Vincent Murphy, my childhood sweetheart seemed like a different person overnight.
He smashed my beloved violin, fell in love with a girl who bullied me, and destroyed my right arm that could pluck the strings.
He admired my wretched appearance leisurely.
"Does it hurt? But it was you and others who killed me in my previous life.
"Fortunately, I have the chance to live once again."
1
Thirty-two days had passed since Vincent's personality changed drastically.
Sitting in the living room with a cigarette in his mouth, he didn't care about me as usual. Instead, I could feel that his eyes revealed a deep hate.
I remembered that he had never smoked in the past.
In the past month, he became a chain smoker.
As I entered the room, Vincent didn't even turn his head but said coldly.
"There is a place for a performance abroad next month in your school.
"You withdraw and give way to Jean White."
Jean, the only heir of the White Group, became Vincent's new girlfriend since his personality had changed drastically.
She was also the one who led the bullying against me at school.
They formed a small group and enjoyed teasing me every day. As Vincent, who used to take care of me, found out, he just commented nonchalantly, "As a vicious person, she must be properly disciplined."
I didn't understand why Vincent, who loved me so much, inexplicably put a vicious label on me suddenly, and then refused to listen to any explanation and only wanted me to pay the price.
I asked in a hoarse voice, "Vincent, you know I eagerly want to perform on stage. I was chosen by the mentor, so why did you let me give up this opportunity?"
Vincent put out the cigarette and stared at me with venomous eyes.
"Didn't I tell you that I don't want to hear you call my name? It just makes me feel sick."
Tears poured down my cheeks.
"Vincent, what did I do wrong? Can you tell me?"
His disgust towards me lasted for a whole month.
Vincent seemed like a different person. He looked at me with icy cold eyes as if I were a disgusting object.
But in fact, I didn't know what I had done wrong.
The one I carried was the violin that I had used for more than two years. It was a birthday gift that Vincent asked someone to custom-make for me from abroad on my eighteenth birthday.
It was made of maple with a refined texture.
When the violin was handed to me, Vincent touched my head with a smile.
"Kara Bell, you will definitely be the best violinist when you grow up."
Back to reality, he cast his gaze on the exquisitely crafted violin with a sarcastic smile.
The next second, Vincent threw the violin to the ground heavily, and the body of the violin was crushed.
The wood cracked, and the smell of pine filled my nose.
Seeing the mess on the ground, I picked up its broken body with trembling hands, trying to piece together what I cherished so much.
Yet, the broken wood shattered into sharp spikes and could not be put back together.
Standing there and staring at me, Vincent hesitated for a moment. Just as he was about to reach out his hand, he was interrupted by a ringing sound.
I clearly heard Jean's sweet voice on the phone.
"Vincent, the mentor only takes one student to perform abroad this time. If Kara goes, I can't go."
"Don't worry, I'll make her quit."
"Vincent, you are so nice to me, but will Kara be sad?"
"A person who is fostered in my home is not worthy of your concern."
Jean was very satisfied and said some witty remarks, which made Vincent's mood improve a lot.
I had no idea what the two agreed on. He turned around and left immediately, without even glancing at me. I was left half-kneeling there, holding the damaged violin, my hands and feet trembling.
No, it was impossible!
Vincent was not like that.
Once upon a time, he clearly loved me the most.
2
Vincent and I had no blood relationship.
When I was five years old, my parents died in a car accident. Cato Murphy, who was good friends with my father, took me in.
From that day on, Vincent and I became childhood sweethearts.
He did not reject me, an orphan who appeared without permission. Instead, he held me tightly and promised me every day.
"Kara, I'll protect you for the rest of my life and make you the happiest girl in the world."
Vincent was a serious person and always kept his word.
He saved all his pocket money at school and bought me beautiful hairpins and skirts.
After Vincent, four years older than me, took over the Murphy Group and got the first month of share dividends, he specially ordered from abroad an expensive violin, on my 18th birthday, as a gift to me.
He encouraged at that moment, "Kara, you will definitely be the best violinist."
Unfortunately, before that day came, Vincent had completely changed his personality.
A month ago, it was Vincent's 25th birthday. I specially prepared a birthday cake for him and watched him make a wish.
In the dim candlelight, Vincent closed his eyes and made a wish with a tender look.
He also smiled and joked with me, "My greatest wish is that you and my parents will live in peace and happiness forever."
I pretended to be unhappy. "The wish will not come true if it is spoken out."
He smiled slightly and was about to close his eyes to make another wish.
All of a sudden, he opened his eyes, which weren't filled with tender care but hatred. It was so obvious that I could feel it clearly.
Veins bulged on his forehead, sweat kept rolling down, and the joints on the back of his hands were protruding.
I reached out anxiously. "Vincent, what's wrong with you?"
Vincent angrily knocked my hand away and shouted, "Do not touch me!"
He was so cruel that it frightened me to the point of being stunned.
Without paying any attention to me, Vincent stood up suddenly, looked around, and then stared at the cake in front of him.
There were candles on it and the number 25 was beautifully carved on it, representing that he was celebrating his 25th birthday.
He was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter while realizing what was happening.
"Thank goodness, I have the chance to live once again!"
After saying that, he forcefully overturned the cake on the ground, as if venting out the anger that had been bottled up in his chest for a long time.
The cream covered the tiled floor in a collapsed, sticky, and disgusting mess.
In my mind, Vincent was always gentle and polite, rarely giving vent to his temper, and I once again cautiously shouted out, "Vincent..."
He then noticed me and turned to stare at me with venomous eyes.
"Kara Bell, I am so brainless that I couldn't find you're vicious! You deliberately stayed in my home just to get the Murphy Group!"
