Chapter 201: All Kind of Love by Nobelia

The entire room fell dead silent once more. Emma, Ruby, Jade, and Tania turned their backs to the audience.

"One... two... one... two... three... four,"

They dropped their handheld mics onto the stage. A fast-paced, melodic beat filled the venue as all four girls began dancing to the rhythm. As the track rolled into the intro, Emma spun back toward the crowd with a beaming face, dancing her way to center stage and raising a hand toward the ceiling, her headset mic positioned right in front of her mouth. She lowered her hand, pointed out at the crowd, and began to sing,

"I used to think that love was just a name... A beating heart, a whispered flame."

Ruby stepped forward next to Emma, wearing her headset mic and dancing along before picking up the next line,

"But every road I’ve walked alone... Taught me love has many homes."

Tania, going by the stage name Sapphire, moved up directly beside Ruby. Emma and Ruby glanced over at Tania as she grooved along, before she delivered her line,

"Some came close, some disappeared... Some left nothing but a trace of tears."

Finally, Jade stepped forward into the gap between Ruby and Tania, as all four executed a synchronized dance move. Jade paused and sang,

"Yet every hand that held mine tight... Was a little piece of light."

Reforming their rehearsed formation, they stood lined up across the stage, alternating lines seamlessly in contrasting tones,

"Some love stays,"

"Some love goes,"

"Some love hurts more than anybody knows."

"But every scar, every goodbye,"

"Was love that taught me how to survive."

The audience sat mesmerized as the four girls built up the momentum, before diving straight into the unified chorus,

"All kind of love,"

"All kind of love,"

"The love we lose, the love we hold."

"All kind of love,"

"All kind of love,"

"Every story, every soul."

"Love that breaks us,"

"Love that saves us,"

"Love that makes us who we are."

"All kind of love,"

"No matter where we are."

As the chorus ended, they transitioned into synchronized choreography with cheerful, beaming expressions. But as the song led into the second verse, their expressions shifted into pained, sorrowful looks, as if relishing memories of heartbreak. Standing on stage, the four girls held every single audience member spellbound, no one turned away, no one spoke, and no one cheered. Absolute silence reigned as Nobelia’s debut track echoed through the hall.

Watching from near the entrance doors, Martin stared at Ruby, who stood at the front of the stage, occasionally flashing him a flirty wink. A wide grin broke across his face as tears streamed down his cheeks. He actually had to turn away when the person next to him glanced over. Seeing Ruby perform on a grand stage in front of a packed crowd hit him twice as hard as seeing Eric, whom he had already seen in videos. His heart pounded rapidly, and he couldn’t hide his smile no matter how hard he tried to pull back his usual stoic expression.

The sheer pride and awe of watching Ruby on stage and Eric before her, almost gave him a mini heart attack. While Martin wrestled with his emotions, Jade glanced up toward the VIP section from the stage. Her expression froze instantly, and her movement ground to a halt.

Up above, she caught sight of Mike, who seemed to have just arrived, standing in front of his seat beside Katie, beaming with pride. Noticing Jade freeze like a statue while staring at him, Mike hurriedly waved his hands with a worried look, signaling for her to keep going and ignore him.

In a split second, Emma and Tania flanked Jade, smiling warmly at her. Jade snapped out of it and picked up her movements immediately. To the audience, the slip-up came off as deliberate dramatic flair rather than a mistake, a charming beat that stole the hearts of everyone watching. As the track reached its finale, the four lined up once more at center stage, raising their hands before slowly pointing out to the crowd as they sang the closing notes. The music faded, plunging the room into total silence.

Out of breath, Emma, Ruby, Jade, and Tania looked out at the dead quiet room in utter confusion, no applause, no shouts, no cheers.

"Um... looks like we blew it," Ruby whispered.

"I don’t know... maybe... they didn’t like our song," Tania added.

"Oh man... what do we do now?" Jade groaned.

"I don’t even know what to say... let’s just ask," Emma said.

"Huh?" Ruby, Jade, and Tania blurted out together, whipping their heads toward Emma.

Before anyone could stop her, Emma stepped forward and clasped her hands over her chest.

"We are so, so sorry if our song wasn’t to your liking! This was our very first performance, so please forgive any mistakes. We love every single one of you!" Emma announced into the mic.

The room remained dead quiet. Emma could see countless people holding up their smartphones recording them, but just as she was about to address the crowd again,

"I love you all!"

A lone voice from the back screamed out so loud it reverberated off the walls, startling Emma, Ruby, Jade, and Tania. Ruby, Jade, Tania quickly rushed up to stand beside Emma.

"WE LOVE YOU!"

