The final note lingered longer than Lily wanted it to.
She lifted her fingers from the piano keys slowly, letting silence settle before the applause began. The applause was soft, polite, and rehearsed, just like everything else in this room.
"Well done," someone said with a bright, indulgent laugh. "She plays it so well, doesn't she? I made sure she had the best lessons."
Lily forced herself to stand.
She turned, smoothing her dress, schooling her expression into something pleasant as she faced the small audience seated across the room. Her father. Her aunt. And Vivian.
Vivian Carter, her father's new wife. The woman who had entered their lives like a storm, smiling in a way that made everything else seem secondary. The woman who had married her father less than a month after the divorce.
Her father clapped absently, distracted by his phone, as if Lily's effort was only a checkbox on a long list of obligations. Her aunt nodded politely, her lips tight with judgment. And then there was Vivian, whose smile was all teeth and calculation, eyes sharp enough to make Lily sick.
Lily bowed, the corners of her mouth tightening for a fraction of a second before she straightened again, the smile snapping back into place. It was perfect, harmless, and obedient.
Fake. Every single one of them.
She had been young, back when she first realised how quickly her father could replace people in his life, especially women who had been waiting in the shadows all along. Vivian was everything she hated in a person: beautiful, calculating, and far too close to her father for comfort.
Her gaze drifted to the window. Outside, the garden glimmered under the late afternoon sun, serene and untouched by the poisonous energy inside. She wanted to escape there, anywhere but here, away from their performances, away from the smiles that didn't mean anything.
A sharp cough snapped her back. Vivian's voice, soft and sweet, cut through the polite murmurs in the room.
"Darling," she said, her smile tilting slightly. "Don't you think it's time Lily learned how to play something… more challenging?"
The words weren't kind. They were a challenge, a dare, a declaration that Lily's "success" would never be enough.
Lily's chest tightened. She clenched her fists behind her back, pretending to adjust her dress. "Of course," she said evenly, her voice light. "I'll try harder next time."
Her father barely looked up. "Just play what they want, Lily. Keep them impressed."
Impressed. A polite word for approval she'd never earn.
Lily forced a smile and turned back to the piano. Her fingers hovered over the keys, but she didn't play. She didn't have to. The moment had already passed, and everyone had moved on, already bored. Already thinking about themselves.
Then the door opened.
A man stepped in, he was dressed in a tailored suit, the man was a bit petite and had a serious look on his face as his eyes trailed to her before it settled back on her father.
"Mr Carter" The man's voice was smooth, impossible to ignore. Even from across the room, it made Lily wondered who he was. She was familiar with the people who came in and out of their house but not him.
Vivian's smile faltered when her eyes finally settled on the man. Her father straightened slightly, and her aunt's polite nod wavered.
The man's eyes scanned the room slowly again before it settled on her again. He had a bit of question in his eyes.
She felt it. The weight of attention that made her skin prickle, with the undeniable sense that whatever he was here for, she was involved.
"I thought he would come himself," her father said, almost like in an irritated tone, but it felt hollow. The man didn't smile. Didn't bow. He simply looked the same.
Lily's hands tightened in her lap. Who was in and who was the other person her father had been expecting would show up instead of this ma .
Vivian's composure cracked for the briefest moment. "Mr Smith, this is my stepdaughter, Lily," she said, her voice just a touch too sharp.
The man who Lily now knew as Mr Smith didn't respond. He simply nodded once, acknowledging her existence as one might acknowledge a rare artefact: curious, valuable, and entirely inconvenient.
Then he turned, scanning the rest of the room again, and for a moment, Lily almost scoffed. Why was her father and stepmother acting this way.
Lily's father cleared his throat. "He's… here about business," he said, his eyes darting nervously. "Some matters that… we need to discuss."
Business.
But the way Mr Smith's eyes lingered on her made it clear she was part of the deal, whether she liked it or not.
The moment stretched, taut and unbearable. Then, without a word, Mr Smith turned and approached the grand piano. Lily's heart raised a brow in question.
He stopped beside her and looked down at the keys. "You play beautifully like we were told" he said, in a low voice
Lily blinked.
Told?
"A shame they couldn't hear you play."
Lily froze, unsure of how to react. Vivian's sharp smile was gone. Her father's throat worked in silence. The aunt's hands clutched a napkin like a lifeline.
"Mr Smith, we really should start talking," Her father said, gaining Mr Smith attention again. He nodded once at Lily, and then he turned and walked away with her father leaving Lily, both confused and stunned.
What was he talking about. Her eyes travelled to her Vivan, and she met Vivian, glaring daggers at her. it was something Lily had grown accustomed to over the years now.
Lily cleared her throat and stood up, her curiosity almost getting the better of her, but she said nothing other than. "I will be in my room before walking away."
Her eyes trailed towards her father study as she walked away. Why was this Mr Smith here. She simply hoped she was wrong, and it had absolutely nothing to do with her.