Chapter 154

Alex slapped Amelia's hand away without hesitation.

"Amelia, we're barely scraping by. If I don't sell the tickets, what are we supposed to do? Starve?"

Amelia's face went pale, her voice trembling.

"Alex, you bastard... Did you gamble our grocery money again? We can barely afford to eat, and you're still pulling this crap?"

Alex snapped back at her, his temper flaring.

"Jesus, Amelia, when have I ever let you go hungry? My dad's sending me five grand in a couple of days. When that comes in, I'll take you out for a fancy dinner, alright?"

But Amelia had lost all trust in his promises. Tears welled up in her eyes as she shook her head.

"I don't care. I just want the tickets back."

The argument dragged on until Alex suddenly froze. His eyes narrowed, and he let out a sharp, surprised noise. "Wait... What the hell?"

Amelia turned to follow his gaze. And there stood Jack.

For a moment, her entire body stiffened. The embarrassment hit her like a tidal wave. She hadn't wanted him to see this. Not when she was struggling. Not when she was fighting with Alex like some desperate girl clinging to a guy who didn't care about her. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ find·novel·net

Jack, however, looked completely unbothered.

"I was just passing by," he said casually. "Just pretend I'm not here."

With that, he walked past them, completely unfazed.

Amelia's face went ghostly pale. Her fingers clenched into fists at her sides, but then she forced a bright, plastic smile.

Almost too quickly, she reached out and linked arms with Alex, putting on her best carefree girlfriend act.

"Oh, Jack! You're here for the concert too?" she said in an overly cheerful tone. "I'm here with my boyfriend!"

She leaned in closer to Alex as if trying to prove just how happy she was.

Jack simply nodded as he said, "Yeah, I'm going alone."

Amelia tilted her head, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. She teased, "Alone? Oh no, that's kind of sad. You should really find a girlfriend soon-going solo to concerts looks kinda pathetic."

She was desperately trying to act like she had moved on like she was doing better than ever.

Alex, catching on, smirked and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Yeah, Amelia, let's go. The concert's about to start."

The two hurried off, practically running from the moment.

Jack let out a slow exhale as he watched them disappear. He didn't understand why Amelia had to put up such an act.

Before he could dwell on it, a loud explosion filled the air. There were fireworks. The concert had officially begun.

The sky lit up with dazzling colors, and the entire stadium erupted in cheers. Starlight Entertainment had pulled out all the stops for this event.

With some of the biggest names in the industry performing-and with Soul headlining the concert was on track to become legendary.

As Jack's phone buzzed, he glanced at the screen and saw Felix's call coming through.

"Where the hell are you?" Felix sounded panicked. "Dude, if something goes wrong at the last minute, this whole concert is going to tank. Get your ass backstage."

Jack reassured him, then started making his way to Entrance No. 2, the exclusive backstage entrance.

To his surprise, there was still a crowd gathered there. A group of students had refused to leave, hanging around hoping to catch a glimpse of Soul.

Jack, unaware of their intentions, tried to slip through, but the students weren't moving.

"Hey, dude, if you're trying to see Soul, get in line like the rest of us."

It took some effort, but Jack finally pushed through to the front and said to Leila, "Excuse me. Can I get through?"

Leila, who was guarding the gate, recognized him immediately. Her face lit up with excitement, and without hesitation, she stepped aside.

But just as he was about to walk in, she gathered her courage and pulled out a pen and card.

"C-Can I get an autograph?" she asked, her voice shaking.