Chapter 182 An Injured Hand
Charles and Sean exchanged glances, not expecting that Tristan would be so tolerant toward Sophie. However, Sophie did not give it any thought. When Ysabelle saw that Sophie wanted to head backstage, she rose to her feet too.
“Sophie, could I go with you? I want to meet the other members of The Wheelers. I’m really a fan of them,” Ysabelle blurted excitedly.
“Come on, then. Let’s go over there together and take a look,” Sophie replied. She did not think it was a big deal to go backstage and have a look.
Ysabelle flung her arms around Sophie and kissed her on the cheek. “I knew all along that you’re the nicest to me. Sophie, you’ve no idea how much I adore you!”
Felix could not help flicking a glance at Ysabelle. Isn’t she being a little too bold? How does she have the guts to tease Mr. Tristan’s woman in front of him? Does she have a death wish?
Indeed, Tristan did not look too happy. It did not please him to see others teasing Sophie, regardless of their gender. Even though that person is my niece, I still feel the same way.
However, Ysabelle had nothing to worry about since Sophie was around. With Sophie here, Uncle Tristan won’t be able to do anything to me.
“Be careful,” Felix cautioned. In truth, he wanted to follow them backstage, mainly because he was worried about Ysabelle. However, thinking that it would not be appropriate for so many of them to head over there together, he dismissed the thought.
After Sophie led Ysabelle backstage, they found that it was indeed chaos there.
Even the band’s manager was stupefied after taking in the situation. The concert is going to start in ten minutes. What on earth is going on here?
“What happened? Wasn’t everything confirmed already? What’s going on now?” the manager asked anxiously. There’s a crowd of a hundred thousand people at today’s concert. If something goes wrong in any one of the segments, the consequences will be disastrous!
“Sunny injured his hand.” Sunny was the band’s drummer. The main highlight of the band was that they performed all their music live, but now, Sunny’s hand was injured, and losing their drummer meant their performance would be lackluster.
“How did he get hurt? He was fine when I left earlier, wasn’t he? The company only gave us such an incredible opportunity because they believed in us. Even the biggest stars don’t get this kind of treatment!” the manager exclaimed worriedly, looking like she was about to cry. How could something like this happen to me?
“What happened?” Sophie inquired. She was not convinced that it was an accident. It’s simply too much of a coincidence.
“It was so scary, Sophie. I went to the washroom just now, right? Well, a few people grabbed me and immediately hit my hand.” Sunny was the youngest in the band, so everyone’s expressions were grim after they discovered what had befallen the apple of the band’s eye.
“Do you mean some people sneaked backstage, followed you, and hurt your hand?” Sophie asked in an icy tone.
They used to be in the band together, so Sophie was upset to see Sunny injured.
Noticing the expression on her face and not wanting her to worry, Sunny smiled and said, “I’m fine, Sophie. It’s nothing serious. You don’t have to be concerned.”
Sophie walked up to Sunny. Taking his hand, she glanced at it and announced, “You can’t perform at today’s concert.”
Arius hasn’t gone back yet. I’ll get him to come and check on Sunny later.
“What? I can’t perform today? This is our biggest concert since we started The Wheelers, and everyone attending this concert is a loyal fan of the band! How can I not be a part of it?”
Sunny simply could not accept it. However, his face paled from the excruciating pain after he attempted to move his wrist.
“Don’t you care about your hands? Don’t you want to play drums anymore? If you behave like this now, how will you play drums in the future?” Sophie demanded angrily.
Sunny was also infuriated. “Then tell me what I’m supposed to do now!” I hate myself for being so feeble after what happened! Being this powerless sucks!
“D*mn it! The culprits better hope I don’t get my hands on them. If I find out who did this, I’ll cripple them!” Mark growled. Since he had spent some time in the entertainment industry before forming the band, there was a certain domineering edge to his aura.
Nonetheless, it was that domineering aura that his fans loved and swooned over, especially the female fans.
“Anyway, that’s enough for now. We’ll talk about this after the concert ends,” he continued. It doesn’t matter who did it. I won’t spare anyone who dares to lay even a finger on the band members.
“Sophie, you used to be a drummer too. Why don’t you take my place?”
“Yeah! You did so well that time at Nocturnal. Even though you haven’t practiced in a while, you’ve still got it. Why don’t you perform with us? No matter what, you’re still a member of the band. Now that we’re in this predicament, you wouldn’t just stand idly by and do nothing, right?”
Sophie had always been the soul of the band.
“Sophie, did you use to be part of The Wheelers?” Ysabelle could not believe her ears.
“Think of it as a favor to me, Sophie. I really don’t want everyone’s hard work to go down the drain.” Sunny, who was around the same age as Sophie, gazed at her with a pitiful expression.
“Ms. Tanner, The Wheelers signed a bet-on agreement with the company this time. If the concert fails to proceed as planned, the band will have to pay a large sum as compensation,” the manager explained nervously. Back then, I thought it was a profitable deal with minimal risk for the band. That’s why I dared to sign such a contract. I never imagined something like this would happen!
“What? I can’t believe that happened!” Sophie uttered in disbelief, wondering if her ears had deceived her.
The manager was on the verge of tears as everyone’s gazes fell on her. “Now that I think about it, it must’ve been a trap the company deliberately set up for us.”
And what else could the reason be besides money? All the band members have worked tirelessly, so why would it even matter if they got some dividends in return?
“All they want is a compliant band,” Mark mused. But there’s no way I’d be that kind of singer. I have my own dreams. I want to take rock music to greater heights!
Realization finally dawned on Sophie as she glanced at Mark. That’s true. How could Mark possibly be compliant? Every one of the band members is ambitious, and any one of them would be perfectly capable of giving those popular singers a run for their money.
“Okay. I understand. In that case, the concert will have to go on. Sunny, give me your stage clothes. Oh, and Mark, give me the set list for today’s concert,” said Sophie.
There are only a few minutes left before the concert. Fortunately, Sunny is a drummer. I’ll be able to look at the music score, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem.
