Isolde's POV
“So, what? You really want me to call off our engagement?” he threatened.
That was his biggest one, as he knew it could still hurt me.
Well, I used to care. I used to feel unwilling to give up, to lose to someone like her. After all, I was the one who came first.
Even if Alicia had met him before me, she never really loved him. If she did, why did she marry that old man? And why did she come running back to him the moment she realized she wasn’t in the old man’s will?
I laughed bitterly.
“Well then,” I said, looking straight into his eyes, “isn’t that exactly what you wanted?”
His brows furrowed. Without answering, he turned around and picked something up from the desk—two plane tickets for a world trip.
One was his, and the other was...
My heart skipped.
It had my name on it.
I froze. I once told him that I wanted to travel the world before getting married. Could he actually be… fulfilling that wish?
But before I could even breathe out a word, he tore both tickets in half.
Shreds of paper fluttered down over my head and shoulders like cruel confetti.
Then he picked up his phone.
“Book new tickets,” he said coldly. “For me and Alicia.”
He then hung up and gave me one last dismissive glance before brushing past me toward the door.
I stood there in silence. Knowing him, he probably only bought those first tickets to put on a show for his father, to pretend we were a happy couple. Someone like Nicholas would never go out of his way to be kind to me.
My fingers touched the necklace around my neck. It was the only thing my mother left me, the Graves heirloom, passed down through generations.
There was no way I’d give it to anyone.
I unclasped it carefully, placed it inside a velvet box, and packed it into my suitcase.
I was supposed to leave tonight. But before I could go, an email arrived.
It was a digital invitation to a memorial concert marking the fifth anniversary of my mother’s death.
They wanted me, her only child, to perform one of her classic pieces.
I hesitated for a moment, then called Spencer Wilde.
“Would it be okay if I arrived two days late?”
There was a brief silence on the other end before he asked, “Are you having second thoughts?”
“How could I?” I said with a small smile. “There’s just something important I have to do first.”
“Alright,” he replied softly. “I trust you. And I’ll wait.”
Warmth bloomed quietly in my chest.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
The concert was in two days.
During that time, I didn’t send Nicholas a single message and, as expected, he didn’t contact me either.
But it favored me as I got to focus on practicing my mother’s music, determined to play it perfectly in her honor.
I knew every note by heart, but still, I wanted it to sound flawless.
On the morning of the performance, I woke up early, washed up, and got ready.
But when I opened the red velvet box, my heart dropped.
The necklace was gone.
I froze as a terrible feeling crept into my chest.
I called Nicholas.
The moment the call connected, I heard faint music in the background, a live orchestra.
“You’re at the concert?” My voice trembled. “Did you take my necklace?”
His voice came through, calm and detached. “Alicia’s never been part of a concert before. She’s always dreamed of performing, but her family could never afford to support her. While you, you come from a musical family, these events are nothing new for you. Besides, her birthday’s coming up, so think of the necklace as your gift to her.”
“Nicholas!” I screamed, fury shaking my whole body.
But all I got in response was the flat beep of a disconnected call.
I dialed again and again, but no one answered.
Without thinking, I grabbed my keys and rushed out the door.
By the time I arrived at the concert hall and stepped out of the car, the sound of the music inside made every muscle in my body tense.
