F1 Reader Inserts

The Perfect Life {4} || CL16

Summary: Life has flipped upside down: the people supposed to protect you hurt you and the man who hurt you protects you.
Warnings: angst, fluff
WC: 2.3k

Nausea churned your stomach and you were grateful dinner hadn't been served or it would surely be making its return. Blood rushed past your ears and throbbed in your head as you tried to focus on the sheet music in front of you and not the cold touch of sweat beginning to coat your skin.

"Don't fuck this up," your mother warned.

You vividly remembered the last time you messed up, fumbling over the tune in front of her friends. She had sent them on their way to the pool house bar and the moment the door closed she slammed the lid of the piano down before you could react. You hadn't been able to fight for weeks with the thick bandages that kept the finger splints in place.

With trembling hands you lifted the lid that protected the ivory keys from dust. It weighed more than it looked and your eyes scanned the wood for any sign of the blood that had stained it. There was no point searching for something that couldn't be seen, you found the housekeepers were able to clean blood out of anything.

"You're shaking," Charles whispered as he took a seat on the bench with you. His hands took yours and concern bled into his green eyes.

"I'm fine, I just need to get this right. It has to be perfect."

He frowned at the detached tone and let you pull your hands free, but he didn't leave as you raised your hands to the keys and stared vacantly at the music book on the shelf. Fingers he had seen clenched tight into fists and fighting with raw strength now moved delicately across the keys and your eyes closed. To anyone in the room it would look serene, divine even, but close up Charles could see the shimmering of tears beneath the lashes.

Something, or someone, had utterly broken the woman beside him and Charles found out just how much he could truly hate when he looked up to see your mother. Her watchful eyes were eager but it wasn't for the music. The eyes that were the same exact shade as yours were too invested in your performance. It was a stark comparison to when his mother watched him play. There was no pride, merely cold calculations and the anticipation of a mistake.

"Shit," you cursed under your breath as your little finger seized up and failed to reach the key needed.

Fire ignited in your mother's eyes at the mistake, not that anyone else would have caught it unless they were pianists too. Cruel intentions played across her face as Charles shifted closer on the seat and reached for your hand, slipping his beneath yours and taking over the piece, finishing it almost perfectly.

"Such a delightful duet," your mother clapped, accepting the applause as if she had done the work. "Dinner will be served in a moment."

The crowd dispersed to take their appointed seats but you couldn't move as you sat with your hands slumped on your lap. A shadow fell across you and you tensed, waiting for the pain to come.

"Come on, baby, we're leaving." Charles rose to his feet and planted himself between you and your mother.

"The evening isn't over."

Charles curled his arm under yours and pulled you to your feet but you felt like a puppet, not in control of your own body. "It is for us, and every other evening too."

"I don't know what game you are playing at, boy, but she belongs to me and she isn't going anywhere."

"Y/N is a person, not a belonging. She isn't a price in a deal or weight in a business decision." Charles snickered as her eyes widened. "Yes, I know about that. I wonder what the world would think of this family if they found out the truth too."