paige, what are you doing here? Who brought this thief here? Who let her into this room?" Candy exclaimed, wanting to drag Paige out.One of the girls interjected, "Be careful with her. Didn't you see who brought her in? Haven't you noticed that our dresses are now five?""What? But we were originally meant to be four," Candy replied, shocked.Another girl rolled her eyes and said, "Beats my imagination. I don't know where she crawled out from."Candy stared at Paige, her body heaving with anger. She couldn't understand how Paige, who had been kicked out of the house in the morning, ended up there. She had struggled hard in the audition that brought her among these girls, even stealing Paige's song. She had put in her best effort. How could Paige now be here with her?"No, I cannot let her outshine me," Candy said to herself.Seeing that all the other girls were busy, Paige decided to go into the toilet and rehearse. Since everything had happened quickly, she wanted to make sure she didn't disappoint Zach. She believed he would be watching from his car. So she stayed in the toilet, rehearsing her lines.Meanwhile, Candy looked around and saw that the other girls were engrossed in their tasks. The dresses they were given were short, sleeveless gowns with cross lines at the back.Paige's dress was black, while Candy's was white. She noticed Paige's name attached to the gown and walked closer to it.She took a razor, and cut a small part of it. Then she returned to her seat and pretended as though nothing had happened.When it was thirty minutes to the performance time, the man who had brought Paige in knocked on the door and said, "Come on, girls, get ready. It's almost time."One of the girls knocked on the door, and Paige quickly emerged. She had already done her makeup and hair, so all she needed to do was change her clothes. She took off the jeans and top she was wearing, revealing a bra top, and underwear. She swiftly put on the black dress without noticing that the rope at the back of the gown was almost loose.Afterward, they were called, and they all went out. Each of them grabbed a microphone from the backstage staff who were assigned to them. In no time, they were all standing in front of a crowd. Paige's heart began to beat fast. This was her first time standing in front of such a large audience. She had sung many times before, but it was always in the comfort of her home, either with her mom back then or in front of her mirror. There were so many people cheering for them. They all stood together, each wearing a different color. One girl wore white, another blue, another green, Candy wore red, and Paige wore black.According to the arrangement, they would each sing a different verse, with all of them taking one song.They were to sing until the last verse. They would then start from the beginning. This way, they would be able to determine the top two among them.Paige had no doubt that she would be among the best, especially since Zach had told her she had an amazing voice. She was placed at the end, and they were going to sing one after the other. She could even hear some people in the crowd asking, "When did the Spark Girls become five? I thought they were four. What happened? What happened?" As she waited for the event to begin, she spotted Zach in the crowd, causing her eyes to widen in surprise. She hadn't expected him to show up. His arms were folded, and he seemed to be hiding, but his gaze was fixed on her. Her heart started racing, as she didn't want to disappoint him no matter what.The first girl began singing, and Candy stood close by. The crowd fell silent, captivated by the melodious voice. After she finished her verse, the next person took their turn.Eventually, it was Paige's time to sing. Just as she was about to open her mouth, Candy placed her hand on Paige's back and pulled the already-cut rope.The gown came loose, and Paige's heart skipped a beat as it almost slipped off her body.Shocked, Paige immediately let go of the microphone which rolled on the ground, and clutched her gown, holding it tightly to her body. A part of her bra top was exposed, causing the entire crowd to gasp.She started hearing murmurs and comments like, "What's happening?""It's a wardrobe malfunction!" "Come on, sing!""She's a loser."She stood there, staring at the crowd, feeling frozen and hoping that the ground would swallow her up.She had no idea what to do. The girl at the beginning began to sing to fill the time, as they had a limited timeframe.Meanwhile, Paige's gaze remained fixed on Mr. Zachary as tears began to stream down her face.Paige stared at the people in the audience, observing the different expressions on their faces. Some felt pity for her, some laughed at her, while others booed and gestured with their thumbs down. As tears streamed down her face, the other girls continued to sing, and no one waited for her. After Candy; the fourth person, finished singing, the first girl resumed. Paige's microphone had already been rolled away from where she stood. Unable to bear the shame any longer, she turned around and ran away from the stage. Candy smiled, feeling victorious, and said inwardly, "Now let me see how you will be among the top two."Paige did not stop running until she reached outside. Fearing that people might notice her and start pointing fingers at her, she searched for a quiet and hidden spot, finding solace leaning on a pillar. She covered her face with her hands and continued to cry, recalling how she had assured Mr. Zachary that she would not fail him. She felt even more disappointed in he
Seeing that Paige was still crying, Zachary dipped his hand into his pocket, took out his handkerchief, and offered it to her. She stared at his hand, hesitating to take it from him, but he said, "Go ahead, take it.""Thank you, sir," she replied as she accepted the handkerchief and wiped her tears.When she was done wiping, Zach said, "If you break down so easily, how can you get to the top? How can you become a star if it's so easy to turn you into a crying vegetable? And what's up with your dress?""Well, I... I think someone cut off the rope," Paige sniffled."It's your fault," Zachary said, "it's no one else's fault but yours."Paige was surprised; she could not understand how it was her fault that someone plotted against her.Zachary saw the look on her face and knew that she did not understand his words, so he began to explain. "You should know that people try to one-up each other at events like this. That's how the world of showbiz is. So you should always be prepared. I look
