Chapter 42
The role had originally been promised to another actress with powerful connections, but the director had preferred Lania.
After losing the part, that actress grew to hate her.
The “unexplained absence” during filming was simply because someone had slipped a laxative into her food, making her sick.
As for the secret meeting with a man, it was pure fabrication, a story deliberately concocted and then amplified by a paid online smear campaign.
Lania was knocked off her pedestal almost overnight. Unable to cope, she had lost her will to live for a time. It was Kieran’s patient guidance that helped her slowly calm down and start her life over.
Because of this, Lania felt nothing but gratitude and a deep, gnawing guilt toward Kieran. She still felt terrible about what had happened to him, but as a mere music teacher, there was nothing she could do to help.
“Alright, tell him to come see me,” Mira said after a moment’s thought.
The arts were just a side hustle for Mira; she had no intention of becoming a celebrity herself, so their damaged reputations didn’t matter much. As long as they were competent, that was all she needed.
Besides, she had other plans for him.
Lania breathed a sigh of relief, immensely grateful to Mira.
“Thank you! Thank you so much p>
In her subsequent lessons with Mira, she poured her heart and soul into teaching, holding nothing back.
After class, she immediately contacted Kieran. They spoke with Mira over the phone and settled everything. As soon as Kieran settled his current employment matters, he could start.
In the blink of an eye, the date for the Youth Arts Showcase auditions arrived.
Liora Bennett, in the end, had been forced by her mother to study the arts.
She had sought help from Mira, but her friend had simply told her, “You’re not doing anything else, so you might as well learn something. It can’t hurt p>
“As for the competition, just go with the flow. If you get in, great. Think of it as practice. If you don’t, no one’s going to blame you p>
Mira was genuinely envious of her two friends. They had caring parents and doting brothers. Even being forced to learn something was a form of happiness.
It was nothing like her situation. Ever since Mara Mercer had returned, her so-called home had turned into hostile territory. It was a good day if her parents and brothers didn’t actively help Mara bully her.
With Mira’s skill level, she didn’t need backup dancers from the studio to get through the auditions. She could handle it herself.
So she met up with her two friends, and they headed out in Celine Ward’s car, taking only their costumes with them, traveling light.
The auditions consisted of three rounds. The first round was a broad filter, mainly to see if the contestants had any basic artistic ability.
The first round was a brutal filter, set to slash several thousand hopefuls down to the top one hundred.
Ten panels of judges worked simultaneously.
Although each panel saw hundreds of people, the process was fast. Not everyone got to perform all three of their chosen talents.
Many were cut after singing just a few notes, receiving no score at all.
Very few were allowed to showcase all three talents. Those who did were generally the most skilled and capable contestants.
In the end, only the scores of this select group were compiled and ranked.
Mira captivated the judges with a stunning piano performance right from the start.
Her dance and vocal performances were merely a formality after that.
Celine also made it through all three of her
roundformances and pass the
which didn’t surprise, ‘t surprise Mira
She had a decent level of skill, affe
all.
But what did surprise Mira was that Liora had passed as well.
“Look at you! And you said you didn’t have an artistic bone in your body. You’ve only been studying for such a short time and you already passed the first round p>
“Hehe, it’s mainly because my mom hired the best teachers,” Liora said with a grin.
Celine rolled her eyes at her. “The lessons still have to actually sink in p>
The three rounds of auditions were held on three separate days. By the time the first day’s competition was over, it was already three in the afternoon. They didn’t linger and started heading back.
Mira had the driver drop her off directly at Arclight Arts Academy.
She told Lania about the competition, then continued to practice there until evening before returning to the Mercer estate.