Regarding the issue of whether writing a self-criticism was a punishment for Payne or Ivan, Mr. Hernandez's answer was, "It's for both of them. If they stick together, they might cause me a lot of trouble in the future."
"Only a real dad like you would say something like that." Julie Abraham gently ran her fingers over a piano, the black and white keys beautifully pure.
"Feels like I haven't heard you play since you graduated from college." She could still recall his figure playing the piano, wearing a black tuxedo, thick hair, slender fingers stroking the black and white keys, the melodious sound still resounding in her mind.
She reminisced and laughed, "Did we buy this piano after we divorced?"
She remembered this room used to be empty.
He said, "It was bought by Bertha after our divorce, along with this."
He picked up a sheet of music and passed it to her. Julie took it, it was the familiar Greensleeves from their memories.
"I told you, after our divorce, Daphne made a scene at our house. I got that video back under the pretext of donating to the school. I watched that video a lot during the time right after our divorce. Ivan was only one year old then, I often held him and slept in the media room."
He was reminiscing, wanting to tell her about what had happened in the past, even if they hadn't experienced their child's growth together, at least their memories wouldn't be so barren.
Julie sat in the chair, her fingers lightly resting on the keys. She didn't press down, instead she looked up at him and asked, "So you bought this piano, has Ivan been surrounded by the sound of piano since he was a kid?"
"This piano was bought by Bertha." He said honestly, "In fact, I never played it once, but it was always in this room, I often came in and sat."
Julie didn't ask any more, she just smiled and said, "Then let me stay here quietly today? This ring is in the small box on the dressing table, give it to Payne!"
The reason she called Payne over was for that ring. If there was indeed a secret in the ring, then Payne might be the only one who could unravel it.
Although the ring was valuable and it was possible that bad guys could track and threaten for it, the ring was bought at an auction by a mysterious buyer.
The actual buyer was also Kyle's, there was no reason a bad guy would know the ring was in their hands in such a short time after the auction, so Julie thought it was likely because there was a secret in the ring, and this time, Kieran Hernandez also thought her guess made sense.
Kieran said, even if the criminal kidnapped her it wasn't necessarily because there was a secret hidden in the ring, it couldn't be denied that the ring had caught the criminal's attention.
So, in any case, it was safer to leave the ring with Payne than in the villa.
Julie wanted to be alone in the room for a while, Kieran didn't stop her, he just gently patted her shoulder and then turned and left.
Before long, footsteps were heard at the door. Julie thought it was Kieran, so she didn't turn around.
But, she heard Hayden Simson's voice behind her, "Why did you stop playing?"
Julie turned around and was surprised to see Hayden leaning against the door. She was very surprised, stood up and looked at Hayden, "Hayden? Why are you here?"
She clearly didn't expect Hayden to come at this time.
"I need to see Kerry." He said.
"He should be in the study with Payne." Julie always maintained a respectful attitude towards Hayden and kept her distance.
Hayden nodded and said, "Mhm, I know."
He didn't seem to have any intention of leaving, so Julie had to politely invite him in, "Hayden, would you like to come in and sit for a while?"
He walked straight into the piano room, then stood next to her, he reached out and touched the piano, "I bought this piano."
Julie was a little stunned, she just realized, didn't Kieran just say the piano was a gift from Bertha?
She looked at Hayden with confusion.
Knowing she had misunderstood, Hayden explained, "Bertha asked me to buy it, it's her gift. She knew she had sacrificed the love between you and Kieran, and she felt guilty."
The past was the past. Even if they regretted it now, it wouldn't mean anything.
Julie smiled faintly, just looking at the sheet music.
Unexpectedly, Hayden suddenly asked, "Do you blame him?"
She was totally unprepared for Hayden to ask her such a question, this was certainly not his usual style.
So Julie was stunned on the spot.
"Hard to answer? Never mind then." He said.
Julie quickly shook her head and explained, "It's not hard to answer, I'm just surprised, you'd ask me such a question..."
Hayden looked a little embarrassed, but he softly said, "You don't have to answer."
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