Maria's words left Clare taken aback, her thoughts muddled.

With wide eyes and disbelief painted across her face, Clare stammered,

"You dare imply I'm not fit for this! Do you even know I'm the crowned victor of the youth group in the national contest regarding the Ancient Zither? Who made you the judge of my prowess!"

Maria gave a slow, deliberate nod before swaying her head in disapproval.

With a smirk, Maria remarked, "It seems the standards of the competition have seen better days."

Clare's voice trembled with fury, interspersed with bouts of incredulous laughter, "Who on earth do you believe yourself to be?

You're merely an overeager novice trying to strut your stuff! Perhaps you should read the history of music. Your archaic style became outdated ages ago. And you deem this artistic? Laughable!"

"Enough, Clare!" The representative from the Musicians' Association was at his breaking point.

Clare fired another verbal salvo at Maria, echoing back those controversial Twitter posts, word for word.

Given the throng of people gathered there, it was a foregone conclusion that whispers of this drama would ripple across the

Internet.

The star soloist of the concert, shockingly, had been using a covert account to throw shade at Maria on Twitter.

The Musicians' Association, being the backbone of this event, certainly didn't wish to bear the brunt of Maria's legion of fans’ wrath due to Clare's antics!

It was clear Clare had this sudden realization.

With a scoff, Clare retorted, managing to argue for herself, “Are you assuming I'm the one who criticized Maria's compositions on Twitter?

Believe it or not, it's someone else! Maybe, just maybe, someone else sees the truth, too. Some folks can't craft genuine artistry, so they resort to these gimmicks to mask their deficiencies."

The “some folks" she alluded to was, without a doubt, Maria.

Just as Clare assumed she'd silenced Maria and clinched a verbal triumph, Maria, with an air of nonchalance, pulled out her smartphone.

"I've heard there's a WhatsApp group for the performers, isn't there?

Do you mind if I join it?" Maria casually asked.

"What's your game now?" Clare spat, her voice dripping with disdain.

What a loser. Was Maria trying to divert the conversation by abruptly wanting to join the chat group?

With that same detached tone, Maria responded, "You've pegged me as a mere show-off composer, haven't you? I have to correct this. I was worried that the original music score was too challenging, so I handed over a simpler version to Yeez Entertainment. I'll share the original in the group. That should show you what true brilliance looks like."

Clare was left grappling with the reality... She had been handed the watered-down version of the music score?