Chapter 6: VIP Revenge

The girl who tore up my ticket—Chloe Stanton—flinched, her eyes darting. She frowned and asked, "What's that?"

The venue manager took the invitation from my hand and examined it.

I answered calmly, "It's an internal invitation to the music festival. Don't tell me you've never seen one?"

With so many people watching, she couldn't admit she didn't know.

She stammered, trying to save face. "Of course I know! I'm just curious where you got it. Did you buy it from a scalper?"

At that, several fans nearby gave her weird looks.

They called out, "Miss, every invitation is personalized. How could a scalper sell those?"

Chloe's face turned red. Exposed, she tried to argue but couldn't get the words out.

The manager, who'd been so aggressive before, now changed his tune after checking the invitation. He spoke to me with new respect:

"I'm sorry, I misunderstood and neglected you earlier. Please, this way to the VIP lounge."

The velvet ropes parted, and suddenly I was on the other side—away from the jeers, under the soft glow of backstage lights.

He thought that would settle things.

But I just sneered and bent down to pick up the torn ticket pieces from the ground. "A scalper, am I?"

The manager looked embarrassed. "A misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding."

"But their behavior caused me a loss," I said flatly, staring at Chloe and her group. "Causing trouble at an event this size will have consequences, won't it?"

Everyone was sharp enough to catch my meaning. The manager straightened up and turned to Chloe and the others.

"You deliberately slandered someone and destroyed their ticket. I'm announcing that you are disqualified from entering. Please leave."

Chloe's eyes widened in disbelief. "But I paid for my ticket!"

"You'll be refunded through official channels."

Chloe bit her lip, looking both humiliated and resentful.

She first glanced pitifully at the homeroom teacher, but he, seeing her as a disgrace, had already faded into the background.

In the end, she could only look to Derek for help.

"Derek, please talk to Maddie for me. She likes you so much—she'll definitely listen to you!"

A few people snickered in the back, clearly enjoying the show more than the concert itself.