SWNOVELS Chapter 2
hapter 2
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Chapter 2
I stared in shock, my mind racing. It felt like a coarse rope was tightening around my heart, squeezing with a suffocating pain. Just yesterday, I had imagined myself at the piano in the finals, even envisioned the thrill of giving a victory speech on stage.
But now, my hands would never touch the keys again.
A searing rage made my eyes bulge. I gritted my teeth, struggling to rise and rush towards the door. Yet before I could reach the nurses‘ station, several nurses blocked my path.
“You haven’t fully recovered. You can’t move around freely. Please return to your room and
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lie down.”
The thought of never playing the piano again ignited a furious resolve within me. I broke free from their hold, determined to report this to the police and make Soren pay for his actions.
The nurses, alarmed by my outburst, began shouting, “Doctor, doctor!” When the doctor arrived, the nurses restrained me tightly on the bed. Moments later, the doctor injected me with a sedative.
The cold medication surged through me, and I fell into a deep sleep. In my dreams, I was plagued by relentless torment, images flashing through my mind. In the liminal space between sleep and wakefulness, fear spread like wildfire. When I finally awoke, I found my brother, Orion,
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staring at me with a terrified expression.
Orion was my half–brother. When I was very young, our mother was killed by my mentally ill father. Out of pity, Orion had persuaded his father to adopt me. Initially, his father had been unwelcoming, but after Orion threatened to sever ties, he reluctantly agreed. Growing up, Orion had protected me fiercely.
He shared everything with me, from food to clothing, often drawing Mr. David’s ire for his perceived heartlessness. Over time, Mr. David came to accept me and stopped rejecting me.
I had hoped we would continue to live in harmony. But then, two years ago, Mr. David died in a car accident, shattering the peace we had known.
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Orion was deeply shaken by the loss of his father’s warmth and sank into a deep depression. During a hiking trip, he accidentally slipped and fell into a ravine. The fall not only broke his leg but also led to a diagnosis of severe kidney failure, necessitating a transplant.
In my desperate attempt to find a kidney for him, I lost sleep and hair, shedding ten pounds in less than half a month. Even while lying in the hospital ward beside him, I kept up a brave front, comforting him with all my heart.
Gradually, my efforts touched him, and he began to emerge from his haze. His condition improved steadily. To prevent him from feeling guilty, I acted as though nothing had ever happened, performing with a forced
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cheerfulness. Seeing my brother’s recovery, I couldn’t help but smile through my tears.
For me, Orion was not just a brother; he was a second chance at life after my mother. The sight of his recovery overwhelmed me with emotion, and tears flowed freely.
Yet, my tears were met with his cold rebuke. “Why are you crying? What right do you have to cry?”
My eyes widened in shock, my heart raced, and disbelief etched across my face.
Orion’s gaze was impassive. “This is the debt you owe; you deserve this punishment. If I had known you were capable of such cruelty, I never would have brought you back. You
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knew how much the piano meant to Elara, but you deliberately hid razor blades in the keys, causing her wrist tendons to be slashed while she practiced. If it weren’t for her compassion and her understanding of your youth and immaturity, she would have had you imprisoned long ago.”
I stared at him, dazed, my silence perhaps only fueling his anger. “What? Are you silent because you know you’re in the wrong?” he shouted, his voice devoid of warmth.
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