The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella and Romeo) novel Chapter 1484

But Serena's triumph lasted all of two fleeting seconds before her mind raced back to a scene at school. Mr. Albright, in a very public setting, had proclaimed that Arabella's chess prowess was his tutelage at work, and even floated the idea of Arabella succeeding him.

If Arabella truly was his protege, given their mentor-mentee bond, it stood to reason that Mr. Albright would likely extend an invite to his birthday bash.

With that thought, Serena's mood soured. It seemed Arabella's luck was infuriatingly good, having stumbled upon Mr. Albright's guidance.

Without that stroke of fortune, Arabella probably wouldn't even know chess.

Her thoughts stewing, Serena's fingers danced over her phone, sending a WhatsApp message to Martin.

[Martin, got an invite to Mr. Albright's birthday bash? I heard he's always been low-key, celebrating quietly. Never threw a big shindig like he's doing this time. I'm head over heels for the violin, you know. I heard a bunch of venerable old-timers will be there. Hope I can get a chance to bump into Jamie Noelle and earn a few pointers. I'm not a true Collins, as you well know. If I had a real talent, I'd be in your league, Martin, and your folks might even warm up to me. I don't want the Collins family to pull strings for me. I want to impress Jamie Noelle with my violin skills, making her want to mentor me. Martin, can you help me out?]

After sending the message, Serena got a case of goosebumps.

At the last inter-university competition, Alma had bowled over the judges with her violin, earning heaps of praise for her natural gift. Perhaps that snob thought she was the bee's knees and got cocky. She even dared to challenge Arabella to a face-off onstage.

But Arabella's performance was crushing, garnering rave reviews.

Serena thought, if she could get Jamie Noelle's tutelage, her violin skills would eclipse both Arabella and Alma, and she'd be the rising star of the violin world.