Haille stared at Ellinor, âDonât you get it? I need you to step in for Patricia and finish the performanceâ
Ellinor frowned âMe, replace her on stage? Whatâs the point?â
Haillie confidently replied, âThereâs a point, alright! We all have to slap on makeup for the stage anyway, and with all that gunk on your face, who can tell who are you? So you Just go on stage, finish Patriciaâs bit, and we can pretend it was Patricia performing for the old man, no one will know!
Upon hearing Haillieâs suggestion, Patricia thought for a moment, quickly realizing her intentions.
This was just Haillieâs sneaky way of setting Ellinor up for an epic fail.
There was no way someone like Ellinor, with her background, could pull this off.
Her upbringing and life circumstances had never given her a chance to learn how to perform. Once on stage, sheâd definitely botch it, and old Mr. Bagley just couldnât stand people butchering his beloved tunes.
Patricia had put a lot of effort into this birthday gift for today, practicing for a long time just to get on old Mr. Bagleyâs good side.
But, judging from old Mr. Bagleyâs attitude towards her today, no matter how well she could sing, she wouldnât win his approval. If she didnât meet his standards, sheâll only earn his disdain So Patricia had no intention of going on stage in the first place, instead, she wanted to use this opportunity to pin the blame on Ellinor for her absence, making Balfour mad and kicking Ellinor out on the spot.
Patricia noticed that ever since old Mrs. Bagley mistook Ellinor for her daughter, old Mr. Bagley had been entertaining the idea of treating Ellinor like a granddaughter If Ellinor took Haillieâs advice, stepped in for Patricia, and butchered old Mr. Bagleyâs cherished songs, heâd definitely be pissed and completely abandon the idea of treating Ellinor like a granddaughter.
With this in mind, a sinister glint flashed in Patriciaâs eyes If she couldnât win old Mr. Bagleyâs approval, then this bitch Ellinor sure as hell wouldnât either!
She didnât reject Haillieâs suggestion and just pretended to be worried, âHaillie, wonât this be too hard on Ellinor?â
Haillie just shrugged, âWhatâs so hard about it? Itâs just singing a song Patricia, your foot is all messed up; thereâs no way you can perform, let Ellinor do itâ
Patricia, lying in Balfourâs arms, looked helplessly at Ellinor, âSo, Ellinor, could you help me?â
âNoâ
Ellinor decisively rejected Patriciaâs request, then turned to Haillie, âIf all you need is someone to stand in for Patricia and deliver the birthday gift to the old man, then Haillie, why donât you go on stage yourself and help your dear friend?â
Haillieâs face turned ugly, and she blinked nervously, âI never learned, I canât do it!â
Ellinor found this amusing, âHaillie, you think just because you canât do something, why should I?â
Haillie started arguing. âEven if you canât, youâd still do better than me. Iâm a dancer, so I canât sing for peanuts. I need to stay off stage to take care of Patricia; I canât take her place!