Behind The Spotlight Chapter 221
He looked at Arnold and Jolyne, who were clearly in love with each other. The couple leaned unconsciously toward one another, smiling as if they had their own private world. Collin was happy that Arnold had found his true love. Arnold had won in life, he had a loving wife and a cute daughter.
'I'm happy for him, so please don't let me be part of this suffocating moment. I didn't sign up to be a third wheel today. This is torture.'
The concert bar continued, and another band showed up. The bar always had a different lineup every night. The musicians stepped onto the stage, tuning their guitars.
As they waited for the performance, Jolyne saw someone she recognized.
"Hey, looks like a friend of mine also showed up. Gabriella, here!"
Jolyne called out to a beautiful woman wearing a stylish outfit. The woman looked at Jolyne and waved excitedly.
"Jolyne, I miss you!"
"I miss you too."
Jolyne and Gabriella hugged each other.
"So this is the concert bar you're talking about. It's a nice place," Gabriella said to Jolyne as she looked around.
Collin couldn't believe it. Gabriella Wallmart was here.
"By the way, this is Collin, Arnold's friend. Collin, this is Gabriella."
Gabriella already knew Arnold, so Jolyne only introduced her to Collin instead.
Gabriella was smiling, but she showed a surprised expression when she noticed Collin was present.
"Collin?"
"Gabriella."
Collin nodded slightly.
'This woman... I can't believe she manipulated Jolyne to meet me. Is she really serious about convincing me to change Princess Chantal's record label? Did she really go this far just to talk business?'
Considering that Princess Chantal brought in hundreds of millions last year, yes, she was very profitable.
However, Collin quickly caught something strange. Her Golden Talent was not showing up or shining. In fact, Gabriella was genuinely surprised and thrown off guard. It was not a calculated situation.
'Her talent is not showing up... Does that mean she didn't orchestrate this situation? So this wasn't a trap? Then what the hell is happening?'
"Collin, I can't believe you're here!"
Indeed, Gabriella was surprised. During their last meeting in France, she had felt that pursuing Collin and convincing him to jump ship would be a tough mission, and seeing him again brought back those bad memories.
"Wait a minute, you guys know each other?" Jolyne didn't expect that. She smiled, excited.
"Yeah, I'm friends with Princess Chantal," Gabriella confirmed, then glanced at Collin.
"Oh, that explains it," Jolyne replied and nudged Arnold to take the cue, her elbow hitting his ribs.
Arnold understood that the plan was halfway there and played along. He remembered his role.
"Well then, Jolyne says she wants to go down and watch the concert closer. You guys stay here and talk." Arnold maintained his expression. The couple quickly walked away and left the two alone at their table.
"..."
Suddenly, Collin and Gabriella realized what had happened. Their eyes met.
"... Did they set up a blind date for us?" Collin muttered. This was unexpected.
"Yeah, I think so too," Gabriella answered, unconsciously tucking her hair behind her ear.
They looked at each other, not knowing what to say. It was awkward, very awkward.
"First, I would like to apologize. I didn't know what Arnold was thinking. He just drags me into things without warning."
"No, no, you don't have to do that. It's my fault. Jolyne asked me if I was single and I said yes, but I didn't think she would do this. I didn't think she'd throw me into… this situation."
The two smiled at each other, finding the situation awkward yet funny.
However, they fell silent after that. After all, their last meeting had gone badly.
Suddenly, the next musician stepped onto the stage, and fans cheered loudly, catching their attention.
Both Gabriella and Collin looked at the stage and saw a white man in his mid-20s holding an acoustic guitar.
"Isn't that Renee Denver?" Collin muttered, recognizing the singer.
"Renee Denver? You mean the first winner of The Singing Voice?" Gabriella added.
"Yes, that's him." Collin pointed at the man on stage.
Gabriella looked at the stage and confirmed it was indeed Renee Denver.
"Wow, I thought he had disappeared from the music industry altogether. I've never heard of him after he won The Singing Voice," Gabriella said, surprised.
The Singing Voice was a famous singing competition show, and its first season had high ratings. For Renee Denver to win at the grand finals meant he had talent and was loved by the public.
Yet Renee Denver had simply disappeared after that.
On stage, Renee Denver smiled at his fans and performed a song written personally by him. It was accompanied only by an acoustic guitar. It was simple, but Renee sang beautifully.
Even Gabriella was impressed.
Collin also watched the performance. He was surprised when he saw that Renee Denver had two Yellow Talents. And his second talent was shining strongly, as if it were at the peak of Yellow Talent.
'I've only seen one incident like this. It's just like what happened to Axel. He had a White Talent, but it evolved into a Yellow Talent. If I'm right, Renee is close to achieving Golden Talent. He just needs a catalyst to trigger it.' Collin thoughtfully looked at Renee as the singer captivated the audience with his voice.
Renee Denver
-- Dynamic Range Control (Yellow)
-- Song Writer (Yellow to Gold)
Renee had two talents, but his "Song Writer" was the one shining strongly, almost blinding.
Gabriella was captivated by Renee's song. To be precise, the lyrics were sad and sentimental, full of emotion that Gabriella could feel. Even the fans were getting teary-eyed as they listened to his performance.
Renee performed five songs, all written by him. He played the acoustic guitar, making the atmosphere peaceful in the concert bar.
When his performance ended, Gabriella was speechless. She then turned to Collin and realized he was simply looking at Renee, as if he could see through everything.
[Thank you for reading this novel.]