Half an hour later.
Frank arrived at a tea house. This particular tea house was conveniently located not far from Evergreen Recording Studio, and its name was quite interesting: No Turning Back.
Frank entered the tea house, told the server his room number, and the server led him to an elegant private room on the second floor. Pushing open the door, a delicate fragrance wafted in. Passing the antique screen, he looked up and saw Amelia Quinn sitting at a charcoal-gray tea table.
Amelia had changed out of the light pink slip dress she wore for the show that day. She was now wearing a high-necked chiffon blouse and a long blue skirt, her long hair neatly tied up, looking dignified and mature. Seeing Frank enter, she frowned slightly: "What took you so long?" In the past, Frank always waited for her for every date. Now, newly divorced, she was waiting for Frank. Amelia was quite unaccustomed to it.
Frank leisurely sat down, lazily saying: "You called me, I didn't ask you out."
"You..." Amelia glared at Frank: "How did you change so much?"
Frank chuckled, "Wasn't that song clear enough today?" Amelia remembered "Plain Face," which practically pointed fingers and insulted her. Her face turned even uglier. After finally calming her emotions, she spoke: "Frank, we were married, after all. I don't want to make this too ugly." She took out a bank card and placed it on the table: "This is three million dollars. In addition, I will help Mia find a job at a Fortune 500 company in America, ensuring her financial security for life. I only have one condition..." Amelia looked at Frank, her once affectionate eyes now filled with cold indifference: "You withdraw from 'The Voice of America,' and stop bothering me!"
Frank picked up the bank card on the table. Amelia's expression subtly relaxed. During their divorce, she had offered one million and promised to arrange a job for Mia, asking Frank to stop bothering her. But Frank hadn't agreed. Now that it had increased to three million, Frank wavered. Sure enough, this man isn't truly as honorable as he seemed. For some reason, as Amelia relaxed, she also felt a sense of disappointment. After all, they had been together for so long; she still hoped the man she once loved was a noble gentleman, which would make her judgment seem less poor. Now it seems she had expected too much of Frank.
Thwack.
Frank suddenly slapped the bank card back onto the table, looking at Amelia with indifference: "Amelia, we've known each other for seven years, and been married for three. I've seen through you, but you... you don't understand me at all." Frank stood up and walked towards the door. Amelia stood up, raising her voice: "Frank, what do you want from me to finally leave me alone?!" She subconsciously thought Frank wasn't satisfied with her offer and wanted to continue bothering her.
Frank turned around: "This tea house has a good name. You should drink more tea and clear your head." With that, he left directly.
"Frank!" Amelia trembled with anger, grabbing a teacup to throw it on the ground. Just then, the server knocked and entered to replace the teapot. Amelia forced herself to suppress her rage and asked the server: "What is the name of this tea house?" She had just casually found a secluded, less crowded place and hadn't paid attention to the tea house's name.
The server smiled and replied: "Guest, our tea house is called No Turning Back. If you like it, please feel free to bring your friends next time." Amelia slowly put down the teacup in her hand, her expression fluctuating.
"...No Turning Back."
International Grand Hotel, Los Angeles.
Amelia returned to her room, sitting down feeling a bit tired. A knock sounded at the door from outside. "Amelia, it's me."
Amelia opened the door to find Liam Reed and Alex Stone standing there. Alex Stone was an artist from "Evening Breeze Studio," so he was staying in the same hotel as Amelia and Liam. Amelia invited them in. Alex Stone placed the bag he was carrying on the table and smiled: "Ms. Quinn, Liam said you like Los Angeles's cinnamon pastries, so he specially went to the most famous shop to buy them for you."
Amelia looked at Liam Reed. The handsome man was looking at her with enthusiasm, but Frank's calm and steady face flashed through Amelia's mind, and she instinctively avoided Liam's fervent gaze. "Thank you."
Alex Stone, seeing Amelia's low spirits, quickly added: "Ms. Quinn, Liam came looking for you earlier. He said you looked unwell and was worried you were too tired. Are you alright?" Amelia knew Alex Stone had always wanted to set her up with Liam. She wasn't against it, but at the moment, she simply wasn't in the mood to deal with it. She said blandly: "I'm fine, thank you for your concern. Alex, has the theme for the next episode come out yet?"
At the mention of "The Voice of America"'s second episode theme, Alex Stone looked a bit worried: "Ms. Quinn, the next episode's theme is 'Ancient Virtue.' I've been thinking about it for a long time and still can't decide which song to use."
"'Ancient Virtue'?" Amelia frowned slightly, dissatisfied: "Director Miller just loves to come up with these pretentious things." Then she looked at Alex Stone again: "We bought so many songs for you, and you can't pick one?" Alex Stone was a singer that Evening Breeze Studio was heavily promoting. To build his image as a creative genius, the studio bought many songs from unknown newcomers and signed confidentiality agreements with them. Publicly, they claimed these songs were all Alex Stone's originals. Amelia remembered several classical-fusion songs among them.
Alex Stone awkwardly dared not speak. Liam Reed said: "Amelia, the classical-fusion songs Alex has are more about beauty and sadness than passion. They're a bit off for the 'Ancient Virtue' theme." Amelia nodded: "Indeed, those classical-fusion songs lean too much towards romance and not enough towards grand principles. Do you have any ideas?"
Alex Stone quickly said: "Ms. Quinn, I think we could choose 'The World's Reckoning.' If we add a section of operatic singing and write lyrics about national righteousness, it would fit 'Ancient Virtue' perfectly!"
Amelia thought for a moment and smiled: "That's a good idea, Alex. You're getting more resourceful." Alex Stone was flattered by Amelia's praise and quickly said: "Thank you, Ms. Quinn. It's all because of you and Liam. That..." He paused, then continued: "I heard Liam say that Ms. Quinn used to study classical European opera and classical theatrical singing. Could you teach me?"
Liam Reed also said: "Amelia, I'll help Alex write the operatic lyrics for this song, and you can teach him how to sing them. With the two of us cooperating, we can definitely help Alex get first place in the next episode!"
"This..." Amelia had indeed taken elective courses in classical European opera and classical theatrical singing in college, but that was to accompany Frank. She didn't want to be involved with anything related to Frank now.
"Yes, Ms. Quinn, Chloe Campbell is good at classical-fusion. If you don't help us, I definitely can't beat her!" Alex Stone's effeminate face was pleading like a spoiled child, and Liam Reed's eyes were also burning with intensity. Facing their pleas, Amelia hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded in agreement.
"Alright, Liam will help you write the lyrics, and I'll teach you the operatic singing."
"Thank you, Ms. Quinn!"
"That's great, Amelia! With us working together, we'll be unstoppable!"
Five minutes later, Alex Stone and Liam Reed walked out of Amelia's room. They exchanged glances and both smiled. Liam Reed patted Alex Stone's shoulder. "Alex, well done." The idea of having Amelia and Liam collaborate to help Alex adapt the song was actually Liam's. One reason was to help Alex get a good ranking, but more importantly, it was to create opportunities for him to spend time with Amelia. Since Amelia's divorce from Frank, Liam felt that instead of growing closer, Amelia had developed a strange distance from him. He decided to push harder and get Amelia as soon as possible, so he could completely control Evening Breeze Studio and gain both the woman and the profits.
"Liam, I'm also very happy to facilitate things between you and Ms. Quinn! You have to work hard!" Alex Stone looked delighted, apparently truly invested in this pairing.
Liam Reed smiled: "You work hard too. You have to get first place in the next episode, and Frank must be eliminated!"