He Realized He Loved Me Too Late

Isolde's POV

No, this couldn’t be happening. That song shouldn’t be played here. Not today.

Onstage, under the warm glow of the lights, a familiar figure sat gracefully at the grand piano. She wore a delicate mask, but I’d recognize her anywhere.

Around her neck gleamed my mother’s necklace.

The audience waited in hushed anticipation as Alicia lifted her slender fingers and pressed the first key.

“No!” I shouted.

But the concert hall was too large, so my voice was swallowed up by the sound.

By the time I reached the VIP section, chaos had already broken out.

“What are you playing? Don’t you know the composer of that song insulted Agnes Graves?” someone shouted.

“Ms. Graves was a revolutionary musician! How dare you play the enemy’s music at her memorial?” another yelled.

“This concert is to honor Agnes Graves! And her own daughter doesn’t play her mother’s work, but the music of her enemy? What are you doing?”

Voices rose from every corner. People stood up from their seats, furious.

If the security guards hadn’t stepped in, they would’ve stormed the stage.

Alicia froze, trembling. Even from here, I could imagine the panic hidden beneath her mask.

From the front row, Nicholas stood and murmured something to his bodyguards.

Within seconds, his men blocked the angry crowd, holding them back five meters from the stage.

He then rushed to escort Alicia offstage.

I shoved past the curtains and followed them backstage.

“Alicia!” I shouted, lunging toward her.

Before I could reach her, someone grabbed my wrist hard.

“Let go of me!” I yelled, struggling.

Nicholas’s voice came from above, cold and sharp. “Have you lost your mind? Enough already!”

He pulled me back, shielding Alicia behind him. “She doesn’t even hold a grudge against you for taking her place, and yet you target her every chance you get! She doesn’t want your money or fancy gifts, just a simple apology and a necklace you don’t even need. This concert means everything to her, but to you it’s nothing. Can’t you have a little heart?”

Before I could think, my hand moved, and the sound of the slap echoed in the room.

“Nicholas!” Alicia gasped, rushing to him. “Nicholas!”

Nicholas looked at me in disbelief, his cheek reddening. “You… hit me?”

I was shaking, my voice coming out uneven but firm. “First of all, this concert was meant to honor my mother. My mother. Second, that necklace is my family's heirloom, passed down for generations. Since I’m the only family member left. I’m the only one who has the right to wear it!”

For a moment, Nicholas seemed stunned. Then Alicia burst into tears.

“Stop lying!” she cried. “Why didn’t you ever honor your mother before? Why wait until now, when it’s my birthday and I planned a concert, to suddenly care about her?”

Her voice cracked as she sobbed harder. “You just don’t want me to have my moment. You could’ve just said that, instead of hitting Nicholas!”

I opened my mouth, furious, but before I could speak, the host’s voice came from outside—tense and apologetic. “Ladies and gentlemen, please calm down. There’s been a misunderstanding. That woman on stage earlier was not Agnes Graves’s daughter. It was a mistake by our staff.”

“Impossible!” someone in the audience shouted, their voice booming through the speakers.

“She’s wearing the Graves heirloom! I’d recognize that necklace anywhere!”

“That’s right! No one outside the Graves could have that necklace!”

“Unless you bring out that fake right now, we won’t believe you! Do you dare?”

The host stammered helplessly. “W-We’re trying to sort this out, please stay calm—”

“Nicholas!” Alicia whimpered, burying herself in Nicholas’s arms. “Nicholas, I’m scared.”

I glared at him, my voice low but shaking with anger. “Nicholas. Let her go out there and face them.”

“Nicholas.” Alicia clung to him even tighter, tears streaming down her face.

“Nicholas!” I shouted again, my voice echoing through the backstage corridor.