The Broken Sonata Chapter 1

The boy next door used to be a piano prodigy.

He had won countless awards by the time he was fifteen.

But after he met my classmate, he gladly let her sit on his beloved piano and kiss him.

He threw away his education for her, smashed his piano to pieces, and spiraled into total ruin.

So, I told his parents.

Because of that, the boy next door was forced to go abroad to study at a conservatory.

Years later, he made a massive name for himself.

He became the brightest, most untouchable superstar in the entertainment industry.

And I ended up as a trainee at his management agency.

Without even looking up, he pointed a finger at me.

"I'll take her."

That very night, my manager got me blackout drunk and sent me into the hotel rooms of powerful corporate investors.

He stood by the doorway, biting down on a cigarette, and chuckled softly.

"Consider this my way of thanking you for snitching on me back then."

I was abused to death on that freezing winter night.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back before any of it had happened.

* * *

"Don't you think dragging the untouchable golden boy down from his pedestal would be a total rush?"

"His lips are so thin. I wonder if he's a good kisser."

My desk-mate rested her chin on her hand, teasing playfully.

Directly across the courtyard, a tall, striking silhouette sat by the floor-to-ceiling windows.

It was eighteen-year-old Caleb Bennett.

I snapped out of my daze, clutching my chest and gasping heavily for air.

I turned my head. The girl sitting next to me was my classmate, Ashley.

In my previous life, she had sat exactly like this, resting her chin on her hand, staring at Caleb with a flirtatious gaze, looking absolutely determined to conquer him.

Back then, I just thought she was talking big.

But that very night, I saw her sitting on top of Caleb's grand piano.

Looking down and kissing him.

I was back.

I had been reborn, returning to the time before everything went wrong.

I forced myself to stay calm and reached out to shut the window.

"I need to study. If you don't have anything else to do, go back to your own house."

Ashley pouted. "Aren't you curious? I thought you had a crush on him."

I froze instantly.

When I was seventeen, I made two massive mistakes.

One, I secretly harbored a crush on the boy next door, but never had the courage to confess my teenage feelings.

Two, I snitched on his secret relationship with Ashley.

Because of that, he hated me for six years.

He didn't even hesitate to destroy me just to exact revenge for that betrayal.

Thinking back to that desperate, freezing winter night in my past life...

I squeezed my fingers tight, my teeth biting into my lower lip until it bled.