chapter. 07

"Miss Mia, are you even listening to yourself? Where are we supposed to find a song on our own?" Rose's voice rose in frustration, mirroring the disbelief I felt. Both of us were utterly shocked by the unreasonable stance of the company. This company is putting the reputation of the Anderson family at stake. If Noah finds out about this behavior, he would be enraged.

Early in the morning, Miss Mia informed us to come to her office for discussion. I really thought the company might have compromised and given us our song back. But to our surprise, she informed us she found out from another manager that the songs had been handed over to the president's daughter, and there was nothing we could do.

Sure enough, when she had asked for compensation with equally good songs for my debut, the company had labeled her request outrageous and unreasonable. According to Miss Mia, the executive said, "The company has the right to give any song to any artist, and we should not be unreasonable."

"I understand how you feel," Miss Mia said, her voice heavy with helplessness. "But we're in a tight spot. Confronting the president directly will only make things worse for you."

"But we are left with nothing! How is Lyla going to debut?" Rose let out a cry. I patted her back and tried to calm her. "Rose, relax, everything will be fine. Just keep calm." I turned towards Miss Mia and asked,

"Can you show me the remaining songs, so I can decide if there is any presentable song on the chart?" She passed me the panel, but as expected, there was no song that caught my eye. It looked like it was written by amateurs. I guess the intern of the songwriter of the company had written them.

"What do you think?" Rose asked with an exhausted voice. I shook my head in denial, which made her shoulders droop.

"So, what options do we have now?" Rose asked, her irritation clearly visible.

"I do have an idea," Miss Mia spoke hesitantly. I looked towards her and asked curiously, "And what is that?"

"Well, you might know many singers let their songs be written by ghostwriters and then claim them as their own, so how about…"

"No, that wouldn't do. Those experienced singers have their own ghostwriters, and they are loyal to them. What if the song does well, and then someone reveals this information to the public? Her reputation will be trashed. So, big no for this."

"I also have an idea." I looked at Rose with some hesitation. I knew what I was going to say would not sit well with her, but if my own work would not help in this situation, then when would it?

"I do have a song I have written. Can I use that?"

"What the hell, Lyla? I told you not to mention that, then why?" She looked depressed by my actions.

"But we don't have any option, Rose." I looked into her eyes deeply and gave her an assuring smile.

"And what's to stop them from stealing your song too? We'd just end up back where we started," she said coldly, her disappointment in the company evident in her tone.

"I'll help you with that," Miss Mia said, determination creeping into her voice. "Since you've lost the songs and you're an artist under my management, I won't let this happen again."

"And how exactly do you plan to cover this up?" Rose asked, curiosity mingling with skepticism.

"I'll register one of the leftover songs in the database as your official choice. Meanwhile, you can work on a new song. I'll keep the file of your actual song hidden on my desktop so that if this happens again, I'll have evidence to back you up," Miss Mia explained, glancing at the songs left in the database.

"But you'll need to work on your song very quickly," she added, her tone firm. "Your debut is next month, and finding a melody and lyrics that fit your voice and style within such a short time will be a real challenge."

Her suggestion left us deep in thought. It wasn't the solution we wanted, but it seemed to be the only option.

Walking back to my studio, rose gave me a hard look. "That was a reckless move, Lyla. What have I told you before? Why did you let the cat out of the bag?" Rose's frustration was still palpable, even though we had decided to use my song for the debut with Miss Mia's help.

"I'm sorry, Rose, but I couldn't think of any other solution. Please forgive me. Next time, I promise I'll ask you before doing something like this."

She let out a sigh and looked at my face. "Lyla, you are not aware of the ruthless nature of human beings. They will eat you alive without leaving a crumb." She sat down, her gaze shifting upward. "Sometimes, I envy you. The innocence in your eyes is rare in this world nowadays. This is the first time, so I'll let it slide, but from now on, never do anything without discussing it first."

"Okay, I promise. Now, can we start working on the song? Miss Mia urged us to begin as soon as possible."

The excitement in my tone was unmistakable. The idea of working on my music for professional use thrilled me. Rose, however, seemed surprised by how easily I brushed aside the injustice we'd faced.

For her, the situation deserved more outrage. For me, if the end turned out well, that was all that mattered.