Chapter 3

"Kathy?" Lucas noticed Katherine staring blankly at him, and his voice sharpened with a jagged edge of impatience as he asked, "What's wrong with you?" Katherine snapped out of her trance. Forcing down the turmoil roiling inside her, she composed her features into a mask of disappointment. "I was just thinking about Ms. Robertson's songs. I bet they're beautiful. It makes me so sad that I'll never get to hear them." The moment the words left her lips, she caught a flash of unmistakable mockery in Lucas' eyes. "It's alright." He mouthed the words to her with strained patience. "Take your time. You'll get better." Then, with a gentle touch, he scooped her up and carried her from the study into the bedroom. He laid her across the soft expanse of the king-sized bed and immediately pinned her down with the weight of his body. His kisses were fervent and domineering. His hand slid up her back beneath her shirt, unclasping her bra with practiced ease. "Don't." Katherine frowned, fighting back waves of revulsion as she pushed him away. In the past, her love for Liam had made her a willing captive to his desires. Even when he kept her up late into the night, pushing her body to its limits until she could barely hold herself together, she had followed his lead without resistance. But today, the heartbreaking truth had finally come to light. The man who had been taking her in every position imaginable wasn't Liam—it was his brother, Lucas. Both of them had been playing her like a fool. "What's wrong?" Lucas asked, caught off guard by her rejection for the first time. "I'm just not in the mood. I don't want to." Katherine pushed him off, turned her back to him, and straightened her clothes. "Damn it!" She had barely fastened a single button when she heard Lucas snap behind her. He grabbed his phone and dialed a number in a fit of pique. Since he was under the impression that Katherine was deaf, whenever he called Liam, he always put him on speakerphone. After a long pause, Liam's indifferent voice came through. "You interrupted my video call with Ava. What is it?" "What the hell is wrong with the deaf girl today?" Lucas said, his voice thick with the frustration of a man denied. "She actually had the nerve to tell me she's not in the mood and won't let me touch her. Did you do something to piss her off?" Liam's tone remained detached. "She really is in a foul mood today. If you're that desperate to get laid, just sweet-talk her a little. She's an easy mark." "Sweet-talk her?" Lucas scoffed. "I don't have the patience for that. Throwing her a few soft words in bed is already pushing my limit. She's the reason Ava had to get plastic surgery and change her name. If she couldn't write songs to help Ava's career and wasn't such a good lay, I would've gotten rid of her a long time ago." The words turned Katherine's blood to ice. So it wasn't just Liam—Lucas was in love with Ava too. "Whatever," Lucas spat, exhaling an irritated breath. "I'm going out for a drink." With that, he stormed out without even sparing Katherine a parting glance. The bedroom door slammed shut with a resounding bang, followed shortly by the roar of an engine coming to life downstairs. Once again, Katherine was left entirely alone in the cavernous, empty villa. Despite the height of summer, she felt a chill settle deep into her bones. Just then, her phone buzzed. It was an email from her former mentor, Rosalie Delroy. Attached were the scores for several of Suzy's new songs. The email read, "I happened to hear this singer's work and found it oddly familiar. After transcribing the notation, I realized it's been plagiarized from your earlier compositions. Would you like me to help you take legal action?" Katherine glanced at the sheet music and couldn't help but laugh bitterly. She couldn't believe it. Liam had actually dug out the college assignments she had submitted to Rosalie three years ago and handed them to Ava on a silver platter. She stared at Rosalie's email, lost in thought for what felt like hours. Finally, she made up her mind. She scrolled through her contacts until she found a number she hadn't called in years and hit dial. "Ms. Delroy, this is Katherine. I received your email. Thank you for the offer, but I'd like to stand up for my rights on my own." Silence stretched on at the other end of the line before Rosalie finally spoke, her voice thick with shock. "Katherine? How are you calling me? Can you… Can you hear now?" "Yes," Katherine replied, her nose stinging with unshed tears at the sound of that familiar voice. "Ms. Delroy, three years ago when you moved abroad, you told me that if I ever changed my mind, I'd be welcome to join you anytime—" Before she could finish, Rosalie cut in, her excitement palpable. "Are you saying you want to come join me?" "Yes," Katherine said, gripping her phone tighter. "Three years ago, I turned down your invitation for advanced studies because of my hearing loss. But I'm better now, and I want to take you up on it." "That's wonderful!" Rosalie exclaimed, her voice rising several octaves. "Three years ago, I wanted to take you with me even if you couldn't hear. Now that you've gotten your hearing back, it's even better." Rosalie's praise was effusive. "You're the most talented student I've mentored in the past decade. A gift like yours shouldn't go to waste." She took a deep breath and continued, "Katherine, get your things in order. In one week, I'm flying back to personally escort you here. In the meantime, let's gather the evidence. We'll use the influence of the Virtuoso Academy to file a lawsuit against that singer-songwriter, Suzy Robertson." Then she declared, her sense of justice unwavering, "Music must not be defiled. We have to make those plagiarists pay!" Katherine's voice caught. "Thank you, Ms. Delroy." In just one week, she would finally leave this place of heartbreak and those two disgusting brothers behind for good.