Chapter 3

"Marcus, who's here?"

A couple, arm-in-arm, walked out of the recording studio. Julian stiffened when he saw me.

"Aren't you that girl from the sanctuary the other day…?" Stella frowned slightly.

Marcus smiled at me.

"Let me introduce you. This is Stella, Julian's heavily promoted new singer and his current girlfriend."

"And as for this one…" He looked at me meaningfully. "Julian's former bandmate, the notorious plagiarist, Cassie."

The word "plagiarist" hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest. I looked up and saw a twisted amusement playing on Julian's face.

"So, it's you."

Stella sneered. "Julian's downfall was all because of you… If I'd known, I would have slapped you twice more at the sanctuary!"

"The sanctuary?"

"Cassie, have you changed your ways?" Marcus scoffed. "Don't tell me you're repenting your sins and thinking of becoming a nun?"

"No, I was just volunteering there…"

Before I could finish, Stella's palm connected with my face.

Julian grabbed her tightly, a flicker of panic in his eyes.

"Don't hold me back! I want to get revenge for you!"

She was furious. As I bent down to pick up my cochlear implant, she stomped down.

"Still listening to music? Is it the song you stole?"

Stella lifted her foot, cruelly crushing my last shred of dignity. My cochlear implant shattered into pieces under her shoe.

Julian watched with a twisted amusement, not saying a word to stop her. But then he suddenly bent down and grasped Stella's foot.

"Does it hurt?" He used his hand to brush away the fragments of my cochlear implant, his expression one of utter disgust. "Why get so angry? It's not worth it to bother with someone like this."

Someone like this?

Yes, I was a plagiarist, an ex-con, and deaf. My cochlear implant was destroyed, but even without ears, I could discern the overflowing tenderness in Julian's voice.

After five years of being deaf, I had long since learned to read lips.

"It doesn't hurt… I just feel bad about these shoes. You had them custom-made for me from abroad…" Stella's face was filled with regret.

"It's okay, I'll order you another pair."

Julian casually tossed the broken high heel into the trash. He swept Stella into his arms and carried her away, not even sparing a glance for me.

I stared intently at the trash can, wondering how many pairs of cochlear implants that one pair of shoes could buy.

Marcus threw the lyric sheet at me. "Our small studio can't afford to be associated with an acclaimed plagiarist like you… Take your stuff and get out. Don't you dare linger around Julian again…"

I bent down to pick up my shattered dignity scattered on the floor.

My cochlear implant was utterly destroyed. No matter how I tried to piece it together, it could never be restored, just like my image in Julian's heart.

He hated me so much. I sighed softly, a bitter smile playing on my lips as I entered the elevator.

A hand blocked the elevator door. Julian backed me into a corner, his gaze piercing. "Can't you take it?"

I turned my face away.

"Aren't you supposed to be so resilient?" he scoffed. "Running off with our love song to a sugar daddy… Didn't your sugar daddy keep you well-hidden? Why are you showing your face here?"

"That's right, he got bored and dumped me." I lifted my head and smiled. "So I'm really broke now. Is that answer satisfactory, Mr. Davies?"

Julian's lips pressed into a tight line, his gaze deepening.

"Why don't you give me some money? Consider it payment for the three years I spent chasing dreams with you… I can give you anything you want, even my body…" I grabbed Julian's hand and pressed it to my chest, but he flung my hand off.

"Shameless!"

His breath hitched, and he turned his face away, trembling.

"I wouldn't touch a body as dirty as yours."

"Tomorrow morning at eight, at The Blue Note. We need a guitarist for the new song release… Fifty thousand for one night. Will you come?"

"Yes."

At seven-thirty, I arrived at The Blue Note early. The decor was identical to where Julian and I first met. Only the neon sign outside and the banner above the stage were different.