Chapter 123 - Britannia's First Song

Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye. Apart from Jasper, everyone was happy with the internship. The poor boy was constantly exhausted and became the subject of Lin Lin's rage during rehearsals.

Scarlet could only envy the young musician for her energy levels. The violinist never seemed to be tired and often gave it her all every round. Lin Lin revealed the completed song last week much to everyone's amazement. Scarlet was still struggling with some of the high notes and Alex could be found practising the guitar solo riff every evening after dinner and shower while waiting for her hair to dry.

Despite having to learn how to sing and play the keyboard, Scarlet was coping better than Jasper who was almost always too tired to play the drums, much to Lin Lin's frustration. Eventually, she scolded Jasper and sent him straight to bed while asking for Elfie's help with the recording of the practice sessions while taking over the drums herself. Scarlet had to admit, she didn't think Lin Lin would be able to reach the foot pedal for the bass drum but she did. The girl was also somehow able to reach the crash cymbals.

Orita was less busy now that she was with her husband. However, the heiress made it a point to always be out and give the kids their privacy to practice during band days. Only Jenna knew what her mistress was up to on those days. On the other hand, Claire took the opportunity to hit the gym while Jenna watched over the band practice. Wilmer informed her about Danny's report and the head maid thought it might be appropriate to step up on her training and the security details of the escort team who followed after the children discreetly whenever they left the penthouse. Jenna called it an unnecessary precaution in a country like Singapore but Wilmer begged to differ. Nobody, not even Orita, could convince him otherwise.

Scarlet sighed when the violinist announced that they would take a ten-minute break. Alex groaned and went down to ask Jenna for some ice. Her fingers were hurting badly and Scarlet took a long drink from her bottle. Lin Lin was a very strict teacher but thanks to her generous pointers and expert tips, they were finally seeing the song getting put together.

"In a few more sessions, we will be ready for song recording," Lin Lin told Scarlet who was surprised to hear that.

"Recording? Aren't we just doing this for fun?"

The musician laughed. "Of course. However, since I see potential in this becoming a real band, we might as well see how far we can go with it. Don't worry, I will only record this one song. If any of the recording companies think it is good, it will be up to the three of you to decide if you want to continue with the band more professionally."

The young writer didn't know what to think. She was doing this mostly to humour Lin Lin. It never occurred to her that it could become something professional. The promise of fame on stage under the spotlight is not something Scarlet wanted. In fact, she preferred influencing the world from behind a screen like how she had always done it.

Lin Lin noticed the reluctance in Scarlet and smiled. "You know, I didn't want to stand on a stage and play in front of an audience wearing those frilly dresses and having my hair pulled into different styles with uncomfortable powder on my face. Everything started with my mother. I only played the violin and got into music because I liked it. However, I learnt that sometimes, it is necessary to be in the spotlight. Without this fame, I would have never been able to do the things I do now. It's a kind of power that allows me to achieve my dreams a lot faster than most other kids my age. Can you imagine without this fame, I would still be stuck in one of those boring classrooms listening to boring teachers talk for hours."

Scarlet mulled over Lin Lin's words during the break. Her current concern was Anastasia. To avoid getting Alex involved with such a dangerous man, Scarlet wanted to better herself in every way possible to become a strength that the Wilde family could depend on. Her initial plan was to write her way into finding out more information as a journalist who investigated crime on the side while living off the paycheque of a novelist.

Unknown to Jasper and Alex who were struggling with everything else in life, Scarlet had been contacting Elfie privately about things regarding the Wilde empire and its relationship with Anastasia. If Scarlet had not been pretending to be asleep from exhaustion those few days after she'd been chased by Cody's men for evidence, she wouldn't have heard Claire's side of the conversation and the name Anastasia.

It wasn't difficult for Scarlet to find out more about the CEO of Wilde empire's rival. Although it took Scarlet a lot of effort to dig up on old news, she soon learnt all about the scandal involving the Wilde empire more than two decades ago. The young writer doubted that Jasper or Alex was aware of it and it gave her the inspiration to work towards helping the ones who took her in taking down their enemies.

On the surface, everything about Lucian Anastasia appeared clean. Other than being a rather shrewd and mean businessman, nothing much was known about his private life which led Scarlet to think about how influential he was if the media could not get any dirt on him. It was after she got to know Elfie better that Scarlet asked him for a favour over the secured chat room privately.

Elfie was a little surprised that Scarlet knew about Anastasia. His father had him digging up information about the businessman but told him to lay it off after a while before bringing him over to Singapore. The hacker didn't suspect much and handed whatever information he had previously dug up about the businessman over to Scarlet.

After Scarlet read Elfie's information, she told the hacker to keep this away from her sister and Jasper. Elfie didn't know what was going on but agreed to keep it a secret as Scarlet made her plans. First, she was going to have to become financially independent and influential enough to make her claims credible. Scarlet had to start collecting evidence and compiling them to put Anastasia away behind bars for good.

She was sure that Wilmer, Danny and Benjamin must already be working on the case but the young writer also knew how difficult it was for those three men to act freely. Unlike Scarlet, Anastasia must already know about them. On the other hand, Scarlet was a new addition to the family with hardly any information about her. She was that wild card that could be used against Anastasia, unlike Jasper and Alex who were known targets.

Although Scarlet didn't know about Claire's background, the head maid must not be a simple person. Scarlet wasn't fooled. When Claire rescued her, she was definitely holding a gun. Claire was a trained combatant and Scarlet didn't need to pry too much to know that she was probably employed by Wilmer to protect Alex and even Jasper.

Right now, Scarlet hated the age limit. She couldn't own a bank account or hold onto her passport without a guardian. Lin Lin's suggestion about the band gave Scarlet some hope. If she was famous like Lin Lin, wouldn't she be given more freedom? If the band needed to travel for shows all over the world and the three of them had a contract with some entertainment company, wouldn't they be required to have an individual bank account with only a guarantor in name to open that account?

Scarlet gave the thought some serious consideration. She had no difficulties in convincing Jasper to make Britannia a success but the young writer wondered if Alex would be interested in such a thing. After all, her sister could be rather ditzy at times.

"Alright, break time's over!" Lin Lin clapped her hands twice and gave a short briefing about what she wanted to see over the next hour of practice, effectively cutting Scarlet away from her thoughts.