Chapter 1

On the very day our label's artist went viral and the company's stock skyrocketed, my husband, Ethan, decided to publicly announce our marriage.

Then, his first love, Mia, showed up with tears shimmering in her eyes.

"Leaving you back then made me realize just how much you mean to me. I'm willing to give up everything to pursue you again. Will you give me another chance?"

Ethan broke down in tears. On the spot, he announced he was handing over all of my stock dividends to Mia—his so-called "one that got away."

The crowd erupted in wild applause, and our colleagues cheered them on.

Mia kicked me while I was down, and instead of stopping her, Ethan snapped at me, calling me petty and jealous.

Instead of getting angry, I smiled. I handed over my dividends without a fight and tossed my title of Music Director right at her feet.

"Why stop at dividends? With talent like yours, you deserve to be the head of this whole department!"

Everyone thought I had lost my mind.

What none of them knew was that I was the mastermind behind every hit song. Every single signed singer had joined because of me.

Without me, every artist would pack their bags and leave. The entire label would collapse overnight, and Ethan would be left with nothing.

Inside the executive suite, Ethan held Mia's hands, eyes glistening with emotion.

"Mia, our stock is at an all-time high, and our new release is breaking charts everywhere. You are the real hero behind this success."

"From now on, Scarlett's share of the profit dividends belongs to you."

With that, Ethan handed an exclusive Black Card straight to her, his face full of devotion.

Mia clasped his hand, gazing at him tenderly. "Ethan, the money doesn't matter to me. All I care about is being by your side and helping you."

Our colleagues crowded around, shamelessly kissing up:

"The moment Mia joined, we got a chart-topping hit! Even the stock prices are soaring. Ethan and Mia are practically made for each other!"

"Seriously! Scarlett has been dead weight as Music Director. Just a useless freeloader taking up space."

"If I were Ethan, I would've fired her ages ago!"

I stood by the doorway, feeling as though an invisible hand had gripped my chest, choking the air right out of my lungs. I instinctively stepped back.

Today was supposed to be the dividend payout for our breakout track.

Just an hour before the announcement, Ethan had called me in a panic, telling me an artist's recording session was in crisis.

Because of our years of marriage, I trusted him blindly.

Thinking an artist was in trouble, I took a cab across town and spent the entire afternoon running under the scorching sun.

Only when I arrived and saw Ethan handing my hard-earned bonus to Mia, who had just joined the company days ago, did reality hit me like a slap in the face.

The "crisis" at the studio was just an excuse to get me out of the way.

Mia glanced toward the door, noticed me standing there, and feigned pure shock.

"Scarlett? You're so late!"

"I thought you weren't coming, so I went ahead and accepted your bonus for you. I hope you don't mind."

As she spoke, she wrapped her arm around Ethan's, her eyes flashing with smug defiance.

Ethan turned his gaze on me, his face twisted in disgust as he reprimanded me coldly:

"Scarlett, what is wrong with you? Do you expect the entire company to wait on you?"

"You caused that massive copyright blunder earlier and cost us millions! If Mia hadn't stepped in to save us, I would have fired you on the spot!"

"Now that you're here, hand over all the artists' contact details to Mia. Since you clearly lack the talent, you can be her assistant from now on."

I clenched my fists.

My blunder? My lack of talent?

The disaster he was talking about happened because Mia had pushed our artists to plagiarize foreign tracks!

Our reputation was in the gutter, and cease-and-desist letters flooded our inbox, costing the company millions and nearly bankrupting us.

To clean up her mess, I had worked around the clock for a whole month without proper sleep, rewriting every single lyric and melody from scratch to suit each artist's unique style.

That was the only reason our release succeeded today.

Yet Ethan trusted Mia completely. With a single breath, he turned black into white, making me the scapegoat while crowning Mia as the company's savior.

Now that our artist was famous and the stock was soaring, Mia merely stood on stage, and Ethan stripped away all my sweat and tears to hand them to her on a silver platter.

A wave of bitter cold washed over me.

Seven years ago, when Ethan wanted to launch this music label, I gave up a promising solo career. I poured all my life savings and musical talent into helping him build it from the ground up.

Ethan knew nothing about music. He couldn't manage a studio, let alone grow a label.

For years, the entire creative burden rested entirely on my shoulders.

I slaved away every single day, never daring to slack off, just to bring this company to where it was today.

And now, Mia simply walked through the door and snatched away everything I built.

Seven years of marriage couldn't beat his nostalgic obsession with the ex who dumped him.

Whatever love remained between us died in that exact moment.

"Fine," I said, my voice completely numb. "Whatever you want."

Mia's eyes lit up with triumph, though she still put on her little modest act.

"Scarlett, I'm still new here. Every artist has their own vibe—I'm not sure I'm qualified to manage them all."

"I just wanted to help out when I heard we hadn't had a hit in years. I guess I just got lucky."

Ethan gently patted Mia's shoulder, his voice melting with tenderness.

"Mia, you're a prestigious producer who trained abroad. You gave us a chart-topper the moment you walked through the door. Who else could be more qualified?"

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. A prestigious producer?

Mia had been here for weeks; did Ethan really not know how incompetent she actually was?

To lift her up, he wasn't just stealing my credit—he was willingly driving his own company off a cliff.

Before I could say anything else, Ethan stepped up and slapped me hard across the face.

"What are you laughing at, Scarlett?"

"You've been here for years and couldn't produce a single star! Look at Mia—she made our artist go viral right away!"

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even have a job in this town!"

"Is that so?" I looked at him, my heart turning to ice.

Ethan seemed to have forgotten who walked the streets day and night, discovering raw talent in underground bars and signing them one by one when we started with nothing.

Now that the company was thriving, he treated me like a useless freeloader.

I pushed the door wide open and stared coldly at Mia.

The whole office held its breath, expecting a screaming match.

Instead, I took off my Music Director badge and flicked it right onto the floor before Mia's feet with a mocking smirk.

"If that's the case, why settle for a little dividend? With talent like yours, you should be the Music Director!"