I Married the President

The host carefully opened the list. Seeing the final rankings, a flash of surprise crossed his eyes, followed by a mysterious smile as he looked up at the camera.

"Dear viewers, what I have in my hands is the final ranking of the top nine contestants of Shining Star. First, I will announce ninth through sixth place..."

The host built up the suspense as he read out the names for sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth place, leaving the top five yet to be announced.

"Next, I’ll announce fourth place. Ivan Webb, in fourth place, with a total of 7.3 million votes."

"In fifth place, with a total of 7.12 million votes, is Zachary Winston."

"And now for the exciting part! Third place, with a total of 8.45 million votes, is without a doubt the adorable and talented duo, Hayden Carson and Leo Lynch!"

So, the C-position would be decided between Leonard Bishop and Liam Linden.

Claire Sinclair felt like her heart was about to leap out of her chest. ’It’s finally time!’

The host cleared his throat, read the names of the sponsors one more time, and finally announced the vote count for second place. "The total number of votes for second place is 14.02 million! Congratulations to Liam Linden! And congratulations to Leonard Bishop for winning the C-position debut! His total vote count is 45.99 million! This number is exactly the sum of the total votes for the other eight contestants combined. He is truly the most dazzling star of our Shining Star!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a brief wave of shocked murmurs swept through the audience below the stage.

That was too ridiculous...

Leonard Bishop’s vote count alone was equal to the combined total of the other eight finalists!

Without a doubt, this result stunned everyone.

Leonard Bishop himself hadn’t expected his vote count to be so high. He was a bit dazed for a moment, just as the camera panned to him and his face was magnified on the big screen.

Next, the host invited the top nine contestants onto the stage to give their acceptance speeches.

As the first-place winner, Leonard Bishop was given five minutes for his speech. He took the microphone, and his gaze fell pointedly on Adrian Quincy and Claire Sinclair.

"First, I want to thank two people. One is Professor Sinclair, who gave me countless words of encouragement. The other is Mr. Quincy, who guided me back to the right path. Professor Sinclair showed me through her actions that when you’re in a desperate situation, as long as you don’t forget why you started, you will always find hope, break your chains, and escape your predicament. And Mr. Quincy, although he didn’t speak much to us contestants, he always fed us the most ’toxic chicken soup’ to warn us and make us think about what kind of path we should walk in the future..."

He said a lot—a mix of truths and half-truths, some of it toxic chicken soup, some of it his genuine feelings. At the very end, he added a special comment: "If I ever get arrogant in the future, I hope Professor Sinclair will be there to remind me. I don’t want to become one of the villains you write about."

After he spoke, thunderous applause erupted from below the stage.

Claire Sinclair gave a helpless smile. ’This kid really doesn’t know how to choose his words. Saying something like that in front of so many people, isn’t he just putting more pressure on me?’

’Oh well. He’s a student I mentored. Of course, I’ll continue to look out for him.’

In any case, the Shining Star competition had come to a complete close.

At noon the next day, the production team invited all the staff, contestants, and mentors to a small celebration party.

Adrian Quincy and Ethan Kingsley had important matters to attend to, so they declined the invitation to the party.

Claire Sinclair attended the party to show the production team some courtesy, but she only stayed for the meal before leaving.

After leaving the hotel, Claire Sinclair went straight to the hospital.

When she arrived at the door of room 605, she found it completely empty. Even the personal belongings had been cleared out.

Claire Sinclair’s heart tightened. She rushed to the nurses’ station to ask, "Excuse me, where is Third Miss Tanner?"