All I remembered was her wrapping me in this coat through the haze of fading consciousness. "My sweet girl! How could you do something so foolish!"

"Open your eyes! Look at what Mama bought you for your birthday!"

"You still have your mother!"

"Silly girl, I told you so many times not to choose Wyatt Simmons..."

"Wake up, baby. You're all Mama has left..."

Later, after the divorce, my mother was so furious she went to confront him and demand answers.

She stepped out the door and was hit by a car. She never came back.

Wyatt seemed to snap out of a memory. He exhaled slowly.

He looked almost guilty as he changed the subject. "Mildred, Vera meant well."

"So—where are you working now?"

"If you don't mind, my company could—"

"I'm a piano teacher." I lifted my chin and cut him off. "A student of mine at Harmony Academy won first place in the National Youth Piano Competition this year. I trained her."

My hands could never grace a concert stage again. But I could still teach.

What they didn't know was that I'd become one of the most sought-after piano instructors in the world. People lined up at my door, and most of them still couldn't book a single lesson.

And my daughter was my finest student.

That piano I'd been looking at was simply for her to use during private training sessions at the academy.

When I said this, Wyatt visibly relaxed, as though he finally understood why the slip of paper had Harmony Academy's address on it.

But Vera's smile froze—just for an instant. "Well, congratulations, Mildred."

"Though... a youth piano competition. The prestige isn't quite the same, is it?"

"Not like the national competitions from back in the day..."

She didn't finish.

Because I smiled. "Oh, you're right. Those national competitions—you must remember them vividly."

"After all, you won yours using someone else's compositions."

Vera went rigid. She turned to Wyatt, her eyes brimming with wounded innocence. "Honey, after all these years, Mildred still thinks I stole her—"

"Isn't it?" I shot back without mercy. "Didn't you steal what was mine?"

Vera stared at me in disbelief, her grip tightening around Wyatt's hand.

But Wyatt looked down and snapped at her, his voice low and barely restrained. "Mildred's right. Keep your mouth shut."

Vera's expression soured for a flash, but she quickly recovered, wrapping herself around Wyatt's arm with practiced ease. "I was just joking around!"