Chapter 1

I am the true heiress of the Lynn family, lost for twenty years.

On the day of the reunion, my older brother Ethan had tears in his eyes as he swore to give me the best things in this world.

My fiancé Derek also promised he would never let anyone mistreat me again. He said he would marry me as soon as I turned twenty.

But when the stage collapse happened, I watched helplessly as they both rushed past me toward someone else.

Their eyes full of heartache, they picked up that girl. She had only scratched her skin.

Hannah, the fake heiress with asthma, had stolen my place and enjoyed twenty years of my privileged life.

I lay in a pool of blood, my right hand crushed beneath several hundred pounds of steel framework.

Even the sound of my bones shattering was clearly audible.

That was my right hand. The hand I had protected through beatings and abuse in the countryside. The hand I relied on to play the violin with my incredible talent.

I thought they would turn back to look at me.

But what I got instead was Ethan's furious roar.

"Aria, why did you deliberately push Hannah! If her asthma acts up, I won't forgive you!"

Derek stood beside him, disgustedly stomping on and breaking my violin strings.

He looked at me with eyes as cold as ice. "You'll do anything to compete for attention. It's truly revolting."

The agony of being abandoned by my blood relative and my lover even surpassed the pain of my shattered bones.

I watched them carefully protect Hannah as they ran out of the theater, not even calling an ambulance for me.

When I woke up again, I had already been taken to the hospital by staff members.

The emergency room doctor looked at the scan and delivered a cold verdict.

"The nerves in your right hand are severed. Forget about playing the violin in the future. You won't even be able to lift heavy objects."

My only pride and future in life had been destroyed by the combined efforts of the sister I saved, my biased brother, and my fiancé.

I leaned against the hospital bed, pale as a ghost, unable to shed even a single tear.

Suddenly, familiar footsteps came from outside the door. It was Ethan and Derek.

They didn't enter my room, but stood in the corridor negotiating with the doctor.

"Call all the best specialists to Hannah's room. She was frightened, and we absolutely cannot let her suffer any psychological trauma." Derek's voice carried undeniable concern.

"What about Miss Aria Lynn next door? Her hand..." the doctor probed tentatively.

"Don't bother with her." Ethan interrupted impatiently. "She's tough as nails. A little injury won't kill her. Let her stay in there and reflect on her actions."

Something in my head buzzed, and something shattered completely.

From returning to the Lynn family until now, I had compromised myself for a whole year.

Staying up late to work on proposals for Ethan, learning to cook Derek's favorite dishes, yielding to Hannah at every turn, all just to beg for a little bit of family affection and love.

But now I understood. When there's no love, there's no love. Even my ruined hand mattered less to them than Hannah being frightened.

I didn't cry or make a scene. I just dragged my disabled right hand and calmly took out my phone.

I opened the chat with my professor from the Vienna Royal Academy of Music.

A few months ago, the professor had noticed my perfect pitch and compositional talent and invited me to study abroad, transferring to symphonic conducting.

Because I couldn't bear to leave Ethan and Derek, I had refused.

But now, I had no reason left to stay.

I typed out a line and sent it. "Professor, is that invitation still valid? I accept. I can leave next Monday."