As Paige entered the room, two of the girls turned to stare at her and began to laugh.Candy was the one who laughed the loudest; she folded her arms and said, "Aww, her eyes are puffy. Has the crybaby been crying tonight?""You were the one who sabotaged my dress, weren't you?" Paige asked Candy.Candy shook her head and retorted, "Wait, you're not satisfied with being a failure; now you're going to embarrass yourself here by accusing me of things I know nothing about?"The other girls in the room joined in laughing, and one even said to Candy, "Come on, why are you entertaining her? Don't bother with her, Candy; she's beneath us. From the very start, she wasn't supposed to be among us. We worked hard to get to this stage, and only God knows who she slept with in order to sneak in. But she has learned her place, so you shouldn't waste your breath on her."Paige stared at all of them without saying another word, holding her clothes tightly to herself. She remembered what Zachary had sa
Zach didn't want to believe that Paige was a thief. Although the information he had gathered showed she had been accused of theft many times by her family, he knew how families like that worked, so he didn't want to hold on to that. However, the look on her face at this point left him unsure of what to believe.It wasn't possible for her to be the one who stole from him because the CCTV footage of last night had been wiped off.The first thing he did was to check the CCTV room when he realized his jade necklace was missing. It was the only thing he had left of his mother, the only thing that reminded him of her. The fact that the footage had been wiped off showed that whoever stole from him was someone who knew his house perfectly.Paige had just turned eighteen and was the youngest person in his house. So how could she have stolen that bracelet when she didn't really know how everything worked in the house?Seeing that Paige was quiet, he became worried as he desperately hoped that
One hour later, Paige stopped crying and thought about what the future held for her. No matter how she thought about it, someone must have set her up.The jade necklace could not have miraculously ended up in her room since she knew that she never took it. It had to be one of the maids.Who else could it be? The one person she held as a suspect was the housekeeper. She was the only one who hated her enough to plot something so big.However, she couldn't point her finger at her because she had no evidence. It would seem as though she was trying to push the blame for her crime onto someone innocent.What hurt her the most was the way Zachary had stared at her as though she was a thief. He had shown trust in her just a few minutes ago, but now everything was ruined.She tried to focus her mind on other things because she didn't want to keep crying. She suddenly remembered that the judges of the event she performed at the previous night had said they'd send a reply to her the next day.Sh
After Paige left, Candy went back into the house with her parents. Her mom said, "Just imagine, this Paige. She's so fearless. How dare she come here and try to speak at the top of her voice? This is what I've been going through in her hands."Anthony shook his head, "I can't believe how insolent she is. It's a good thing I threw her out. If I hadn't stopped by to pick up something, I wouldn't have known that she could speak so disrespectfully.""That's how she is, Dad," Candy replied. "But, um, Dad, did you see that Paige also performed at the Spark girls' show? I mean, for some reason, she was suddenly among the Spark Girls. Normally, spark girls are only four, and one is picked out as the best at the end. But she came out of nowhere, and for the first time, the Spark Girls were five. Dad, I don't want Paige to beat me."Her mom scoffed, "How will she beat you? You're more beautiful and more talented. You'll surely win over her.""I know that when it comes to talent, I'm much better
After leaving the police station, Paige went back to Zach's home. She remained in the room, thinking about everything Matilda had told her. In the end, she told herself not to pay attention to such nonsense. It was probably an excuse to justify her wrongs.When Zach got back home, he went straight to his room without stopping to ask Paige about her meeting with Matilda.When it was morning, Paige woke up and checked her mail. She knew that the information from Spark Entertainment Agency would arrive on that day, but she didn't know the time. However, she decided to still check her mail, and when she did, she saw that a mail had been sent, citing her as one of the candidates who had been selected.She got up and screamed, jumping for joy. "I can't believe it, I can't believe this," she exclaimed.She wanted to hurry to Zach to tell him the good news she had received, but she realized that she hadn't taken her bath. So she rushed to the bathroom, took her bath, brushed her teeth, and p
As Zach drove back to the office, he recalled how Paige had said she couldn't call him "sir" because it was disrespectful.He smiled, "Foolish girl, can't you tell that I don't want you to get so formal around me? So you can call Williams by his name but not me?""What is going on here?" The director who caught Candy before she could fall and pushed her forward asked.Candy pointed accusing fingers at Paige as she sounded aggrieved, "I don't know what I did to her. Perhaps she's jealous of me. I just came in here and saw her sitting down. I asked her if you were not in your office, and then she got up and slapped me. How can someone be so uncouth? Why would she do that? I am not going to spare her; this is unacceptable. No one has ever hit me before."As the director listened to Candy's accusation, the man stared at Paige, who was silent. She had an air of composure about her and did not show any signs of anger. He recalled what the top judge had said when he gave him Paige's name.H