"I've heard about it, of course."

The girl who was already seated there covered her mouth and chuckled, "Those in their group are such fools, openly causing trouble. Serves that Yvonne right for getting expelled."

"Exactly. It's a classic case of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys. Haven't you noticed how well-behaved their group has been these past two days? Hahaha..."

Just then, Andrew's head popped in. Unaware of Vivian's exact location, he had been checking each practice room. Finally spotting Vivian at the piano, he smiled and stepped in.

"Vivi."

Seeing him, Vivian's eyes instantly reddened.

It was a mix of grievance and anger. She stopped playing and snapped, "You finally deigned to show up!?"

There were other girls in the practice room, and Andrew, taken aback by her outburst, blushed, unsure of what to say.

The three girls sitting nearby sized Andrew up and down. One of them couldn't help but laugh, "Vivian, is he your teacher?"

Vivian, still furious, didn't want to engage with them and just glared resentfully at Andrew.

Seeing her silent, the trio realized something and laughed even more.

"Wow, Vivian, no wonder your teacher hasn't been teaching you. Maybe he's embarrassed. After all, our teachers, even the least known, have some reputation. But your teacher, I haven't even heard of him."

"Right, Vivian, you must be incredibly lucky to have made it through the elimination round to get into this training camp. With a teacher like yours, this is probably as far as you'll go, right? Hahaha..."

Vivian was already fuming inside, feeling that Andrew favored Nancy over her. But now, hearing the girls' comments, she felt a strange sense of relief that Andrew hadn't been teaching her these past few days.

Otherwise, more people might have ridiculed her after seeing Andrew.

"Who said he's my teacher?"

Vivian stood up, walked past the piano to Andrew's side, and affectionately looped her arm through his, turning to face the three girls, "He's my father, not my teacher!"

"Father?"

The girls looked at each other, then at Vivian and Andrew. Indeed, they seemed somewhat alike.

"Oh, so your dad can enter the practice room, huh..."

Seeing no more drama to enjoy, the girls lost interest in Vivian. As she stood up, they immediately moved to take over the piano.

Vivian didn't care about them anymore. She walked out of the practice room with Andrew's arm in hers.

Checking the corridor and seeing it was empty, Vivian angrily let go of Andrew's arm, "Why did you come today? Weren't you always with Nancy?"

After a moment, Andrew had calmed down considerably. Thinking about Vivian denying he was her teacher, he looked at her seriously.

"Vivi, you told them I'm your father, not your teacher. What will you do when I come to guide you later?"

"I don't need you to."

Vivian couldn't afford to lose face. The girls were right: many in her group had famous pianists as teachers, and the few who didn't were isolated and looked down upon. She didn't want to be one of them.

"Anyway, you prefer Nancy. Just stay with her from now on. I don't need you here. I can handle it myself!"