Chapter 13
The charity concert became Lucinda’s next battlefield.
She could not come near me.
So she used people who could.
A board member called my father and suggested I withdraw because the attention was unhealthy.
A parent said Harper deserved a place too, as if Harper were begging for one.
A reporter emailed questions about whether my father was using my performance to repair his public image.
I wanted to quit again.
Then Harper showed me her newest painting.
It was me onstage.
Not smiling.
Not perfect.
Standing.
“You made me too tall,” I said.
“No,” she said. “That’s how you look when you stop being scared.”
I hugged her.
She stiffened first.
Then hugged me back.
The night of the charity concert, my father drove us himself.
No driver.
No men in dark suits.
Just him, Harper, and me.
Backstage, Mrs. Bell helped me tune.
“You owe the audience nothing,” she said.
“I thought performances were for audiences.”
She smiled.
“Not always.”
I held the violin under my chin.
My hands were steady until I heard a familiar voice outside the backstage door.
Lucinda.
My whole body turned cold.
“She is my daughter too,” Lucinda said to someone. “I have every right to be here.”
Harper went white.
My father stepped into the hall.
I followed before anyone could stop me.
Lucinda stood near security in a black coat.
Beautiful.
Furious.
Forbidden.
When she saw me, she smiled.
“There you are.”
Security blocked her path.
My father’s voice was low.
“You are violating the order.”
Lucinda ignored him.
She looked at Harper.
“Come with me.”
Harper shook her head.
Lucinda’s face hardened.
“You ungrateful little girl.”
Something inside me snapped.
I stepped in front of Harper.
“You don’t get to use that voice here.”
Lucinda laughed.
“Still pretending you are brave?”
I lifted my violin.
“No,” I said. “I’m done pretending I’m not.”
The police arrived before curtain.
May you like
Lucinda was removed again.
This time, cameras caught everything.