Now multiple voices, both men and women, shouted out together, instantly unleashing a deafening roar that filled the venue. It was twice, even three times louder than the reaction to Eric’s set, as people cheered and screamed at the top of their lungs. The tension drained from Emma’s face, replaced by a radiant smile.

A single tear rolled down her cheek, prompting her to bow deeply to hide her crying. Naturally, Ruby, Jade, and Tania followed her lead. Nobelia’s debut performance drew to a close as the four girls exited the stage to thunderous applause before the MC stepped up to take over.

Backstage, Emma, Ruby, Jade, and Tania looked completely drained, limp, and exhausted, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily with their chests heaving. Suddenly, a towel landed right on top of Emma’s head. Looking up, she saw Eric tossing towels over to Ruby, Jade, and Tania before turning his eyes back to her.

"Great job. I’m proud of you, and all of you," Eric said, standing right in front of Emma.

Emma jumped up and threw her arms around Eric, while Ruby, Jade, and Tania simply smiled behind them, wiping off their sweat.

"I genuinely thought we failed... I was so terrified up there," Emma said.

"Yeah... I know, it was written all over your face, haha," Eric teased.

"Ugh... you’re terrible," Emma replied, softly tapping Eric’s chest with a smile.

"Great work! Hello, Mr. Eric, I believe this is our first time meeting properly,"

Eric turned to find Keisha standing beside him. He immediately offered a handshake, which Keisha accepted.

"Ms. Keisha, how was our performance just now?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, Ms. Keisha, how did it go? Did we stick to the choreography?" Tania asked.

Keisha didn’t answer right away. She cast a glance over at Jade, who quickly looked away to avoid her eyes. Instead of scolding her, Keisha walked up to Jade and patted her shoulder.

"Nice improvisation out there, Jade. You’ve got a real talent for playing a statue on stage," Keisha said with a smile.

"Um... are you making fun of me?" Jade asked softly.

"Not at all... I’m actually praising you. Thanks to that moment, the performance hit the crowd twice as hard. Wait until you see the recording and look at the expression on your face when you caught sight of your boyfriend, it fit the mood of the song perfectly," Keisha said, smiling.

Jade’s face flushed bright red instantly. Eric walked over, patted her head, and leaned in close to her ear.

"Mike must be so proud. He got delayed by work, but he made it after all, didn’t he? Hehehe," Eric whispered.

"Ugh... stop teasing me. You’re such an annoying cousin, you haven’t changed one bit," Jade grumbled in frustration.

Afterward, everyone headed into the dressing room where Monica sat in her wheelchair alongside Heidi, Priya, Laura, and Chloe. Emma ran over to hug her friends while Eric watched on. The six girls then pulled Eric in to join their group hug. Naturally, Eric happily obliged. Watching the scene fold out, Tania, Ruby, and Jade smiled, while Keisha stood by with her arms crossed, wearing a subtle smile of her own.

***

Meanwhile, near the main entrance that was now being used as the exit, Martin sat in his chair, still trying to compose himself.

"Um... Uncle Martin?"

Martin turned around, his smiling face instantly snapping back into his usual stoic expression. Standing next to him was Vivian, while Melissa walked past him toward the exit without looking back, accompanied by Norman.

"You’re here," Martin said, looking at Vivian.

"Yeah, Uncle... I watched Eric’s performance... and then Ruby and Jade’s... all three of them were incredible," Vivian said, looking back toward the empty stage in the brightly lit room.

Martin studied Vivian, who was wearing a long coat and sunglasses, standing with both hands stuffed into her pockets as she stared at the stage.

"So... what do you want? Please don’t trouble Eric, Ruby, or Jade," Martin said sternly.

"Don’t worry, Uncle. I only came to watch. Melissa told me about the launch event for Eric’s company... I just wanted to see Eric perform, that’s all. I’m heading out now, Uncle," Vivian said with a smile, though it was impossible to tell if she looked sad behind her dark sunglasses.

Both fell silent for a moment. Vivian bowed in farewell and turned to leave, but Martin suddenly caught her wrist, making her look back. He released his grip and stood up.

"You know Jason is in prison, right?" Martin said.

"I... know, Uncle," Vivian answered.

Martin paused again, glancing briefly toward the stage before turning his eyes back to Vivian, his face now calm.

"As Jason’s father, I want to apologize to you for what he did. Once all of this blows over, I’ll speak with your parents to apologize to them in person," Martin said.

"It’s alright. I also apologize for causing so much pain to your family, Uncle. Well then, I’ll take my leave," Vivian replied.

Without turning back again, Vivian walked past Martin, who turned to watch her figure recede as she headed out through the exit doors.