
312 readers · 11 chapters · 3 free
To help Emily, the girl who was mistakenly raised as the Sterling heiress, become a pianist, my own mother, Irene Sterling, closed the lid of my piano and crushed my finger bone by bone. "Nina, your sister has talent," she said. "Don't stand in her way. I'll make it up to you." My fiancé, Charles Goodman, stood there watching without a word, looking at me like I was just some jealous girl who didn't know my place. Instead of crying or begging, I simply looked down at my hands, knowing I would never play again. "Fine," I said quietly with a nod. "This is me settling my debt." That night, I set the piano room on fire and burned away every trace of myself in that house. Then I walked out into the rain with my ruined hand and disappeared. Five years later, I found myself standing on the stage of the Aurelian Hall in Wiesville. When I raised my baton with my back to the audience, my former family and ex-fiancé recognized me, and they completely lost their minds.