Side Chick Era Over (Sharon and Carter) novel Chapter 688

Chapter 688

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Chapter 688

Half a million viewers had entered their live stream in a single second. It was an unusual statistic.

Fabian frowned. “Are those accounts fake?”

The technician shook his head. “No, they’re all verified accounts. But the timing is suspicious. There’s a chance the numbers are

being artificially boosted.”

Fabian’s brow furrowed further. He despised inflated metrics-it was completely unfair to the other contestants.

“Do we have proof?” he asked. If there were concrete evidence, he couldn’t disqualify Kelly from the competition, but he could

limit-or even block-the livestream’s exposure for her.

The technician hesitated. “Not yet. We need to observe it a few more times.”

Fabian nodded. “Keep monitoring, then.”

At the front of the hall, the host concluded Kelly’s interview. It was now time for the judges’ scores.

Both Sharon and Kelly were called back to the stage.

“May we have our judges present their scores for the two contestants,” the host announced.

The judges were all renowned domestic violinists with strong reputations. While not as internationally famous as Reina and the others, for national competitions, foreign judges were never invited to score. Visiting international musicians could offer opinions as special guests, but the final verdict rested with the domestic panel.

The judges conferred briefly before recording their scores. Out of ten judges, nine awarded Sharon a perfect ten, while only one

gave her a nine. Her total score reached ninety-nine points.

Kelly, however, could only garner eights and nines, with the highest individual score being nine. Her total came to eighty-eight

points.

Wendy exhaled in relief. “Good, good. I was worried the judges might fall for Kelly’s act.”

John, himself a former judge, remained calm. “Judges must remain objective and impartial. Emotions cannot influence scoring.

Especially in a competition that has previously been marred by scandal, every detail must be handled with caution. Millions of viewers across the country are watching.”

Kelly’s suffering drew sympathy from many, but others suspected it was exaggerated. And when it came to international competitions, no one would accommodate your illness just to fulfill your personal wishes. The competition was fierce.

Wendy remarked, “It seems her act only works on Carter and Nate. The discerning public sees through it. In the end, the audience’s eyes are sharp.”

John added, “Her self-fashioned image may attract significant attention-possibly even more than the champion.”

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Chapter 688

Casey raised an eyebrow. “Really? Shouldn’t the champion attract the most attention?”

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Wendy shook her head. “You don’t understand. Social media fandoms are incredibly influential now. I once saw a contestant who won first place, yet no one cared. The reporters went to interview the runner-up instead, because the runner-up managed their social media exceptionally well and had amassed a loyal fanbase. That runner-up had the skills to compete for the championship, but anything can happen in a competition-they still ended up second.”

John continued, “There was another incident where a domestic champion was publicly insulted simply because the audience

preferred another contestant who failed to place. It brought so much embarrassment to our country that even foreigners heard

about it.”