Sweet Love 2x: Miss Ruthless CEO for our Superstar Uncle-Chapter 155: The First Note

The living room had grown quieter after the photo album was closed. The late afternoon sunlight had shifted across the floor since they first entered the house. The light now stretched farther into the room, brushing the edges of the coffee table and the lower legs of the sofa.

The album remained where Arianne had placed it. Closed. A single corner of a photograph still peeked between the pages.

Gio set the document box he had carried from the study near the front door and checked the time on his tablet. "We should head back soon," he said. "The property manager will want copies of those registry files."

Arianne gave a small nod. "We’ll send them this evening."

Aunt Estella rose slowly from the armchair near the window and straightened the sleeves of her cardigan.

"It’s getting late," she said. "Your father always said this house felt colder after sunset."

Arianne gave a quiet smile. "That sounds like something he would say."

She remembered her father uttering such words when she was younger.

Near the center of the room, Leo stood beside the sofa typing something on his tablet. Lily had wandered back toward the window. Her attention had drifted across the room without purpose at first. Then it stopped.

At the piano.

The instrument stood exactly where it had been earlier, its polished wood catching the last of the afternoon light.

Lily walked closer. She ran her hand lightly along the edge of the piano bench.

"Aunt Aria."

Arianne looked up from the table where she had been checking the document folder. "Yes?"

Lily turned toward her. "Can you play something?"

The room grew still.

The question hung in the air longer than anyone expected. Franz remained near the window where he had been standing for several minutes. He had noticed Lily’s attention shift toward the piano even before she spoke. Now he watched Arianne.

The instrument meant something to her. That much had been obvious the moment they entered the house.

Arianne did not answer immediately. Her gaze moved slowly toward the piano. For a moment she simply looked at it.

Franz spoke quietly from where he stood. "You don’t have to."

Arianne glanced toward him. Their eyes met briefly.

Then she walked across the room.

She stopped beside the piano and rested her hand lightly on the edge of the instrument.

Franz stepped forward without thinking. The bench sat slightly too far from the keyboard. He adjusted it a few inches.

"Here."

The word was simple.

Arianne looked at him again. For a moment they stood closer than they had all afternoon. The fading light from the window reflected faintly in her eyes.

Neither of them said anything.

Then Arianne sat down. The piano bench creaked softly beneath her weight.

She lifted the lid slowly. The keys looked exactly as they must have years ago. Clean. Perfectly aligned.

Arianne rested her fingers lightly against them.

For a moment she did nothing.

The house remained quiet.

Lily had already settled onto the floor beside the bench, sitting cross-legged with her hands folded neatly in her lap. Leo stood beside the sofa watching with steady attention. Aunt Estella returned to the armchair near the window, her expression gentle. Gio leaned against the doorway with his arms folded loosely.

Franz remained standing near the window again, a few steps away from the piano.

Arianne lowered her hands.

The first note sounded softly. The sound drifted across the room, clear and steady in the quiet space.

For a moment the music felt tentative, as if Arianne were testing the instrument after years of silence. Then the melody began to settle. The notes flowed into one another with quiet precision.

The piece was elegant and controlled.

The music filled the living room gradually, spreading through the quiet house that had not heard a piano in decades.

Leo watched the movement of Arianne’s hands across the keyboard. Lily leaned forward slightly, listening with complete focus. Aunt Estella’s gaze rested gently on Arianne. Gio remained near the doorway, silent.

Franz stood near the window.

At first he listened to the music. The melody was balanced and graceful, the phrasing careful and deliberate. Then at some point he realized he had stopped paying attention to the music itself.

His attention had shifted entirely to Arianne.

The way she sat at the piano. Her posture straight and steady, the same composed alignment she had inherited from Gabriel. Her hands moved across the keys with quiet softness. That came from Ysabella.

The contrast was unmistakable. Control and gentleness in the same motion.

Sunlight drifted slowly across the room as the music continued. The fading light reached the piano keys, catching briefly on the movement of Arianne’s fingers.

Franz did not look away.

The melody continued for several minutes. The piece rose gently before easing into its final passage. Then the last notes faded into the room.

For a moment Arianne left her hands resting lightly on the keys.

The house became quiet again.

The silence that followed felt different from the silence that had filled the rooms earlier.

Lily looked up at her. "That was really pretty."

Leo tapped on his tablet for several seconds. Then he turned the screen toward Franz. Little girl play too.

Franz read the message, but didn’t make a comment.

Lily leaned closer to see it. "He says a little girl should play too."

She looked immediately back at Arianne. "Can you teach me?"

Arianne lifted her hands from the keys.

She lowered the piano lid gently. The soft click of the wood settling into place echoed faintly in the room.

No one spoke.

Lily waited.

Arianne stood from the bench. She did not answer. Instead she walked toward the front door where Gio had placed the document box earlier.

Gio straightened when she approached. "Ready?"

"Yes."

Aunt Estella rose from her chair. Leo slipped his tablet into the small case he carried. Lily stood slowly, glancing once more at the piano before following the others.

They gathered near the front door.

Arianne unlocked it and pulled it open. The air outside had grown cooler. Evening had begun settling over the street beyond the gate.

Aunt Estella stepped outside first. Gio followed with the document box. Leo walked past Franz quietly, already tapping something onto his tablet again.

Lily paused briefly beside the piano bench one last time. Her hand brushed lightly against the edge of the instrument.

Then she hurried toward the door.

Franz was the last to leave the living room.

He turned once before stepping outside.

The piano remained beside the tall window. The lid was closed again.

The room grew quiet as the front door shut.

For several seconds nothing moved inside the house. The last light of the afternoon rested across the polished surface of the piano.

Then it faded slowly as evening settled over the empty room.