As soon as Hayley said that, the smile on Stefania’s face instantly vanished, and her expression darkened somewhat.
Meanwhile, Tessa was totally unaware that Hayley had told Stefania about her return. After meeting up with the orchestra’s members, she followed Hathaway to inspect the venue where they would be performing.
The orchestra would be performing at Silverscape Theater, a well-known landmark building full of exotic beauty in the downtown area of Southend. Decorated in the palace style, the tremendously spacious theater exuded chic extravagance everywhere. With two levels of seating, the theater’s auditorium could accommodate up to 10,000 people.
As the orchestra would be performing in three days, Hathaway wasted no time in having the orchestra rehearse for the performance after everyone had familiarized themselves with the environment.
Seeing the orchestra perform on stage, Tessa sat in the audience with a gleam of determination in her eyes. I’ll become one of the members performing onstage one day.
The rehearsal went on until the evening. Seeing that the orchestra’s members had gone backstage, Tessa followed them there to help them.
Just then, Hathaway came over with a smile, saying, “Tessa, you’re a local of Southend, so you certainly know where to find delicious food. I’ll leave it to you to take our orchestra to dinner this evening.”
“Sure, no problem,” Tessa replied with a smile without refusing. In reality, even if Hathaway hadn’t said so, she would’ve played host to Hathaway and the others by taking them out to eat something delicious and hang out nearby while they were at it.
Kathleen stood beside them while looking at the smile on Tessa’s face. Somehow, she found Tessa’s smile offensive no matter how she looked at it. Suddenly, she seemingly recalled something and said sarcastically, “Tessa, I heard that your boyfriend is the Sawyer Group’s president. With his social standing, he must know somewhere good to go. Why don’t you call him over to play host to us?”
Tessa knitted her brows as she found Kathleen increasingly annoying. “My boyfriend is very busy with work, so he really can’t find time for that.” She darted a look at Kathleen without a change in her countenance. Then, she added meaningfully, “And besides, my boyfriend doesn’t like being with strangers, so I’ll play host to you guys myself.”
Naturally, Kathleen understood the meaning behind Tessa’s words, and she looked somewhat embarrassed. Letting out a soft snort, she replied disdainfully, “Tsk, you’ve got so many excuses. The way I see it, your boyfriend probably doesn’t care about you as much as you imagined.”
Tessa’s face immediately fell at her words. This woman really wouldn’t let me off, would she? At the thought of this, she curtly shot back, “Whether my boyfriend cares about me or not is my own business. That’s none of your concern.”
Upon hearing this, Kathleen was rendered speechless.
The atmosphere became somewhat tense all at once. Sensing the tension between the two, the orchestra’s other members looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
Looking at her daughter with a sullen expression, Hathaway reprimanded, “Shut up and pack up your stuff! Stop picking on Tessa here.”
“How am I picking on her?” Kathleen was resentful at being reprimanded.
Hathaway shot her a glare. She warned, “Don’t forget what you’ve promised me earlier.”
Upon hearing this, Kathleen instantly fell silent. After darting a look at Tessa guiltily, she pouted her lips and turned around to go ahead with what she was doing.
Tessa found Kathleen’s attitude a little strange, but she didn’t take it to heart.
Just then, Hathaway came over and said apologetically, “Kathleen is spoiled rotten by her father, so she speaks and acts without thinking sometimes. Just ignore her.”
“It’s okay.” That was what she said, but deep down, Tessa felt very uncomfortable.
A while later, everyone had finished packing up their stuff and were ready to leave the theater for dinner.
By this moment, Tessa had contacted a well-known restaurant in Southend through the internet. As there were many members in the orchestra, she had to make a reservation in advance.
Tessa and the orchestra’s members used up almost all the private rooms when they arrived at the restaurant. Tessa had inquired about everyone’s food preferences before coming, so everyone enjoyed the dinner.
Hathaway knew that everyone wanted to hang out around the area. Therefore, after everyone had eaten and drunk to their hearts’ content, she announced that everyone was free to go wherever they liked as long as their rehearsal on the next day wouldn’t be affected.
