Chapter 130

Faced with Sherry's suggestion, Jack shook his head helplessly.

He looked at Sherry's expectant eyes and knew she was dead set on watching this drama unfold today.

"Fine." Jack set down his knife and fork, picked up his napkin and wiped his hands elegantly, then stood up and straightened his collar.

With long, unhurried strides, he walked toward the piano in the corner.

Seeing this, Tyler let out a cold snort and deliberately stepped aside, looking down at Jack with a condescending gaze. Lowering his voice mockingly, he said, "Don't be nervous. It's okay if you mess up—after all, you don't usually get to touch such expensive instruments."

Jack didn't even glance at him. He walked straight to the piano and sat down.

Unlike Tyler, he didn't make a show of adjusting his posture or straightening his tie. He simply settled casually onto the bench and placed his hands lightly on the black and white keys.

His entire demeanor was relaxed and unhurried, as if he weren't about to perform, but rather catching up with an old friend.

"What should I play?" Jack murmured to himself, then looked up at Tyler.

"Got it!"

A slight smile curved Jack's lips.

The next moment, his hands began to move, and beautiful sounds flowed from the piano.

Tyler froze slightly.

He stared at Jack in disbelief—he hadn't expected Jack could actually play piano.

But wait.

As Tyler listened, something seemed off.

This piece...

It was the same one he'd just played!

Yet the same piece, flowing from Jack's fingertips, seemed to possess a completely different soul.

If Tyler's earlier performance had been precision machinery, an emotionless reproduction of sheet music, then Jack's playing now was a long sigh in the dead of night, ripples spreading across a moonlit lake.

His technique still lacked Tyler's flashy virtuosity, even missing some of that deliberate showmanship, but the weight and pacing of every note seemed to breathe.

He drew out the piece's ultimate serenity, the melancholy buried deep in its bones that refused to fade.

The air in the restaurant seemed to freeze in that moment.

The guests who'd been whispering among themselves fell silent without realizing it. They set down their knives and forks, lowered their wine glasses, and listened quietly to this piece that had been played countless times before.

But this time, what they heard wasn't a pile-up of techniques, but a story that struck straight at the soul.

Tyler stood beside the piano, the mockery still frozen on his face, his entire body rigid.

He stared fixedly at Jack's hands dancing across the keys, his eyes filled with shocked disbelief.

How... how was this possible?

Jack's technique... was even more natural than his own!

No—more precisely, Jack's technique had no 'technique' at all.

He was simply speaking through the piano, each note landing perfectly on the heart.

Tyler suddenly felt that what he'd just played was like a street beggar banging randomly on an instrument.

What Jack was playing now—this was real music!

The piece ended.

Jack's fingers lifted gently from the keys, the final note slowly dissolving into the air.

The restaurant was silent for a full three seconds.

Then applause erupted—even more enthusiastic, more genuine than before!

"So beautiful..."

"That was the most beautiful music I've ever heard..."

"What am I going to do if I never get to hear something this gorgeous again?"

"Like the voice of an angel—I feel like my soul's been cleansed!"

The restaurant guests applauded continuously, praise flowing freely.

Even the pianist from earlier looked at Jack with admiration.

This lively scene couldn't compare at all to the response after Tyler's performance.

Though the guests had praised Tyler earlier, compared to the current acclaim and amazement for Jack, it seemed trivial.

Jack turned around and smiled faintly at the applauding guests. "Thank you," he said quietly.

With that, he stood up and walked back to his seat with measured steps, under the awed gazes of everyone present.

Sherry watched him, the smile in her eyes about to overflow.

Jack looked at her expression and asked softly, "Did you like it?"

"I loved it."

Sherry nodded quickly. "Just as beautiful as before."

The reason she'd first noticed Jack was at a school celebration, when she'd seen him play piano. From that moment, she'd been hopelessly infatuated with this man.

"What do you think, Mr. Thornton?"

Jack turned his gaze to Tyler.

At this moment, Tyler's face had turned iron-gray.

He stared hard at Jack, his chest heaving violently, feeling as if he'd been thrown to the ground and thoroughly humiliated.

His pride in piano, the capital he used to show off—before Jack, it was completely useless.

"You..." Tyler ground his teeth, pointing at Jack with a trembling finger, unable to form a complete sentence.

"Mr. Thornton," Jack swallowed his bite of steak and looked up at him, his tone calm. "Your steak's gotten cold."

Tyler's head snapped down to look at the thoroughly chilled steak on his own plate, his face flushing with embarrassment.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the rage about to explode in his chest, and stood up abruptly.

"I'm done eating!" He bit out these words, didn't even glance at Sherry, and strode toward the restaurant exit.

He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from strangling this poor man!

Watching Tyler's humiliating retreat, Sherry finally couldn't hold back her laughter.

She looked at Jack, her eyes full of admiration and amusement. "Jack, you're amazing! You actually drove him away!"

Jack looked at her, a faint smile curving his lips.

"Had enough to eat?" Jack asked gently. "If you're full, let's go."

"Okay!" Sherry nodded vigorously, stood up, and linked her arm through Jack's.

The two walked side by side toward the restaurant exit.

Behind them, the restaurant pianist returned to his bench.

He gazed in the direction Jack had gone, his eyes full of reverence.

When Jack had been playing, his expression had been so relaxed and effortless—he hadn't seemed to be playing piano at all, but rather telling a story.

Under his performance, the audience had felt like they were listening to a beautiful tale.

This was the highest realm of piano playing.

It was a level he'd dreamed of reaching, and he never expected to encounter such a master here today.

And he looked so young.

The pianist sat down at the piano again, but though his hands rested on the keys, he couldn't bring himself to press down.

After hearing Jack's performance, he seemed to have lost the courage to play piano anymore...