Chapter 2

Lily's POV

I laughed coldly and asked instead of answering. "What do you hope I heard?"

Holden's hand froze in mid-air. His brow furrowed. "This isn't a place you should be. We'll talk at home."

I ignored him and looked past his shoulder into the dressing room.

Serena wore a midnight blue velvet gown that had originally belonged to me, a custom piece from a top British designer made for my comeback performance.

Now it was on the body of the woman who destroyed my voice.

Serena looked at me, her eyes full of provocation.

Her smugness stung me. Fighting back the ache, I demanded: "Holden, why is she wearing my dress? Don't you think you owe me an explanation?"

Holden saw my reddened eyes and sighed, stepping forward to forcibly take my hand.

"Lily, you're misunderstanding. I put her on that stage to humiliate her."

I laughed bitterly. "Humiliate?"

"Yes." Holden's expression didn't change, his eyes terrifyingly sincere. "She destroyed your dream years ago, so I'm going to make her humiliate herself in front of everyone. She doesn't have your talent. Tonight during the performance, I'll have the sound engineer cut her microphone and let her lose face in front of all of New York's elite. That's worse than locking her in a psychiatric facility. It'll make her wish she were dead."

He said it so matter-of-factly, so devotedly.

If I hadn't just heard him promise the sound engineer would help adjust her audio, I might have actually believed this bullshit.

"Really?" I pulled my hand away and looked at him coldly. "Fine. Then I'll watch from the audience and see how you make her wish she were dead."

With that, I turned and walked away, spine straight.

At eight PM, the performance officially began.

I sat in the most secluded box on the second floor, watching the glittering stage lights.

Serena made her entrance.

She wore that midnight blue gown and a diamond necklace worth a fortune, looking like a noble queen.

The music started. Serena began to sing.

The microphone wasn't cut. Not only that, but the sound engineer used top-tier equipment to embellish her mediocre voice, making it sound ethereal and graceful.

The entire hall erupted in applause.

My gaze cut through the crowd, fixed on the man in the center of the front row VIP section.

Holden sat there, posture lazy and refined. He watched Serena on stage, the corners of his mouth curving in appreciation.

When the song ended, Serena took an elegant bow.

Holden stood up and, under everyone's envious gazes, personally walked onto the stage and handed Serena a bouquet of vibrant blue roses.

Blue roses.

Those were my signature.

Holden had once reserved an entire flower field just to cultivate the purest blue roses. He'd said: "Lily, only this one-of-a-kind blue is worthy of you."

But now, he'd personally given that uniqueness to Serena.

Serena accepted the flowers and lowered her head shyly. The two smiled at each other on stage like a loving couple.

I sat in the dark box watching this scene, suddenly finding it a bit funny.

I laughed out loud. As I laughed, tears fell in large drops onto the back of my hand.

I used to think Holden was my only salvation when I fell into the abyss. After my voice was destroyed, I developed severe depression and attempted suicide several times. Each time, it was Holden who held me all night, eyes red, begging me to live.

He'd said: "Lily, you still have me. Even if you can never sing again, you're still my life."

Turns out, he never wanted a brilliant opera singer. He wanted a broken thing that could only cling to him, unable to leave him.

He personally built a cage called love, locked me inside, then turned around and gave the stage and glory I craved most to another woman.

After the performance, I didn't wait for Holden. I took a cab back to the villa alone.

In the empty living room, I didn't turn on the lights.

I sat on the sofa like a soulless puppet.

I don't know how much time passed before I heard the fingerprint lock at the front door.

Holden walked in carrying a faint smell of alcohol. He turned on the light and saw me sitting on the sofa. He paused for a moment, then walked over and pulled me into his arms.

"Lily, why didn't you turn on the lights? Were you waiting for me?"

He lowered his head to kiss my cheek, but I smelled Serena's perfume on him.

"Didn't you say you were going to humiliate her on stage?" I didn't dodge, just spoke woodenly.

Holden's movements froze. His eyes darkened, his tone apologetic.

"Lily, I'm sorry. There was a change of plans. The organizers had some issues. If I'd let her humiliate herself on the spot, it would have damaged the theater's reputation. Don't worry, I'll have plenty of ways to torture her later."

"Really?" I turned my head and looked straight into his eyes. "And the blue roses? Were those to torture her too?"