Chapter 3

He spun all his betrayal into "doing what's best for us."

I laughed, a bitter laugh, stood up, walked to the table, picked up the bubble tea he’d bought, and poured it straight down the kitchen sink.

The liquid swirled and disappeared down the drain, like our vanished love.

"My song, not a single word is changing! If you want to sell out, find someone else to write your tracks."

"And, we're over."

After saying that, I walked into the bedroom and started packing my things.

Jax was stunned. He hadn't expected me to react so intensely.

"Kira, what kind of tantrum are you throwing now? You always do this, is it fun? What else can you do besides write a few songs? You're nothing without me!"

My hands stopped packing, tears streaming uncontrollably.

For all these years we were together, everyone thought I was just Jax's accessory, the lead singer's girlfriend and his songwriting tool.

Even Jax himself implicitly believed my talent had to be dependent on him.

But no one knew that my original intention for writing songs was simply to heal myself.

During the darkest period of my life after my father's passing, music pulled me out of the abyss.

My dream was for my work to be heard, to be loved.

Who sang it wasn't the most important thing.

That's why I willingly handled everything for him, why I compromised unconditionally.

And that's what gave Jax the chance to hurt me.

I wiped away my tears and continued packing.

All my sheet music, manuscripts, and that old guitar that had accompanied me through countless nights, I carefully placed them into my suitcase, one by one.

Finally, I took off the necklace he had made for me from a guitar pick, the one around my neck.

It was a gift he gave me when we first started dating.

I placed it on the table and pushed it towards him.

"Your stuff, I'm returning it to you."

He blocked my path, his eyes red-rimmed.

"Kira, do you really have to do this? All for one song?"

I looked at him and suddenly felt like he was a complete stranger.

"It's not for one song," I said calmly,

"It's for myself."

Then, I pulled my suitcase and walked out without looking back.

After leaving home, I moved in with my friend, Lena.

Lena heard my story and was so furious she almost stormed over to Jax's place to beat him up.

"I told you Jax was no good! He treated you like a maid, and now he wants to treat you like a tool! You should've left him ages ago!"

I gave a bitter smile, my heart feeling utterly lost.

Over the next few days, Jax called and messaged me frantically.

At first, it was accusations and threats.

[Kira, how dare you leave? Without my voice, your pathetic sheet music is just trash. Who do you think will want it?]

[If you're talking about breaking up, I'll just assume you're throwing a tantrum. I order you to get back here right now!]

I ignored all of them and blocked his number.

When he saw I wasn't responding, his tone softened, and he started to beg.

[Kira, I was wrong, I shouldn't have yelled at you. Please come back? I can't live without you.]

[Have you forgotten all those days we ate ramen together? Forgotten our promise to stand on the music festival stage?]

Reading those messages, I only felt irony.

Who was it, really, who had forgotten all that?

A week later, Finn, our drummer, came to find me. He was the only one besides Alex in the band who stood by me.

"Kira, Jax really changed 'The Unnamed Bird.' Tidal Wave found a new lyricist, and it's absolutely disgusting, unlistenable."