Always Been Yours (Tessa and Nicholas) novel Chapter 440

Chapter 440 Meeting Louis
Mr. Louis lived in an estate that was an hour’s drive from Vienna. Inside the living room, there were violin-related decorations everywhere and there was even a huge wall cabinet behind the living room that was full with all kinds of precious violins. It was clear that he was a person who madly loved violins.
Tessa heard footsteps just as she was admiring the violins in the wall cabinet. When she looked toward the source of the sound, she saw an elderly man with white hair walking over slowly on crutches.
This person was Louis himself. Although he was almost sixty years old, he was still in good health. As he walked toward Tessa, the first thing he noticed was Nicholas standing beside her with a powerful aura.
Subsequently, Nicholas met eyes with him.
For some reason, Nicholas got on Louis’ nerves. Louis suddenly scoffed and commented unhappily, “Youngsters have no manners.”
Tessa was a little confused, not understanding why this old man would suddenly become unhappy. She looked at Nicholas with unease, afraid that Louis would get angry and refuse to help her repair her violin.
Nicholas wasn’t too bothered about it, though. He knew that although Louis had a weird temperament, the man would definitely keep his promise.
Thinking that, Nicholas held Tessa’s soft hand and comforted gently, “Don’t worry, I’m here.”
She nodded, feeling her anxiousness gradually dissipate.
As Louis watched them displaying their affection in front of him, his face suddenly darkened. “Didn’t you say you wanted to repair your violin? Stop dawdling and show it to me.”
Saying that, he ignored them and walked toward the sofa in the living room with his crutches. When Tessa saw this, she quickly broke free from Nicholas’ hand and trotted to the sofa to open the violin case she had brought.
“Mr. Louis, this is the violin that needs repairing,” she said while holding the violin up to Louis.
The moment he looked at the violin, he recognized the famous Thena, one of the world’s most precious violins. However, when he saw the three broken strings, there was an indescribable sadness on his face.
“Are you really a qualified violinist? How could you let such a good violin break?” He reprimanded Tessa unceremoniously as he held the broken strings of the violin with a sad and distressed expression as if he had lost his beloved lover.
On the other hand, Tessa felt upset by him reprimanding her because she was indeed not a qualified violinist, for she couldn’t even protect her own partner.
Thinking that, she sniffled before begging, “Mr. Louis, I didn’t mean to break it. This was an accident. I know that you’re a very talented luthier, so I’m begging you to please help me fix this. I know that it’s my fault for not protecting it well, but it’s very, very important to me.”
Louis looked at Tessa’s sincere expression that didn’t seem like she was lying, and his expression eased a little. He didn’t say anything else after that but lowered his head and started to inspect the violin, only to find that the strings were maliciously broken on purpose by someone.
“Your strings were cut by a sharp tool,” he remarked as his gaze fell on Tessa again.
Upon hearing his comment, she didn’t try to hide the truth and roughly explained the events that transpired that night. “If I knew someone would try to ruin my violin that day, I wouldn’t have put it backstage and would have brought it with me wherever I went.”
As she spoke, her eyes slowly turned red. This violin was not only Nicholas’ birthday gift to her, but also a proof of their relationship. Hence, it was extremely important to her.
When Louis looked at the tears that were about to flow from Tessa’s eyes, he knew that she really felt sorry for the violin and his dislike for her gradually disappeared. “I can help you fix it, but you have to pay for it yourself.”
Tessa wept with joy and agreed profusely, “As long as it can be repaired, I am willing to pay any sum of money.”
Seeing the smile on her face, Louis said dismissively, “If that’s the case, go back and wait for my news.”
She didn’t object, but before she left, she asked, “So, Mr. Louis, when can I come and retrieve my violin?”