I Disappeared After Ninety-Ninth Engagement

I woke up in a SVIP suite.

The first thing I saw was Julian. He looked like he hadn't slept in days.

He'd brought a small army of doctors and nurses. On the bedside table was a box of my favorite donuts.

It was like nothing had happened. Like we were back before Sheila, before the truth in the hallway.

Before all of it, Julian had been gentle with me, patient. That was how he'd fooled me so many times without me ever noticing.

When I didn't say anything, he picked up a chocolate one and held it to my lips, his expression almost guilty.

"Ada, sweetheart. I drove two hours to your favorite bakery. You need your strength back. Eat."

This was the eldest son of the Veil family, a celebrated musician with the entire industry hanging on his every word.

And he had driven two hours for a donut.

Maybe this was his version of an apology.

I took a bite. The chocolate hadn't even finished melting on my tongue when Julian's expression shifted.

He turned to the men standing along the wall.

"Get the hospital gown off her. Put her in performance wear."

I tried to sit up. "What are you doing? My injuries aren't —"

I might as well have argued with a wall. The two men stripped my gown off without so much as a glance at my face, zipped me into a black dress that didn't fit, and dropped me into a wheelchair.

I didn't find out where we were going until we got there.

It was the dress rehearsal for Sheila's graduation recital.

The musicians accompanying her were top-tier figures in classical music circles, and every single one of them was there as a favor to Julian.

I was a newly registered first-class violinist this year.

Julian shoved the violin into my hand and leaned close to my ear. "Ada, Sheila specifically told me she likes your accompaniment style. This is undoubtedly recognition of you. Play properly for her, and I will forgive you for hurting her in the name of the professor's wife."

Professor's wife?

Hurt her?

I laughed bitterly at myself. He had kept our relationship hidden all the time, as if acknowledging me as his fiancée was something shameful. How could I have done such a thing?

I mocked my own unrequited fondness.

Those donuts were merely a transaction to him.

Fortunately, my visa for the orchestra would arrive in a month.