At the live broadcast of "Heavenly Sound," the audience began to enter one after another. Not far from Julian Lawson’s seat, the three members of the Hawthorne Family had also taken their seats. The three of them were chatting about something. Some words drifted into Julian Lawson’s ears. "...Brother, you just pretend, all kinds of pretending to be innocent, what if she doesn’t type?" It was the voice of Hawthorne’s second son, teasing about something unknown. Hawthorne’s second son said, "After all, you know the type she liked before." "How do you know I’m not truly innocent?" replied Silas Hawthorne in a leisurely voice. "Yue..." Hawthorne’s second son made a vomiting gesture and glanced over at his sister. June Hawthorne also rolled her eyes, looking at Silas Hawthorne with a speechless expression. "Brother, you must be joking, you big bad wolf, how shameless can you be to say these things!" said Hawthorne’s second son helplessly, "Before, you wanted to check them out but used me as a shield, and you said you had a plan. I see your plan is to get the person into your hands!" June Hawthorne nodded in agreement, pointing and criticizing, "You’re just a suave scoundrel! Someday I need to reveal your true face to her." Silas Hawthorne responded with a light laugh. Seemingly indifferent, yet seeming confident. Julian Lawson glanced at the nearby trio, but he noticed Silas Hawthorne was looking at him. Silas Hawthorne leaned back in his chair, looking leisurely, and seemed to have noticed Julian’s gaze, he smiled and nodded at him. Julian Lawson thought for a moment and nodded in response. Then, he withdrew his gaze. But his thoughts began to drift. Who were those three from the Hawthorne Family talking about? It seemed they were talking about Silas Hawthorne having a woman he liked. What a rare occurrence. Wonder who the woman that caught Silas Hawthorne’s eye is. Julian Lawson looked at the seat beside him and thought about it, then sent a message to Serena Sterling. Julian Lawson: She should be here, but she might be late. However, just like before, the message disappeared into the void. This made Julian Lawson frown slightly. Next to him, Hawthorne’s second son and June Hawthorne kept winking and gesturing, looking between Julian Lawson and Silas Hawthorne, and making various gestures in silence. Finally, it was Silas Hawthorne who gave a light cough, making the siblings stop. On the other side, Vera Hansen kept glancing this way. Upon seeing the seat next to Julian Lawson, she clenched her hands tightly. Julian Lawson had invited Serena Sterling, he mentioned it to her, and also said that if she minded, he would give Serena a regular audience seat. To maintain her own persona, Vera Hansen surely arranged for Serena to be seated nearby. "Even after divorce, we’re still friends." At that time, Vera Hansen smiled pale, "And I don’t have much time left, the rest of your life, she’ll be there with you." Vera Hansen withdrew her gaze. "Serena, you’d better not come if you know what’s good for you, otherwise, it’ll look good for you!" Vera Hansen murmured softly. Thinking again, Vera Hansen seemed to have thought of something and turned to walk towards the host. As time passed, the live broadcast quickly started. The host took the stage, inviting the special guest for this session, 28-year-old master singer in the music industry, Seraphina Young, to perform the opening song. Soon, the atmosphere on site was stirred up. Although to not overshadow the contestants, Seraphina Young deliberately chose a more lyrical and gentle song, it was still incredibly impactful. With a slight bow from Seraphina Young, applause filled the venue. After she exited, the host took the judges to the stage. "Dear judges, please come up in order," said the staff. First, Vera Hansen and the other three regular judges took the stage for the final speech. Serena and the others waited backstage for the following performance. "Time flies, today is the final round." When Vera Hansen’s turn to speak came, she smiled, her eyes slightly red, "I really can’t bear to part with it." "Although my life is almost at its end, I believe that when the day comes for me to leave, as long as I remember these days and everyone here, tears will still fill my eyes." Vera Hansen said with a "strong" smile, "Later, during the program’s commercial break, I will release 50 invitation cards on my platform." "If anyone is willing, please use the invitation card to attend my funeral a few months later." Saying this, Vera Hansen bowed deeply, her eyes red. "I hope that everyone who comes can dress extravagantly because I want everyone to live well, bravely and brilliantly." She smiled beautifully and tragically and said, "I hope none of you will find it ominous." The audience in the venue burst into tears, and some screamed loudly—"We wouldn’t, we wouldn’t find it ominous, sobs, Vera is so pitiful." Online discussions were immense. Many supporters of Vera Hansen expressed sympathy and were wondering how to grab an invitation card. "Why are there only 50, I wonder if I can get one." "The person above, Vera doesn’t want to expand the impact, she is also afraid we would find her funeral ominous, so she’s only inviting 50 netizens." "She is really so good, sobs." "Serena, come out! Look at how Vera acts, do you still have the face to live?" There was even a comment—"I would rather use Serena’s remaining life to exchange for Vera’s safety!" This comment directly became the top-rated comment on the related topic. After Vera Hansen finished, she withdrew, letting others speak. Her gaze swept over the audience seats, confirming that the spot not far from Julian Lawson was still empty. She lowered her head to tidy her clothes, a hint of satisfaction in her eyes. [Serena, you’d better enter now, let’s see how you deal with it.] Vera Hansen thought. As for the real Serena, she was calmly watching Vera Hansen perform from the waiting area. She noticed that Vera Hansen kept glancing at the audience seats, at the spot next to Julian Lawson. Serena knew that was the seat Julian Lawson had reserved for her. This maneuver by Vera Hansen was probably to prepare for her soon-to-be arrival at the audience seats, right? One must say, the marketing team behind Vera Hansen is really quite amazing. Every few days, they seem to have different new ideas to stir up trouble. Serena smiled nonchalantly, Vera Hansen’s plan was doomed to fail. She wouldn’t appear in the audience seats. Instead, she would appear on the contestant stage. Serena glanced at Julian Lawson again from afar. His gaze was fixed on the empty seat beside him. His brow slightly furrowed, not knowing what he was thinking. Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹•𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒•𝙣𝙚𝙩 Not far from Julian Lawson, Hawthorne’s second son and June Hawthorne seemed to be plotting something, their heads close together whispering, while Silas Hawthorne sat in the shadow, no one could see his expression. "Now, let’s welcome today’s first contestant, Beatrice Sawyer, to the stage to perform!" As the host’s voice came through, the competition between the contestants officially began.