Chapter 13

I was twelve years old when my mom took me from my grandmother’s house in the small town.

On the day she took me, her voice was laced with a morbid frenzy:

"My sweet girl, now you can finally get revenge for Mommy!"

"Let those hussies see who the real genius is!

"What's so great about her daughter playing the piano?"

After that, I never saw my grandmother again.

My mom said that once I won first place in the school violin competition, she'd let me visit Grandma.

Later, when I won, she said I had to win first in the city.

Until I was nineteen, when I won the national gold medal.

But my grandmother had passed away that very morning, the day I won the award.

My grandmother had received the news, knowing I would come to see her once I won.

So she clung to life, holding her breath until the day of my competition, but ultimately, she didn't make it to the moment I could see her.

Seven years of longing, and in the end, all I could embrace was an urn of ashes.

From then on, my emotions seemed to go numb.

I didn't quite know how to love anymore.

Nor did I know how to express affection or liking.

My mom and I had a huge fight.

She cursed me for being ungrateful, sending me off to my father’s house, throwing me into another abyss.

That night, my father, reeking of alcohol, burst into my bedroom.

He held me, tearing at my clothes.

But the name he whispered was Chloe’s.

My world completely shattered.