Chapter 4

Since I had promised to leave completely in three days, I stopped clinging to anything and accelerated the pace of clearing out my room.

The next day, while cleaning the bottom drawer of my nightstand, my left hand touched an old, yellowed box.

Opening the box, a violin string that had been blackened and broken by fire lay quietly inside.

Looking at this string, my thoughts briefly wandered.

Ten years ago, there was a sensational serial kidnapping case. Ten-year-old Derek had been hidden by the kidnappers in an abandoned warehouse in the countryside.

At that time, I had just been beaten by my adoptive mother and locked in the woodshed, separated from that warehouse by only a wall.

I heard him crying out desperately in the darkness, terrified.

Through the wall, I played lullabies for him all night on this violin.

Later, the warehouse accidentally caught fire. I desperately broke through the wooden boards and used all my strength to drag him out of the flames.

That broken string had fallen beside him at the time.

And on the inner side of my right forearm, I had been left with a scar that could never be removed, from shielding him from falling burning debris.

Later, when I returned to the Lynn family, Derek became my fiancé.

But not only did he fail to recognize me, he actually treated Hannah, who had stolen the credit, as his savior and doted on her endlessly.

I had wanted countless times to take out this string and tell him the truth, but every time, before I could speak, he would ruthlessly cut me off.

"Aria, what are you dawdling about now?"

The door was suddenly pushed open without courtesy, and Derek walked in with an impatient expression.

I instinctively turned around. Because I moved too quickly, my loose sleeves slid down to my elbow, revealing the hideous, ugly burn scar on my right hand.

Derek's gaze fell on my wrist, and his steps suddenly halted.

Immediately after, his brow furrowed tightly, unconcealed disgust rising in his eyes.

"What's that scar on your hand?"

I froze, my heart seeming to be viciously squeezed by an invisible hand.

"This is from ten years ago..."

"Forget it, I'm not interested in hearing about your past!"

Derek cut me off. "The Lynn family has given you so much money. Don't you know to go to the hospital and have that scar removed?"

"Tomorrow night at the celebration banquet, you'd better wear long sleeves. Don't show up with that scar and embarrass both the Pierce and Lynn families!"

Every word was like a poisoned knife, precisely stabbing into my heart.

Not only had he forgotten me, but he also regarded the scar I got from saving him as a crude, filthy mark, thinking I would embarrass him.

Hannah walked in from outside the door.

She intimately took Derek's arm, holding imported ointment in her hand.

"Derek, Aria suffered in the countryside, so having scars is unavoidable."

Hannah put on a considerate appearance and held the ointment out to me.

"Aria, this is scar removal cream Derek had someone airship from Switzerland. When I fell yesterday and accidentally scraped a little skin, Derek was so heartbroken he insisted on buying it for me."

"My superficial wound has already healed, so I'll give you this ointment to use."

Looking at Hannah's wrist, smooth as jade, then at the hideous scar on my own wrist.

I suddenly felt utterly absurd.

For a fraud with a scraped bit of skin, he could spend lavishly, his eyes full of distress.

But for me, who had actually pulled him back from death's door, he only felt disgusted and ashamed.

Seeing that I wasn't taking the ointment, Derek's face showed even more annoyance.

He snatched the ointment back from Hannah's hand and said coldly, "Hannah, you're just too kind. Using this ointment on her would be a complete waste."

He looked at me with harsh eyes. "Why waste good things on her."

In that instant, I felt all the blood in my body turn cold.

The Aria who used to hide under the covers and cry all night just because he ignored her completely died in this moment.

I didn't cry, nor did I justify myself aggrievedly like before.

I picked up the charred violin string from the desk.

Right in front of Derek, I casually threw the string I had treasured for ten years into the nearby trash can.

Seeing my action, Derek's frown deepened. "What are you going crazy about now?"

I raised my head, looked at that face I had once deeply loved, and pulled my lips into an extremely faint smile.

"Don't worry. Tomorrow I absolutely won't expose this scar to be an eyesore to you."

Never again.