My hands, which I use to play the violin, were smashed.

The day before the competition, my fiancé smashed my hands with a heavy hammer. All because I accidentally broke the hand of the woman he adored. Even my own brother looked indifferent and said, "This is the debt you owe, you deserve this punishment."

When that woman accidentally hurt someone, they also pushed me out to take the blame.

As I stood trial before the judge, my fiancé and brother sat nervously in their seats. It wasn't until I was about to be executed by shooting that they began to regret their actions.

It was pouring rain outside, with terrifying thunder crashing and in the dimly lit room, Axel had his men pin me to the ground. Struggling, I crawled to him and clung tightly to his pant leg. "Axel, please... let me go. I didn't mean to hurt Karen, it was just an accident."

His eyes suddenly turned extremely vicious and he merely gave me a cold glance at my plea. "An accident? A one percent chance and you call it an accident? Do you think I believe that? You're just jealous that Karen plays better than you. So, you staged an accident for her, making sure she can never play the violin again. The stage that rightfully belonged to her was stolen by you. You destroyed her dream. What gives you the right to do this to her?"

As he spoke, he swung a golf club down at me, nearly numbing my arm. The bone in my arm made a cracking sound, clearly separating from the flesh. It was probably broken.

Facing the prospect of losing my beloved violin, I continued to beg him, "I really didn't do it on purpose, please believe me. I can't live without the violin. Tomorrow is my final competition, I'm begging you to let me go."

Overwhelmed by the fear of losing something I loved dearly, tears streamed down my cheeks.

"Competition? You're still thinking about the competition?" Axel's face twisted with rage. His contorted expression made me tremble uncontrollably. Like a heartless machine, Axel continued to smash my arm, blow after blow.

I felt darkness closing in and my consciousness began to fade. In a daze, I saw Karen leaning in Axel's arms, her eyes glistening with tears. "Axel, my hand hurts so much. I'll never be able to play the violin again."

Upon hearing these words, Axel put down his golf club and carried Karen away in his arms. Lightning fell in my eyes from the sky and my heart felt as if it was being fiercely squeezed by someone.

I could no longer hold myself up and slowly collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness. When I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital filled with the smell of disinfectant. In the quiet ward, I could only hear the sound of my breathing and the pain all over my body, which reminded me of what had happened earlier.

I slowly lifted my hands and found that my once long arms were now only stumps. Would I never be able to play the violin again?

I gaped in shock for a long moment, my mind buzzing. It felt like a coarse rope was tightly twisting around my heart, causing a suffocating pain. Just yesterday, I was imagining myself playing the violin in the finals, even envisioning the excitement of giving a speech on stage after winning.

But now, my hands could never play the violin again.

Overwhelming hatred made my eyes nearly bulge out. I gritted my teeth, struggled to get up and rushed towards the door. But before I could reach the nurses' station, several nurses stopped me.

"Patient A18, your body hasn't recovered yet. You can't move around freely. Go back to your room and lie down."

The thought of never playing the violin again filled me with a hellish rage, so I frantically broke free from them. I needed to report this to the police and was determined to make Axel pay for what he had done.

The nurses, terrified by my outburst, started shouting, "Doctor, doctor!" When the doctor arrived, the nurses were holding me down tightly on the bed, preventing me from moving. Moments later, the doctor injected me with a sedative.

The cold sedative coursed through my body, making me instantly fall asleep. In my dreams, I was tormented by my thoughts, with images flashing continuously. In the state between sleep and awake, fear suddenly spread through my entire body. When I finally woke up, a terrified face came into view. It was my brother, Theo.

Theo was my half-brother. When I was very young, my mother was killed by my mentally ill father.

Out of pity for me, Theo persuaded his mother to adopt me. Initially, his mother didn't welcome me. It was only after Theo threatened to sever ties with her that she agreed. Growing up, I was well-protected by Theo.

He exchanged everything with me, from food and clothing, which often led Mrs. Riley to scold him for being heartless. Over time, Mrs. Riley tacitly accepted my presence and stopped rejecting me.

I thought we would continue to get along harmoniously. Until two years ago, Mrs. Riley died in a car accident and it shattered our peace.

Theo was deeply shocked by the loss of his mother's warmth and became depressed all day. During a drunken streak, he missed a step and fell from the balcony to the ground. Not only did he break his leg, but he was also diagnosed with leukemia.

In order to donate marrow to him, I started to lose my hair all night and lost ten pounds in less than half a month. Even though I was lying in the ward with him, I was still comforting him with my big heart.

Touched by what I did, he slowly came out of the haze. It wasn't long before his condition gradually improved.

I didn't want him to feel guilty about me. So, every day, I performed in front of him as if nothing had ever happened. I couldn't help but smile when I looked at my brother, who had recovered as good as new in front of me.

For me, besides my mother, he was the second person who gave me life. When I saw him, I suddenly choked up and tears couldn't stop flowing.

But what responded to me was his cold words. "Why cry? What right do you have to cry?"

My pupils shrank suddenly, my heart beat violently and an expression of disbelief appeared on my face.

Theo looked indifferent. "This is the debt you owe and you deserve this punishment. If I had known you were so vicious, I shouldn't have brought you back. You clearly knew how important the violin was to Karen, but you deliberately hid her violin, causing her hand to be crushed by the cabinet when she went to find the violin. If it weren't for her kindness and considering that you were still young and immature, she would have sent you to prison long ago."

I looked at him blankly, ignoring his words. Perhaps my silence angered him and he shouted to me without a trace of warmth, "What? You don't dare to speak because you know you are in the wrong?"