“Is Judy closely acquainted with Maria? Do you think Maria would pull some strings to get her hired? I'm telling you, this isn't fair!"

Francis was well-respected in the entertainment community, and Elma had often heard that he wasn't one to be swayed in his professional decisions by underhanded persuasions. He was quoted to have said that he had too much respect for the art of film to do that. She never really believed those stories, though.

There was a very real possibility that Francis would choose Judy for Maria's sake, if only to appease her. If that happened, all of Elma's efforts would be in vain.

More importantly, both songs were considered to be among Mia's top masterpieces. That meant that the audition alone was set to gain a lot of media attention. Elma refused to give up without a good fight, and she would certainly make sure that she didn't lose.

She then murmur to herself, "Just you wait, Judy. Since you decided to use your friendship with Maria to your advantage, I have no choice but to use some tricks of my own!"

Regardless of whether her presumptions were true or not, Elma was determined to get back at Judy for-allegedly-cheating at the auditions

And so, when she noticed the street food and milk tea that Judy was holding, Elma saw the perfect opportunity.

Her ex-husband was a pharmacist. Throughout his career, he had managed to develop a colorless, tasteless, and odorless drug that temporarily took away one's voice. The fact that it was highly soluble was an added bonus.

Anyone who ingested the drug would be unable to speak for almost half an hour, let alone sing.

Once the effects wore off, however, the victim would recover their voice immediately, with no other side effects to their body. At least, no side effects had been found during the drug's testing.

"You're finally here! Nice to see you, ladies

As soon as Francis spotted Maria, he stood up and walked over to greet her and her companions.

Elma's face darkened further. It appeared that Francis was very friendly with those women, indeed.

She quietly took out a vial about the Length of her Little finger, and then cautiously removed its lid before hiding it in her palm.

“I'm happy to be here, Mr. Jackson." Judy was a naturally courteous girl. She set her food down on a nearby table before paying her respects to Francis.

"Oh, hello! I haven't seen you for a while.” Francis nodded to acknowledge Judy and smiled at her. Then he turned to Maria.

“Maria! What brings you here today? Do you also want to try for the audition? I can arrange a place for you right away

But Maria shook her head. "Sorry, but I have zero intention to dabble in singing. I only came here to support Judy."

“Oh, I see," Francis said with obvious disappointment. In truth, he was unaware of Maria's singing talent, but it was clear to him that she had an innate gift in music. After all, every piece that she had composed thus far was a veritable masterpiece.

Francis thought that with such extraordinary skills, Maria must be gifted in singing as well, unless there was something particularly wrong with her voice.

Meanwhile, Maria swept her gaze over the crowd, assessing the other candidates who had come to audition as well. She realized that she was seeing familiar faces. She could already picture them singing her songs without a single mistake.

Francis had done a good job in scouting these women. They were all professional singers whose vocal styles were perfectly matched with her compositions.

No matter which one was chosen in the end, they were bound to be suitable for the role.

Even so, Maria believed in her heart that Judy would bag this audition. She touched her nose at the thought, feeling sorry for the three other candidates who would have to be sent home later.