Chapter 29 \u2013 A Thief\u00a0<\/p>\n
SERA\u00a0<\/p>\n
The next morning, I woke up with a plan forming in my mind. Luna loved music, just like I did. Maybe that could be the bridge between us, the way back to each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I left early, before Luna woke up, leaving a note for Darius that I\u2019d be back in a few hours. The downtown area was quiet at this hour, most shops still closed or just opening their doors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Miller\u2019s Music Shop had been there since before I moved to this city with Darius. It was tucked between a coffee shop and a bookstore, its windows filled with instruments of all kinds. I\u2019d walked past it hundreds of times but never gone inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The bell above the door chimed softly as I entered, and the smell of wood polish and old paper hit me immediately. Sheet music was stacked on every surface, and instruments hung from the walls like artwork. It was a rather calming sight and I found the corners of my lips curling up slightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be right with you!\u201d a voice called from somewhere in the back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wandered through the aisles, running my fingers along the smooth surfaces of guitars and cellos. Everything here felt alive somehow, like each instrument was just waiting for the right person to bring it to life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the children\u2019s section, I found it. A small violin, perfectly sized for a four\u2013year\u2013old, with a rich cherry wood finish that gleamed in the morning light.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I picked it up carefully, testing the weight of it. It had been years since I\u2019d held a violin, years since I\u2019d let myself make music just for the joy of it. After everything that had happened a few years ago, I\u2019d locked that part of myself away. It was safer that way. Less painful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But looking at this little violin now, I remembered why I\u2019d fallen in love with music in the first place. The way it could say things words couldn\u2019t. The way it could heal and hurt and transform all at once.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe I could teach Luna. Maybe music could be something we shared, something that was just ours.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a beautiful choice,\u201d a voice said behind me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned to see a young man, maybe in his mid\u2013twenties, with dark hair and kind eyes. He was wearing a Miller\u2019s Music Shop t\u2013shirt and an easy smile. He towered over me with an intimidating height, he was almost as tall as\u00a0<\/p>\n
Darius.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s for my daughter,\u201d I said. \u201cShe\u2019s been taking piano lessons, but I thought\u2026 I thought maybe the violin would be good for her too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you play?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The question made something twist in my chest. \u201cI used to. A long time ago.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s never too late to start again.\u201d He extended his hand. \u201cI\u2019m Noah, by the way. My grandmother owns this place, and I\u2019m helping out while she\u2019s recovering from surgery.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSera.\u201d I shook his hand briefly. \u201cI\u2019d like to order this one, please.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
hapter 70 A Thoot\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course. Let me write that up for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Noah filled out the order form, I found myself drifting toward the pianos at the back of the shop. There was an grand piano there, its wood dark with age but well\u2013maintained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I could stop myself, I sat down on the bench and let my fingers find the keys.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The melody that came out was one I\u2019d written years ago, back when I was still in college and music was my whole world. It was melancholy and hopeful all at once, full of longing for something I couldn\u2019t quite name.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I got lost in it, my fingers remembering patterns they hadn\u2019t played in years. The music poured out of me like something that had been dammed up too long, and for just a moment, I forgot about everything else.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I finished, there was silence in the shop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was beautiful,\u201d Noah said softly. \u201cIs that yours? Your composition?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Heat flooded my cheeks. \u201cOh, it\u2019s nothing really. Just something I wrote a long time ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t sound like nothing. It sounded like-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLike a lie.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The harsh voice cut through the shop like a knife. I turned to see Cathy standing in the doorway, her face twisted with disdain. And beside her, leaning on her arm like they were the best of friends, was Vivienne with a strange, strained look in her face as she looked at me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart dropped into my stomach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCathy,\u201d I said, my voice coming out thin. \u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShopping, clearly.\u201d Cathy\u2019s eyes raked over me with obvious disgust. \u201cThough I\u2019m surprised to see you here, Sera. I didn\u2019t know you were interested in music.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivienne\u2019s eyes were locked on the piano, then on me, something calculating in her expression. \u201cThat piece you were playing. It sounded familiar.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nothing,\u201d I said again, standing up from the bench. \u201cJust messing around.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMessing around?\u201d Cathy laughed, the sound cruel. \u201cPlease. Everyone knows you don\u2019t know anything about music, Sera. You\u2019re probably just trying to copy Vivienne, like you copy everything else about her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not copying anyone.\u201d My hands were shaking, but I tried to keep my voice steady. \u201cI was just-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were just trying to impress people by pretending to be something you\u2019re not.\u201d Cathy stepped closer, and I could smell the expensive perfume she always wore. \u201cIt\u2019s pathetic, really. First you steal her life, and now you\u2019re trying to steal her talents too?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t steal anything.\u201d The words came out weaker than I wanted them to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivienne moved to the piano, her fingers trailing across the keys. \u201cYou know, Cathy, you might be right. That piece did sound very familiar. I think I remember composing something similar years ago.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My blood went cold. \u201cWhat?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 9 A Thief\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Darius and I were together, I used to write music all the time. He loved hearing me play.\u201d Vivienne\u2019s smile was sweet as poison. \u201cThat melody you just played? It sounds just like something I wrote for him back then.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not true.\u201d My voice was barely a whisper. \u201cI wrote that piece in college. Years before I even met Darius.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My fists clenched by my sides as I watched the weakly woman lie through her teeth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her skin was as pale as a sheet of paper but her gaze and words weren\u2019t as soft.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you?\u201d Vivienne tilted her head, studying me like I was an interesting insect. \u201cOr did you hear it somewhere, maybe overheard it at one of our family gatherings, and decide to pass it off as your own?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI would never-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, please,\u201d Cathy interrupted. \u201cEveryone knows you\u2019re a fraud, Sera. You have no talent, no background, no breeding. You\u2019re just a nobody trying desperately to fit into a world you don\u2019t belong in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Noah stepped forward then, his face concerned. \u201cMa\u2019am, I think maybe-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStay out of this,\u201d Cathy snapped at him. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t concern you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Noah didn\u2019t back down. \u201cThis is my grandmother\u2019s shop, and I won\u2019t have customers harassed here. If you\u2019re not here to make a purchase-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re here to expose a thief,\u201d Cathy snapped, interrupting Noah and holding up a finger to his face. \u201cSera is pretending to be a musician, stealing my work and passing it off as her own. That\u2019s fraud, isn\u2019t it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivienne stayed quiet then, as though she had nothing to say\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked like I was truly guilty and she was only a damsel being protected by her best friend, Cathy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My face was burning with humiliation. There were other customers in the shop now, attracted by the raised voices. They were all staring at me, judging me, believing every word Cathy and Vivienne said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Souls Remember What Matters \u2014 Corey Gibson 29 Chapter 29 \u2013 A Thief\u00a0 SERA\u00a0 The next morning, I woke up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-day-i-signed-the-papers-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23475\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}