Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a real piano—it was an electronic keyboard the teacher used to play music for the children.

As Xiao Yu ran her fingers across the keys, a complex, indescribable emotion stirred deep within her.

This wasn’t her first time encountering an electronic keyboard, but she had never actually played one before. Fulfilling the original Xiao Yu’s wish wouldn’t be an easy task for her.

“Go ahead, play a little,” Ji Xuan said, plugging in the power cord for her.

Xiao Yu reached out and gently pressed a few keys. The bright, lively notes unique to the keyboard danced into the air.

Ji Xuan sat to the side with the two children while Xiao Yu placed both hands on the keys and let them dance back and forth across the alternating black and white notes.

As she played, she turned to look at the three of them and gave a soft, gentle smile. Her white teeth, pink lips, and the graceful curve of her expression made for a beautiful sight.

Ji Xuan’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly turned away to look at the kids. But the children, too, were completely captivated making Ji Xuan smiled helplessly. In a child’s eyes…

Mothers must seem like they can do anything.

That thought ran through Ji Xuan’s mind as he turned back to watch her again. By then, Xiao Yu was already deeply focused on her playing.

As the final notes faded, she gently lifted her hands from the keyboard. The two children jumped up, clapping enthusiastically and shouting, “Mom, you’re amazing! You’re the best!”

Ji Xuan stood up and walked over. After unplugging the keyboard, he turned and pushed Xiao Yu’s wheelchair out of the music room.

“How did it feel?” Xiao Yu asked.

Ji Xuan looked down at the flower-bun hairstyle on her head and replied softly, “Not quite like before.”

Xiao Yu raised her hands and peered through her fingers at Ban Zhenye and the teacher returning from outside. Her voice was calm as she said, “Maybe it’s because my fingers still aren’t very nimble.”

“Mm,” Ji Xuan responded quietly.

Ji Yu and Xiao Ruoguang immediately chimed in, “Mom, that was amazing! It sounded so beautiful!”

The melody sounded familiar to Ji Xuan, so he asked, “What piece were you playing just now?”

“Chopin’s Funeral March from the Piano Sonata in B-flat minor,” Xiao Yu replied.

Ji Xuan smiled. “Ah, no wonder it sounded so familiar. Back when we first got together, you were always playing that piece.”

“That’s right. But the meaning behind it is different now,” Xiao Yu said. Back then, when they had just started dating, she played it for her deceased parents. Now, she played it for the little girl who was no longer here.

“Ji Xuan, buy me a keyboard, will you?” Xiao Yu glanced back at the instrument and spoke softly. “I want to start practicing.”

As for recovering the use of her legs—Xiao Yu wasn’t ready for that yet. That wasn’t something that could be explained away in a few words.

If it weren’t so hard to live with a paralyzed upper body as well, she wouldn’t have allowed herself to recover to such an unbelievable extent.

“Alright,” Ji Xuan agreed. He had once loved Xiao Yu—otherwise, Ji Yu wouldn’t exist, even if that love had only lasted a few short months.

She still remembered the day her grandfather brought her to him—he married her when she turned eighteen. The wedding banquet lasted three days. Though they didn’t register their marriage at the time, they held a proper ceremony, invited both families, and were recognized as husband and wife in every meaningful way.

Back then, he did love her. Later, they officially registered their marriage—when she was twenty. But by then, his love for her was already gone.

From the moment Ji Yu was conceived, she began to distance herself from him. After Ji Yu was born, she threw himself completely into gambling. Ji Xuan never understood what kind of shift had taken place in Xiao Yu’s heart that year.

They separated when Ji Yu was two. Now, Ji Xuan wasn’t sure if she could still be a wife—or a mother.

A few days after they returned home, Ji Xuan had a keyboard delivered to her.

Xiao Yu continued with her daily 15-minute rehab routine until her upper body and hands had fully recovered.

Only then did she stop physical therapy for her lower body and begin focusing on practicing piano pieces instead.

From that practice session at school, Xiao Yu had already come to understand her current level. It was certainly not what it used to be. Beyond the incomplete recovery of her hands, she knew the deeper reason: her soul was a stranger to the piano.

