Hawthorne's words struck a nerve with Link, a young man with a patchy beard and a few acne scars, who was currently sitting among the panel of judges.
The tone had been far too arrogant for his taste.
Sure, he knew how things worked—rankings weren't really decided by the judges alone. That wasn't how the entertainment world functioned.
But he wasn't some no-name judge. He'd worked his way into the inner circle of a few key sponsors. They usually gave him face—letting him "adjust" certain scores to keep the right people happy. He'd already been tipped off about who should take first place. Otherwise, he'd never have had the guts to finalize the list so confidently.
And now this so-called Jason wanted to overrule him? Change the rankings just because he frowned?
"Who exactly is this Jason Carter?" Link asked, trying to keep his irritation in check.
Hawthorne replied in his calm, matter-of-fact tone:"He's the primary backer of this entire event. Carter Industries—our biggest sponsor."
That made Link blink. The biggest sponsor meant the one holding the purse strings. Half his anger fizzled right there.
Still, his pride pushed back. "If there were to be a change in rankings," he said stiffly, "I could've been informed beforehand. But suddenly jumping in like this? It puts me in a difficult position. Surely he can't just rearrange everything at will?"
Hawthorne smiled faintly. "Jason Carter isn't just a representative from Carter Industries. He's the also new owner of Vision Media."
Link's pupils widened slightly. New Horizon Media had recently bought out three of the most powerful entertainment conglomerates in the country.
Link's stomach dropped.
He suddenly realized that if this really was was like that, he could lose his position—or worse—for challenging him.
Cold sweat rolled down the back of his neck.
He silently thanked whatever higher being was listening that he hadn't mouthed off too harshly a moment ago.
Without hesitation, Link pulled out his phone and sent a message, the contestant he'd prematurely told about her "win." He had even snapped a picture of the rankings and sent it to her earlier to show off.
Now he frantically typed:
"Don't say anything about the results. There's been a last-minute change. Do not post it anywhere."
But even after hitting send, anxiety gnawed at him. If Grace had already opened her big mouth—
He turned to Hawthorne, swallowing hard. "Mr. Hawthorne… that person sitting in the center VIP seat—is that Jason Carter himself? Could you, uh, maybe introduce me? I'd like to apologize in person."
Hawthorne gave a satisfied nod. "Good. You're smart enough to know when to back down."
A few minutes later, he led Link through the side hallway toward the front row of the grand auditorium.
Backstage, meanwhile…
Grace could barely contain herself.
When Link had sent her that screenshot of the final rankings earlier, she'd squealed, then screamed loud enough to turn heads.
Her phone shook in her hands as she jumped to her feet, shouting, "I did it! I won! I'm the champion!"
The backstage crew froze mid-task.
"Wait—what?" someone muttered. "They haven't even announced the winners yet."
"Didn't she just sing a pop cover? It wasn't bad, but… first place?" another whispered skeptically.
Grace's group of girlfriends instantly surrounded her, gasping and congratulating her with over-the-top enthusiasm.
"Oh my god, Jules, you did it!""You're amazing!""I told you that outfit was your lucky charm!"
Grace grinned from ear to ear, soaking in the attention—and then one of them, too excited to stop herself, forwarded the photo of the official results sheet to the group chat.
Within minutes, the image spread through half the backstage area.
The stamped official ranking sheet from the judges' panel—with Grace Tuner's name clearly listed at the top.
Gasps filled the air.
"Wait… is this real?""Looks official to me. Holy crap."
A few performers exchanged knowing looks.
Something didn't add up.
Mia and Oli both frowned.
They had gone into the college music gala confident—each sure they would take either first or second place. Losing to each other would've been fine. But hearing that Grace, whose performance had been… painfully average, was somehow crowned champion?
That didn't sit right.
If anyone said there wasn't something shady going on behind the scenes, they'd be lying. Was this what people meant by the unspoken rule?
Oli just sighed softly. She'd heard about this kind of thing before — favoritism, sponsor influence, money behind every "artistic decision." It wasn't new to her. But Mia? Mia's eyes were trembling with disbelief.
Her dream was to pursue music. Pure, honest music. And yet, that dream was now being mocked right in front of her — dirtied by politics and shallow manipulation.
She stared blankly at the stage lights, her heart tightening.
If even a small-town college gala could be this corrupt… what about the bigger stages? Would the world ever let real talent shine?
Her dreams, her ideals — could they even survive reality?
She felt lost. Hurt. Angry. But mostly, small.
Meanwhile, backstage chaos was breaking out.Someone had already leaked Grace' supposed "championship" before the official results were even announced.
When Hawthorne, the event manager, heard this, his face turned pale.
He immediately called the lead judge, Eric, and hissed through the phone, "Eric, what the hell did you do? Who told you to leak the rankings early?"
On the other end, Eric's face went red. "What? I didn't—" Then he opened his messages. There it was. He'd texted Grace earlier, bragging that she'd won. But below that, there was another message — one he hadn't read.
It was from Hawthorne, sent minutes later:
"Rankings revoked. Do NOT leak results. Jason Carter wants a re-evaluation."
Eric froze. His throat went dry.The name Jason Carter hit like thunder.
Eric's earlier arrogance turned to cold panic. He felt sweat slide down his back. He'd narrowly avoided career suicide.
He quickly sent Grace a message:
"Forget everything I said. Rankings are being reviewed. Don't tell anyone."
But it was too late.
Backstage, Grace had already jumped up, phone in hand, screaming:"YES! I won! I knew it!"
Every performer turned to stare.
"What?""Already announced?""That can't be right—her song wasn't even that good!"
Some of Grace's friends immediately took pictures of the ranking sheet Eric had sent her and posted them online.
Within minutes, the rumor had spread across the entire auditorium.
Hawthorne stormed backstage. The staff moved fast, locking things down, telling everyone it was fake — "Photoshopped by Grace herself."
Mia and Oli exchanged confused looks.
It didn't feel fake. More like someone powerful had stepped in before the farce went public.
When the actual award ceremony began, the results were completely different.
🥇 1st Place: Oli Larson🥈 2nd Place: Mia🥉 3rd Place: Evan Reed
Grace name? Nowhere to be found — she'd been quietly blacklisted.
Both girls accepted their trophies, smiling, though their hearts were still pounding. When they stepped up on stage and glanced toward the VIP seats, they froze.
Jason Carter was there — calm, collected, sitting back with one leg crossed over the other.
Standing beside him, humbly bowing and apologizing again and again, was none other than Eric Young.
It all made sense now.
Oli's heart gave a flutter she didn't expect. This man — the quiet, elegant guy who'd barely said a word — had actually stepped in to protect fairness.
He didn't have to.He had wealth, power, and every reason to stay uninvolved.But he didn't.
Oly's favorability +15.
Mia, on the other hand, felt a wave of warmth surge through her chest. The kind of warmth that comes when someone powerful stands up for something you believe in.
Her dream — her music — had just been protected by someone who could.
She glanced again at Jason. He wasn't even looking their way, just clapping faintly, almost absentmindedly. Yet somehow, that made him seem even more untouchable.
Mia's favorability +10.
Last time, when Jason bought that grand piano on a whim, Mia thought it was just another rich man's vanity.
But now, she finally understood.Money wasn't the point — freedom was.With enough power, you could do what you believed in.You could protect what mattered.
For the first time, Mia's gaze toward Jason Carter softened — no longer cold, but full of quiet respect.
Mia's favorability +10.
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