Chapter 2

Katherine took the banana from Liam. Then, she lowered her head and pretended to eat it as if nothing had happened. Her head was pounding. For her and her best friend, Natasha Thorne, Ava Quinton was nothing short of a nightmare. Years ago, Katherine and Natasha had created a song together. Katherine composed the melody, while the latter came up with the lyrics. Once the song was finished, the pair published it online. The song became an instant hit and took the internet by storm. But soon after it gained popularity, Ava and a group of people approached them and forced them to sell the song. Ava wanted Katherine and Natasha to acknowledge that she was the sole producer of the song. When the pair refused, she slandered them online and accused them of plagiarizing her music. Furious, Katherine refused to let the matter slide. She tried to tell the truth online, but all of her posts were removed, and her accounts were shut down. On top of that, Ava bullied and harassed Katherine and Natasha in every possible way. The pair were even physically assaulted. Afterward, Natasha ended up with broken legs and was bound to a wheelchair for the rest of her life, while Katherine was rendered deaf. The Thorne family blamed Katherine for everything that had happened. Hence, they cut off all contact with her and left the country with Natasha. Katherine refused to give in. She gathered all of the information she could in an attempt to make Ava pay for her crimes. However, the day after she finalized her formal complaint, she found out that Ava had left the country. The incident became Katherine's worst nightmare. She often questioned herself and the world around her. Additionally, she would jolt awake at night and wonder if she was actually in the wrong. Then, she met Liam Sawyer. Initially, she believed that Liam was her salvation and the light in her life. Now that she had heard him say Ava's name in such a loving voice, she realized that everything had been a lie all along. "By the way," Liam said as he lifted a glass of red wine from the table and took a small sip, "Ava goes by the name Suzy Robertson now. From now on, remember to get her name right!" The man next to him instantly burst into laughter. "Right! We'll have to keep that in mind. She had plastic surgery and changed her entire identity. Now, she's Suzy Roberson, the big star!" Once again, Katherine was shocked by what she had just heard. Suzy Robertson debuted two years ago. Ever since then, Katherine had seen her albums and posters everywhere she went. In fact, there was even a shelf in Liam's study reserved for items related to her. Every time Katherine asked about Suzy, Liam would brush past the topic and claim that she was a friend of his brother's. He would also insist that he simply admired her as an artist. Katherine had never doubted his claims. Every time she found items endorsed by Suzy during her shopping trips, she would make a point to buy them. Afterward, she'd return home and add them to the shelf. Suzy was an immensely popular singer-songwriter. Katherine could never have guessed that she was Ava—the person she had been hunting down for the last three years. One of the men, Benjamin Lane, asked curiously, "Oh, when is Suzy releasing her new album, Liam? My sister is getting impatient. She can barely wait any longer!" Before Liam could respond, another person laughed and answered for him. "That depends on when the deaf woman gets her new songs done!" "You're right," Benjamin replied with a chuckle. Then, he added, "I have to say, the quality of her work has improved tremendously ever since she lost her hearing! How does the saying go again? Pain can awaken an endless well of creativity!" "Well said." Katherine had finished her banana. Upon noticing this, Liam gently stroked her hair and said, "Her ability to write songs for Suzy is the most valuable aspect about her right now." Liam's touch felt scalding. Yet deep down, Katherine felt nothing but cold despair. The group was still laughing and talking to one another, but she couldn't hear a single sound. As it turned out, every song she had poured her pain into over the last three years had become something Ava took pride in. She couldn't understand how Liam could do this to her. An hour later, the party came to an end. Feeling numb, Katherine let Liam guide her out of the private room. Then, the pair returned to the villa they had been living in for the last three years. Liam tilted Katherine's head and forced her to look at his lips. Then, he slowly asked, "Are you feeling unwell?" She snapped out of her trance. Suppressing her emotions, she forced a smile onto her face. "Yeah, I just have a minor headache." "You should go and get some rest, then." He gave her a gentle hug before mouthing, "I'm going to the office to take care of some things." "Okay," she said with a nod. Once she heard the door close, she let out a breath of relief and headed to the study. All of Suzy's albums since her debut were neatly arranged on the study's most prominent bookshelf. Every single album was a collector's edition vinyl. Katherine exhaled. Afterward, she randomly picked a vinyl and played it. Once the needle of the record player hit the vinyl, Ava's voice began to echo through the study. Ava's voice had haunted her nightmares for three years. Now, that same voice was singing the melody Katherine had composed. Every note sounded like a taunt directed at her. As the song went on, Katherine grew more and more upset. Eventually, she broke down and lost control of her emotions. She ripped the vinyl from the record player and flung it onto the floor. The vinyl shattered into pieces. Katherine couldn't stop crying. Some time later, someone opened the door to the study, and she instinctively looked up. A man in a suit noticed the shattered vinyl as soon as he walked in. He froze for a moment before a hint of anger flashed across his face. Once he caught her staring at him, he recomposed himself. Then, he walked over to her with concern and crouched down. "What's wrong, Kathy?" he asked slowly. The man looked exactly like Liam, but his voice sounded much brighter. Katherine felt her heart drop. This wasn't Liam—this was his brother, Lucas Sawyer.