In the hot summer, I felt cold all over.
He was wrong, and I had never coveted the Murphy family's property.
I knew my true identity from the beginning, and I was always grateful to Cato for taking me in.
Cato was a nice person and never treated me differently just because I had no blood relationship with him.
As I grew older, I became more and more attached to the home, which was filled with warmth everywhere.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, I resolutely enrolled in the music major in college despite the opposition of everyone in the Murphy family.
Vincent studied finance, took over the Murphy Group, and became the new heir of the Murphy family with an iron hand.
I studied music and would never get involved in the power of the Murphy family.
But just after one birthday, Vincent, who loved me so much, completely disappeared.
Instead, he became a person who hated me extremely.
3
At first, I suspected that Vincent had been replaced.
I took out the toy he gave me when I was a child, trying to get from him what year he had given it to me as a gift.
Vincent dressed in a neat suit said disdainfully.
"Kara, you don't have to test me. This is my birthday present for you when you first came to my home. I was really silly to give you something."
I didn't give up and showed what he gave me from my bedroom one by one. It was not until Vincent sarcastically explained the sources of all the gifts that I could believe it was real.
But I still didn't give up, wondering if something supernatural had happened and a new soul had entered his body.
Taking the opportunity of living with him, I began to observe his behavior every day.
After I was admitted to a local university, Vincent bought this villa near the school so that we could live together. He was worried about me living alone on campus and would only feel at ease if I was with him.
There was no change in his behavior.
He never touched mangoes which might cause allergies, didn't eat overly sweet things, and had a very regular routine.
In the past, he used to get up early every day to prepare breakfast for me, but now, he would get up early and go out alone to have breakfast.
I was overwhelmed by his indifference and didn't know when it would end. Because of it, I broke a bowl so hard during an early morning breakfast-making session that the sharp porcelain cut my finger severely.
The blood ran away in an instant.
Hearing the sound in the living room, Vincent slowly walked towards me, and I looked at him expectantly.
Unexpectedly, he sneered, "These pieces should be cut on your wrists!"
I covered my hand as the blood was flowing more and more, feeling a dull pain in my heart.
He would never do this to me before.
Once I cut my finger, he was extremely nervous. He hurriedly got the medicine box, carefully applied iodine and bandaged it, not allowing me to touch water.
The current person in front of me was different from the one I knew.
It seemed like he wasn't replaced.
But in his memory, there was one more thing that I did something wrong to him.
4
I slowly tidied up the clutter in the living room.
After thinking it over, I went to the bedroom and moved all my personal belongings to the storage room on the first floor.
Although the space was confined, it was barely enough for me to sleep.
The broken violin was also put in the closet by me.
I thought everything would be fine as long as I waited a little longer.
Vincent would return to his former self, rubbing my head and calling me Kara.
The room was filled with dead silence.
I couldn't stand it, so I sat there all night and returned to school the next day.
The teaching building was a little quiet on Sunday. After pushing open the classroom door, I was suddenly poured with ice water and then felt a chill creep over me.
My long hair was wet and stuck to my cheeks, and my clothes were sticky and cold.
In late autumn, the temperature was extremely low.
I couldn't help but shudder.
A group of people laughed behind me, and Jean, who was in the lead, mocked.
"Oh my! The former high and mighty young lady has now become so wretched. It's good this way, or she will continue to covet something that doesn't belong to her."
I stood there in a daze, letting the water droplets roll down my hair.
It was very embarrassing.
The moment I entered this school, Jean disliked me, for both of us came from a wealthy family.
But before that, Jean didn't dare to do anything to me. She just made some sarcastic remarks to me sometimes to maintain her status as the only rich girl in the school.
A month ago, Vincent inadvertently revealed the truth in the circle.
He admitted that I was just a guest of the Murphy family without the right to inherit a penny from them.
At the same time, he began to pursue Jean in a big way.
When Vincent came to find me at school for the first time, Jean fell in love with his handsome appearance at first sight and tried her best to pursue him.
Now, Vincent's confession of love to her surprised and delighted her, and she agreed without any hesitation.
Behind the rockery of the school, I stood not far away and saw the scene with red eyes. He held Jean in his arms and whispered.
"She is just an adopted daughter living under my roof. How can she be compared with you? I can easily drive her out of my family."
The two hugged each other tightly, looking like a perfect match.
Besides, both of them came from a wealthy and powerful family.
I stood there, like an ugly monster, and peeped into other people's glamorous lives.
From that day on, Jean spread the news that I was the foster daughter in school and started bullying me with her friends.
My textbooks often disappeared, and my desk was often full of garbage.
The other people in the class, under Jean's instigation, completely isolated me.
I was like an isolated island, floating alone in the vast ocean.
At this moment, a WhatsApp notification sound came from my pocket.
I opened it and took a look.
It was the one that Vincent sent to me.
[Come to Yelson Club, our usual place.]
A sudden surge of joy filled my heart.
This was the message Vincent sent me.
Yelson Club was a business owned by the Murphy family. As a wealthy family, it had countless businesses like this in Aneorth.
The usual place was a private room he once reserved for me, and occasionally we would go to the place to sing and have fun.
I guessed that Vincent had returned to his former self and wanted to apologize to me in the bar for what happened during this period of time.
Regardless of the water stains on my body, I ran to the main gate of the school in the autumn wind and hailed a taxi.
The phone was still tightly held in my hand, and the screen was still on WhatsApp.
It was the first message Vincent had sent me since his personality changed drastically a month ago.
I felt a bit relieved.
I hurried to Yelson Club and even straightened my messy hair in the mirror.
Recalling the past, I pushed the door open amidst the deafening rock music and shouted happily, "Vincent."