Chapter 6
“Get the hell away from me!”
Nora kicked her wounded leg, causing Riley to collapse in pain. As she fell, one of the men took the violin to examine it.
“Give it back!” Riley shouted, trying to crawl toward him, but Nora yanked her back by the hair.
She grabbed Riley’s face: “You saw everything last night, right? If Asher can sleep with me right in front of you, don’t you
nderstand my position in his heart? You pathetic orphan with no heart–how could you survive without Asher? Consider this violin just a lesson–you’d better get out of my life with Asher!”
Riley glared at the violin: “Don’t worry, I will leave! But I absolutely won’t give up my violin!”
Just then, Asher burst in from outside, his voice tinged with anxiety: “What violin? Who’s… leaving?”
Asher surveyed the room, his eyes finally landing on Riley.
Was Riley planning to leave?
But a moment later, he dismissed this unrealistic thought.
Riley loved him, only him. Anyone else in the world might leave him, but Riley never would.
Reassured, he turned to Nora: “What’s going on? Who’s upsetting my Nora?”
Nora’s expression immediately turned pitiful: “My parents owed money, and debt collectors tracked me down here! They threatened to chop off my hands and feet! I had no choice but to offer them Riley’s violin! Asher, you wouldn’t really let them hurt me, right?”
Asher’s expression instantly darkened, like the calm before a storm.
The men lost their nerve: “We’ll… take this for now and have it appraised. If it’s not enough, we’ll be back!”
“Stop right there!”
Blood streaming down her leg, Riley couldn’t stand. She clutched Asher’s shoe, pleading desperately: “Asher, I know you have the money… please help me get my violin back. I’m begging you–I’ll pay you back every cent, no matter how much. You know how important that violin is to me!”
Before her parents‘ divorce, during a brief reconciliation, they had taken seven–year–old Riley to England. They’d visited the London Eye and Edinburgh, and with joined hands and smiles, they’d bought her that violin at an auction.
Three months later, they divorced and refused to speak to each other again. Riley no longer had a home.
That violin carried her parents‘ last remnants of love and her final longing for a family.
Riley remembered how heartbroken Asher had looked when he first heard this story. He’d promised to understand her, to give her a home, to protect her forever.
Asher, you won’t disappoint me, will you?
Indeed, Asher’s expression showed inner struggle: “How much do you want?”
21:57
Two Chances, One Bullet: How His “Next Life” Promise Failed
“Astar Nora interrupted with a whine.
“You don’t have that land of money isn’t it all tied up in your projects? Besides, my birtliday is coming up, and you promised to make it special! If you spend everything redeeming a violin, what about my birthday? Thanks to you and Vivian getting revenge for Riley, I haven’t celebrated in years…”
Tears appeared instantly in Nora’s eyes: “I can’t even remember what cake tastes like… Asher, I have nothing left. Please, just grant me this one birthday wish, okay?”
Asher’s brow furrowed deeply: “Nora, don’t cry! I promise you, I promise you everything…”
the next moment, he turned to Riley, his tone laced with reproach: “Riley, why are you forcing Nora and me like this? You know perfectly well we don’t have extra money! I’m already bankrupt–how can you still have so many demands?!”
21:57
