In front of me sat that familiar set of black-and-white keys.
Sophia stood by the piano, smiling.
Trembling, I reached out my right hand.
Under the lights, my hand was fully exposed.
A collective gasp rose from the audience.
"Oh my God, what happened to her hand?"
"That's horrifying—it looks like it was broken…"
Marcus stood below, frowning. "What are you spacing out for? Play!"
I placed my fingers on the keys.
Since you all want to hear it.
I pressed down.
Clang—
Noise.
My fingers couldn't bend, couldn't exert any strength. The instant I pressed down, sharp pain shot through me, and I ended up mashing a whole cluster of keys.
The room went dead silent.
Sophia covered her mouth in exaggerated alarm. "Alex, what's wrong with you? Did you do that on purpose? If you didn't want to help me, you could have just said so—why did you have to ruin my performance?"
"Mr. Abbott, we... we found something on the hillside behind the Abbott family estate..."
"Found what?"
The assistant's voice trembled.
"It's a grave... The tombstone has the child's name on it... She, she..."
It was like a bomb went off in Marcus Abbott's head.
He slowly looked at me.