Chapter 1
For my fiancé’s beloved crush and her big piano competition, he delayed our wedding for the seventeenth time.
Because she said I injured her finger and prevented her from competing, he cut off my ring finger the night before th competition.
The pain of losing my finger made me cry out in unbearable agony, yet he held her close, his eyes cold and indiffe
ent.
“Stop pretending. How painful can a severed finger really be?” he said.
“Besides, you only lost a finger. Tania lost the lifelong dream she’s been pursuing!
“You owe her this debt.”
His words cut deeper than the wound.
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He forgot my own fingers were meant to dance on piano keys, too.
“The wedding scheduled for next week has been pushed,” he added.
Then, he gently touched her reddened fingers.
“This has nothing to do with Tania. It’s because you can’t wear a ring on your finger.”
Clutching my bleeding hand, I finally woke up to the truth.
From then on, we owed each other nothing.
***
“Cancel the wedding.”
My voice was faint from blood loss and the ache in my chest.
Tania Madsom and Erik Elmgren both looked at me.
Erik’s gaze turned even more mocking.
“Playing hard to get? Kara, I’ve seen tricks like yours a hundred times.”
However, the truth was, winning a piano competition was not only her dream-it had been mine, and my mother’s dy- ing wish.
The sooner a severed finger is treated, the better the chances of saving it.
Too exhausted to argue, I knelt and reached for my finger lying in the pool of blood.
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Chapter 1
268 Vouchers
Just before I touched it, Tania hurried over, grabbing my hand with wide, innocent eyes.
My severed finger-with the engagement ring still on-was under her heel.
She looked at me sweetly, holding up her own palm, the one she had pinched herself. “Kara, I know you didn’t mean to hurt me. See? My hand doesn’t hurt anymore, so please, don’t leave Erik.”
Then she leaned into him, sobbing softly, her high heel grinding my severed finger into the floor again and again.
“If I ruin things between you two, I’d rather die,” she whispered.
As she said that, a single tear slipped down her cheek.
Her acting was flawless, but I had no strength left to admire it.
My bloody hand reached toward her ankle, but before it could touch her, she let out a sharp scream and fell backward.
“Tania!”
Erik rushed over, gently helping her up before turning on me with a cold glare.
“Kara, how could you be so cruel? She was only worried about you, and you pushed her?”
The air seemed to freeze around us.
I stared at her in disbelief, the pain in my hands nothing compared to the ache tearing through my chest.
“Erik, Kara didn’t push me. I just lost my balance. Don’t be mad at her,” Tania said softly, her gentle, innocent look making him fuss over her even more.
He cupped her face, wiping away her tears.
“Even now, you’re still defending her. If I weren’t here, you’d just let her keep bullying you.”
She pouted slightly, gazing up at him. “Then, can I stay with you forever?”
He smiled faintly, ruffling her hair before pressing her head against his chest.
“Of course.”
My vision began to swim, but I still caught the triumphant glint in her eyes.
Summoning the last of my strength, I reached shakily for my severed finger.
Erik suddenly stepped forward, his boot crushing the back of my hand. His voice was ice.
“Apologize to Tania.”
He towered over me and ordered.
When I did not move, his weight bore down harder, sending waves of pain from my hand straight to my heart.
“I said, apologize!”
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“Erik, I don’t care about that,” Tania murmured sweetly.
“Let’s just get Kara to the hospital first. She’s lost so much blood. It might hurt her piano playing.”
Erik snorted. “It’s just a little blood. How could it affect anything?”
My head grew heavier, my body weaker. The last thing I saw before the darkness took me was the man who swore to love me forever holding another woman and whispering, “Tania can be the only one who knows how to play piano.”
