Chapter 1

I received a documentary from eighteen years in the future after Leo was injured. Watching it, I saw myself giving up my career as a violinist to care for him for eighteen years.

For the forty-ninth time, until I was grey and old, asked for a marriage, Leo, lying on his sickbed, still refused to give me a status before passing away.

With no legal status, I could only watch his burial from afar. However, Riley, my best friend who had taken over my position as principal violinist years ago, led the funeral as his widow.

Only then did I learn the truth; Leo hadn’t been struck by the collapsing practice room ceiling while tuning my violin. but he had been injured and lost his absolute pitch while having a secret date with Riley.

In an instant, he had gone from being a conductor leading an orchestra to a patient tormented by splitting headaches whenever he heard loud noises.

Believing myself to be the culprit responsible for his accident, I had served as his unpaid caregiver and bedmate for eighteen years without legal status or title, unaware that he had already married someone else.

At the end of the documentary, I gripped my chest and cried pitifully at the sight of that frail, elderly figure being shut out and rejected.

Since I had served as a stepping stone for eighteen years, this time, I would not let myself be trampled and used again by those heartless demons.

***

I gasped for air and suppressed the shock surging within me. I looked around my surroundings and found that I was near the practice room where Leo was tuning Riley’s volin.

I dashed to the practice room where the accident had occurred and saw Riley’s violin lay amidst the rubble, its body smashed to pieces.

Near them were the strings called Pirastro ‘Green Beauties,’ a token of love I had given Leo. It was the prize I had won at my first international competition when I was eighteen, but now, he had fitted them onto Riley’s violin.

Seeing this, I was boiled. I went to the security room and asked the guard for the surveillance footage from the day of the accident.

In the video, Leo was in the practice room, head bowed, installing the strings for Riley. Although I couldn’t see the expression on his face, his subtle movements revealed his deep focus and dedication.

I had been struggling to find my touch due to a ganglion cyst for the previous six months, and it was torture for a violinist like me.

Leo possessed absolute pitch; the instruments he tuned always produced the most perfect sound. For that, I had begged him for help several times. But whenever I asked, he would say he was either busy or too tired.

Turned out he wasn’t lacking time or energy; simply, I wasn’t the person worth his spending an afternoon tuning strings for.

In the video, Leo repeatedly adjusted the tuning pegs. He ensured every string was tightened to perfection, neither too loose nor too taut.

Once the violin was tuned, Riley took it from him. She squealed and happily nestled into his arms, then looked up and whispered something close to his face.

Hearing that, Leo’s lips curled into a smile, his eyes filled with an unfathomable tenderness. I was shocked seeing that doting affection since it was so unfamiliar to me.

After having her violin tuned, Riley began to play. She played the very piece I had chosen for my upcoming competition.

On the side, Leo stood by, patiently guiding her fingering and rhythm. He had revealed the piece I selected to Riley and was giving her private, intensive coaching on it.

Cold air blew down from overhead, shrouding my vision in a white mist. I felt both chilled and lost. After eighteen years, only now did I know that my life was a lie.

Suddenly, a massive crack split the ceiling of the practice room. It collapsed downward with terrifying speed.

Seeing this, Leo dashed and threw himself over Riley, shielding her in his arms and sacrificed his body in the name of love.

Once Riley regained her senses, she didn’t spare a single glance at him or the violin. She simply turned and fled in a panic.

Ten minutes later, the sound of sirens echoed. Firefighters arrived and pulled Leo out from the rubble.

There was so much blood, on his head, on his body; his features were unrecognizable. I remembered seeing him in the hospital, wrapped in bandages, looking helpless.

I had been so terrified I felt as though my soul had left my body. Guilt and remorse consumed me.

Because Leo had said he was going to the practice room to tune my violin, I had blamed myself endlessly.

If not for me, he wouldn’t have suffered a temporal lobe injury that damaged his auditory cortex.

If not for me, he wouldn’t have lost his innate perfect pitch and become a patient tormented by splitting headaches whenever he heard loud noises.

Just then, I heard footsteps and was woken up from my reverie. Leo was standing right behind me and asked, “What brings you here?”

Hearing that, I turned to look at him, recalling that documentary from eighteen years in the future and seethed in anger.

I thought of the version of myself who was ignorant of the truth and had cared for him for eighteen years out of a sense of atonement.

I thought of the version of myself who had served as a stepping stone for them, only to be met with betrayal and deceit in the end and suffered for the rest of my life.

“Why were my violin strings on Riley’s instrument?” I asked calmly, trying to mask my fuming.

Leo’s eyes flickered hearing this. He replied calmly, “I didn’t notice at the time; I mixed them up.”

I nodded and remained silent for a long moment. Behind us, workers began tearing down the remaining half-wall of the practice room. The electric drill roared to life.

Hearing this, Leo’s face suddenly went pale; he jerked his hands up to cover his ears and crouched down in agony. His whole body shook uncontrollably, gasping for air, as if he were drowning.