Another person stood up to speak for Nancy, causing Rivata to bite her lip in anger, her hands clenched so tightly that her nails almost pierced her palms.

“You bunch of fence-sitters, just because Nancy is in favor and Zach is speaking for her, you’re all changing your tunes. None of you are good people!”

Charlie, not wanting to witness any more of this drama, inserted his hands into his pockets and turned to Smith.

“I was invited to watch the competition, not to be slandered. Smith, I’ll see you around.”

“Hey, wait!”

Smith was frustrated. It seemed every time there was trouble, Nancy was involved.

And her husband, Charlie, was someone he not only couldn’t offend but also had to “cover up” for.

Smith grabbed Charlie’s arm, clearly agitated, and turned fiercely to Rivata.

“This is a training camp! I brought you here to learn skills, not to engage in verbal fights! A conspiracy? Has there ever been one in all the years we’ve run this camp?”

As he spoke, his lips trembled with anger, “Since you think there’s a conspiracy here, we can’t accommodate you. Get out!”

“I… I…”

At this moment, Rivata deeply regretted her actions. It was just a matter of apologizing to Nancy, and now she became the second person after Yvonne to be expelled from the camp.

Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded, “Smith, I was wrong. It was just my cheap mouth. Please don’t send me away. I've advanced to the next round, and I didn’t perform well today. If I had, I could have been in the top three…”

“Top three?”

Smith scoffed, “With Nancy, Linda, and Alice here, you think you could be in the top three? Who gave you such confidence?”

“Even if not top three, I could be in the top five. Please, Smith, don’t send me away.”

Seeing Smith’s increasingly cold demeanor, Rivata became desperate. She turned and grabbed Bern’s arm, crying out, “Teacher, don’t you have some connections with the organizers? Please, help me…”

“Hahaha...”

Linda, unable to resist, laughed mockingly, “Just now, you accused the camp of having a conspiracy, and now you want to use your connections so blatantly?”

Bern initially thought of finding a solution, but Linda’s words made it impossible for him to save face. Besides, Smith was already furious, and as the head of the camp, what could his little connections do?

"Stop!"

With a heavy sigh, he shook off Rivata’s hand and cursed, “You've embarrassed me completely today! Rivata, I hereby expel you from my tutelage. From now on, don’t call yourself my disciple!”

He turned and left without another word.

Rivata, watching his retreating figure, cried out in agony, “Teacher, you can’t abandon me… If you do, I’ll have no place in the piano world…”

“Enough.”

Smith gestured to the staff nearby, “Take her away. Not only has she shamed Bern today, but she’s also brought disgrace to our training camp…”