Chapter 1

On the day of the International Hit Song Awards, my wife secretly changed both the lyric and composition credits to her white moonlight’s name so he could build his fame as a singer-songwriter, and let him go onstage to accept the award.

I rushed into the company’s celebration dinner, and everyone was waiting to see me explode after holding it in.

But I just smiled and walked up to my wife, stuffing my work badge into her arms.

“Don’t just take my award for me. Let him write the lyrics and music from now on too. I’m quitting.”

My wife’s white moonlight was the superstar in everyone’s eyes, a singer-songwriter, but every one of his songs was actually written by me.

Without me, he couldn’t even sing a song right!

......

“Today is the day our company won the International Hit Song Award for the first time!”

“To celebrate this historic breakthrough for our company, let’s raise our glasses and cheer for our superstar, Noah Brooks!”

My wife, Sophie Carter, lifted her glass, a happy smile on her face as she looked at Noah Brooks.

After Noah finished the wine in his glass, his cheeks flushed red as he looked at Sophie.

“Besides everyone’s hard work, this song succeeded because of Ms. Carter’s huge support!”

“Come on, let’s toast Ms. Carter!”

The room broke into cheers. An emerging entertainment company had an artist win a world-class award of this level.

Thanks to the fame from this one award, Noah, along with our small agency, instantly got pushed into the eyes of listeners around the world.

Everyone started heckling them, wanting the two of them to drink a bridal toast together.

Sophie was blushing hard, but she didn’t refuse.

Noah even directly picked up a glass of wine and shoved it into Sophie’s hand, then shouted to the crowd below.

“Whatever you do, don’t tell Mr. Moore about me drinking a bridal toast with Ms. Carter!”

The employees began booing:

“Please, he’s just Ms. Carter’s pretty boy!”

“Yeah, in our eyes, you’re the one who’s Ms. Carter’s husband!”

“You two are the real perfect match!”

“Ms. Carter, get divorced and marry Noah Brooks!”

And my wife Sophie couldn’t even manage to scold them, and shyly buried herself right into Noah’s arms.

A sheet of night rain, mixed with cold wind, blew into the banquet hall.

Having listened outside for a long time, I pushed the door open and walked into the ballroom.

Only after I saw the congratulations email the International Hit Song Awards committee had sent me did I realize that this song had won Best Lyrics at the International Hit Song Awards.

I excitedly didn’t even take off the work badge around my neck, and immediately bought a flight that night to fly to the U.S.

Ignoring the exhaustion from the flight, I braved the freezing night rain to look for them.

But when I found the hotel where the company was staying, the room was empty.

I called my wife Sophie over and over again, but no one ever answered.

In the end, it was an old employee who had been with me since I started the business who told me they were celebrating in the banquet hall.

The rain in California grew colder and colder, but I didn’t care at all.

I held flowers in my hands, and my heart was blazing hot.

I had finally won the award of my dreams, and I planned to make up for this proposal to my wife.

The ring in the center of the bouquet still shone even in the rainy night.

But I never expected that after rushing over in the rain through the night, this was what would be waiting for me.

My wife lifted her head from Noah’s arms and looked at me.

Her face, red from drunkenness and shyness, was tightly furrowed, and her gaze was colder than the rain outside.

“Ethan? Why are you here? Didn’t I tell you to keep writing songs at the company?”

“Were your songs finished already?”

She was still leaning into Noah’s arms. Even though her real husband was standing right here, she didn’t care at all.

“Since you’re here, I’ve got something to tell you.”

“Tomorrow is the International Hit Song Awards ceremony, and I’ve already changed the lyric and composition credits to Noah Brooks.”

“As for tomorrow, let Noah go. You just got to California, so I’ll have Jason show you around.”

There was no discussion, no pleading, only the cold tone of an order.

The fire that had just warmed my heart was instantly doused by those few words.

Only now did the cold of the night rain crawl up my body, and I couldn’t help shivering.