She was no longer the Xiao Yu who treated the piano as her life and had over ten years of experience. She was merely a soul from another world.

Her unfamiliarity with the instrument and the lack of regular practice made it clear—she had a long road ahead if she wanted to reach her goal. And now, practice was her only path forward. There was no turning back. She didn’t even know if she could reach the level required. If she failed, it would mean facing death once more.

But if she was going to die, she would fight with everything she had. She had already endured the agony of a shattered leg—she refused to believe she couldn’t master the piano.

She looked at the keyboard in front of her and gently reached out to touch it. Just then, Kong Yuqing stepped out and asked, “Madam, are you sure you want to add chili?”

“Add it,” Xiao Yu said expressionlessly. She wanted revenge. In truth, that had always been the original Xiao Yu’s most important goal—revenge.

Unfortunately, she didn’t know what her departure had done to the two children she’d left behind.

Ji Yu had been led astray by Yi Lanya. A man busy with his career rarely had the time or energy to focus on his child. And with a stepmother who seemed so loving and attentive, the child had come to adore her. On the surface, it looked like a peaceful, happy family, but beneath it all, this child was already headed down a path where one day, he would do something he could never take back.

Parents… were a child’s very first teachers.

And what about Xiao Ruoguang? He was sent to an orphanage. When in truth, all it would have taken was bringing him back, and he could’ve had a father who loved him, who would’ve shielded him from the harshness of life. But sadly, the child left this world never knowing who his father was—and even ended up locked in a deadly rivalry with his own sister.

When Ji Xuan eventually learned what the children had gone through, he was furious and took action against the male lead. Ji Xuan was no fool—his capabilities were formidable. Unfortunately, what he lacked was cunningness. It wasn’t business sense that failed him, but his judgment of human nature. In the end, he became just another pawn devoured by the man he tried to fight.

The Ji family’s downfall was no less tragic than the Xiao family’s.

Xiao Yu… if you could have seen this future, would you still have focused only on the piano? I know you had your reasons, your desperation, but… was there truly no other way?

“Yi that vixen can’t handle spicy food,” Kong Yuqing said. “Everyone in the Ji household knows it. She’ll definitely go crying to the young master later.”

Xiao Yu gave a cold smile. “Let her. We’ll see who ends up crying harder.”

Step by step, she thought. She would become a world-renowned pianist. She would protect the children. She would stop Ji Xuan from making the same mistakes again.

She would uncover the truth…

At exactly 5 o’clock, the room echoed with Ji Yu’s loud, familiar voice.

“Mom! We’re back! Is Miss Yi here yet?” Ji Yu came running in from outside. This week, she’d been picked up right after class and taken with the driver to get her little brother so they could come home together. Because of that, she hadn’t had time to play with Miss Yi lately—she only saw her during class. She missed her!

“She should be here soon,” Xiao Yu said with a smile, gently patting Ji Yu on the head. “Probably just around the corner.”

No sooner had she spoken than Ji Xuan arrived home, with Yi Lanya following behind him. Handing his bag to a servant, Ji Xuan said, “We ran into each other on the way, so I invited her in. I heard we’re hosting Miss Yi for dinner tonight?”

At that moment, Kong Yuqing rushed out in a panic. “Miss, we have a problem! The cook accidentally made everything spicy today.”

She glanced nervously at Yi Lanya, her voice faltering. “Wh-what should we do?”

Yi Lanya was just about to lose her temper when she caught sight of Xiao Yu—tears falling silently down her face, her eyes misty and pitiful as she looked at both Ji Xuan and Yi Lanya.

“I didn’t mean to… I—I messed up the very first time I tried to host,” she said, her voice trembling.

Yi Lanya’s expression stiffened. “Don’t blame yourself, Madam. It’s just chili… I can eat it.”

“Really?” Xiao Yu looked at her with tear-filled eyes, just barely holding them back.

“…Really.” Are you kidding me? Are you an actress or what?

Xiao Yu gave her a gentle smile. “Thank you!” Of course I’m an actress. I was one in my past life.

Ji Xuan: “…” What in the world?

=^_^=