Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 67: Guardian Angel

Kaija’s rehearsal wrapped up shortly after.

As she stepped off the stage, a huge beige trench coat was suddenly thrown at her face. When she pulled it away, she found Antony standing there with a stiff expression, gaze locked somewhere on the ceiling, one hand barely hiding the faint red tint on his cheeks.

"Put that on immediately," he ordered. "Now."

"Yes... yes, sir!" She jolted at the commanding tone and quickly slipped into the trench coat, buttoning it all the way up, feeling absurdly grateful as she headed to the backstage dressing room.

The dress was handed to the outfit crew. They would steam it, prep it, and have it ready for her tomorrow. All she needed to do was put it on and perform.

The next day, the KE campus was buzzing with festive energy. The center field was packed with food stalls, game booths, and outdoor activities running from morning till late afternoon.

Not that Kaija got to enjoy any of it. Like the other contestants, she spent the day rehearsing alone in her flat. She only headed to the concert hall in the late afternoon. The competition would start early evening.

When Kaija arrived backstage, a crowd had gathered around the rack where the performance outfits were kept.

Dani’s bright orange hair and Esko’s green hair stood out to her immediately. While Esko looked worried, Dani’s face was tight with barely restrained fury.

Kaija pushed through the crowd. When she finally reached them, her gaze followed theirs... all the way down to the floor.

The black velvet dress she’d worn just yesterday lay there, shredded mercilessly into pieces.

Upon seeing Kaija, tears burst from Esko’s eyes. "Kaija, you won’t believe what happened!" he wailed, throwing himself at her and squeezing her tight. "What a terrible crime! How could they do something so cruel to such a beautiful dress? What do we do now, Kaija, what do we do?"

Next to the rack, Dani’s reaction was far less dramatic but ten times more dangerous. Her gaze was locked on the ruined dress, her face looking like she was ready to murder someone on sight.

"Seems like some reckless idiot decided to do you dirty, my girl," Dani muttered, voice low and vibrating with anger.

She lifted the shredded black velvet, hands trembling, and then her voice exploded through the room as she roared at the crowd, making every shoulder jump:

"Who the fuck did this, huh? You better hide well, you hear me? If you had the guts to do this, then don’t you fucking dare get caught, ’cause I swear you won’t live to see another day!"

Murmurs in the crowd died down immediately at Dani’s rage, every face a terrified expression even when most of them had nothing to do with backstage outfits, just dropping by out of curiosity.

Kaija remained strangely calm as she stared blankly at the slaughtered fabric. Sad as she was for the poor thing’s fate, she was actually trying her best not to let any hint of relief slip out on her face.

"Thank God I don’t have to wear that thing in front of the whole company!" she screamed inside of her head. Had she said that out loud, she knew Dani would absolutely lunge at her and strangle her to death!

Then something caught her eye, making her breath hitch. "Dani," Kaija murmured, shrugging free from Esko’s grip. "Can I see the dress for a minute?"

Dani’s rage didn’t cool down one bit, but she handed the dress over anyway, assuming Kaija was broken-hearted and needed a moment to mourn it.

Kaija turned the dress over. A single thin strand of pastel pink hair was tangled in it, prominent against the black velvet. A smirk tugged at her lips. So she hadn’t seen it wrong.

At this point, she could deduce rather quickly and surely that there was only one person on this whole campus with pink hair bold enough to commit a crime like this.

Dani’s voice blasted through the room again. "Hey! Outfit crew! How could you let this happen? Aren’t you supposed to take care of the outfits? How come only this one got destroyed while everything else is fine?"

This time, Esko’s voice chimed in too, trembling with frustration. "Why are you all just standing here? Please! At least go find a new outfit for my girl! Or go check the cameras and find out who did this! Don’t just stand there like that! Do something!"

From the crowd, the outfit crew exchanged panicked glances, all of them scared and confused. None of them wanted to take responsibility for the incident, but they didn’t want to get reported by any of the contestants as well.

"Hey, Dani, Esko, chill," Kaija said, raising a hand to calm them. Then she turned to the staff. "Guys, don’t you have any spare outfit I could use? Anything’s fine as long as it fits for performing on the stage." There was no point in scolding the staff or making some enemies among them. They would inevitably work with her again soon one day.

"Every outfit was tailor-made to the performer’s measurements, I’m afraid," one girl answered hesitantly. "We haven’t made spares for a long time now to cut costs, per orders from above."

Kaija ran a hand down her face, frustrated. She couldn’t possibly just wear the white shirt and blue jeans on her body right now and go onstage. She’d surely lose votes from poor stage presence alone.

She eyed the beautiful, glittering outfits on the rack, her face drooping. Then her gaze caught the shimmering light blue fabric on one of them, and a light bulb popped up above her head.

Wait a minute...

Didn’t some random, mysterious stranger leave a light blue dress on the table in her living room just two weeks ago? That dress obviously didn’t fit the vibe of the song at all, but given how princess-looking it was, it was absolutely suitable for the grand concert hall stage. It was even more gorgeous and glittery than this dress here.

"For the festival," the note had said. Whoever gave her that dress was definitely a guardian angel.

Dani was about to draw a breath and rip into the staff again when Kaija suddenly bolted toward the door at the speed of light.

Esko startled, voice frantically calling after her. "Kaija! Where are you going? Wait for me!"

"No!" Kaija shouted over her shoulder. "You wait for me here! Get the makeup team ready! I’ll be right back!"