A week ago, we received an invitation to the International Hit Song Awards, the music shrine I had chased after for so long.

But Sophie refused my request to go to the U.S., telling me to stay in the company and write new songs properly, and that when they came back they wanted to see every song on Noah’s next album finished.

Even when I knelt down and begged her, Sophie still ignored me and turned to walk into Noah’s office.

She placed the song I had poured my heart and soul into before Noah, crossed out the creator’s name and changed it to Noah Brooks, and said to him gently:

“This is a new song. Only a big star like you can truly finish it, so I’m leaving it to you.”

“Once you’ve revised it and gotten familiar with it, tell me, and I’ll take you to record it right away.”

She knew this. I had told her more than once that this was the song I had poured everything into, my favorite song.

But she didn’t even look at it. She just threw it into Noah’s hands, all so she could push his image as a singer-songwriter even higher.

I had played the piano until my fingers bled, and spent countless nights agonizing over whether one word in the lyrics was right or wrong. My most perfect, most proud work in my heart was just turned into a Noah Brooks production.

And this kind of thing had happened countless times.

Sophie ignored my blood, my dreams, and my love.

She trampled me underfoot again and again, while taking Noah along to stomp all over me.

At that moment Noah suddenly spoke, his tone full of sickening hypocrisy:

“Letting me accept the award doesn’t seem right, after all, these lyrics and music were written by Mr. Moore.”

“Even though I changed a lot based on Mr. Moore’s version, the idea was still his in the end.”

“Our company’s producer is also Mr. Moore, so this time, maybe Mr. Moore should go accept the award.”

Noah’s words were so fake that no one would have believed them except himself.

But Sophie believed them.

She looked at Noah, her eyes carrying a doting kind of reproach, and said to him gently:

“Noah, there’s no need to be modest. Didn’t Ethan’s lyrics and music only blow up because they went through your hands?”

“He just came up with a little idea. He isn’t even qualified to accept the award.”

“Noah, it’s decided that you’ll be the one accepting the award. Don’t refuse.”

Sophie turned to look at me, her eyes cold:

“Ethan, besides having that producer title on your head, what use are you?”

“Your little bit of creativity could be brought up by any janitor in the company.”

“If you want to accept an award, then go fight for it yourself. Prove yourself with real skill!”

“Don’t just loaf around in the company doing nothing and still think you deserve an award!”

Sophie kept putting me down, as if I really were the useless pretty boy she called me.

But it seemed she had forgotten that I wasn’t really the kept man she raised.

The company had reached this point entirely because of the songs I had written, one after another.

Every one of my songs blew up online and became widely known, and a few even became classics that kept being passed down.

I made the company an unimaginable amount of money and brought in countless investments.

When we had just become a recognized agency in the industry, Sophie immediately signed Noah Brooks to the company.

He used the recording studio I had built with my own hands, sang lyrics I had written word for word, and in the end the name of the lyric and music producer was Noah Brooks.

My name didn’t even deserve to appear in the MV credits.

But Noah didn’t even understand basic music theory. Other than looking at my simplified sheet music and managing to sing a few lines, he couldn’t do anything.

What right did he have to take my place and accept the award?

Everyone present knew Sophie was asking too much, and that I could never agree to it.

But aside from the few employees who had always stayed by my side and kept their heads down in silence, everyone else was looking on like it was a show.

I looked at the two of them leaning together and strode forward.

They seemed sure I would explode, maybe even hit them, and several of their trusted people had already raised their phones to record.

I strode toward the two of them, and Noah quickly pulled Sophie into his arms.

“Don’t be afraid, Sophie. I’ll protect you. I won’t let you get hurt!”

He said it so naturally.

And I just gave a cold laugh, took out the work badge I hadn’t had time to remove, and shoved it straight into Noah’s arms.

“Don’t just take my award for me. Write all the lyrics and music yourself from now on too. I’m quitting.”