Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 52: Was It Really Your Song?

Juho knew he’d already told Kaija more than he should have. If he told her the whole truth, that his old man didn’t just have something to do with the drug network, but owned the whole business, he couldn’t predict what she would do.

In the worst case scenario, Kaija might inform the police and expose him along with the empire his father and countless ancestors had spent a lifetime building. If not, she might just ask more questions she shouldn’t ask, and he might say something she’d regret hearing.

And yet, though she couldn’t see through him as easily as he could read every slight change on that lovely face like an open book, he still found it difficult to tell her an outright lie. So he went with a lukewarm answer instead, though the fact that he didn’t deny it already exposed him in a way.

Fortunately for him, Kaija didn’t want to venture into that dangerous topic any further.

Of course Juho would take over that drug-dealing business! She knew instantly she wanted nothing to do with him anymore, in case he one day got caught like his dad.

The police might accuse her of knowing about the crime but not reporting it, and that could burn her barely starting career to ashes. She decided then and there that she wouldn’t ask for Juho’s help for the cover photo.

"I hope you’ll get what you want then," she said, her tone flat. "Shall we start?"

"Let’s start," he replied. That sudden loss of interest didn’t escape his keen eyes, but he knew it was best to play along.

Around 9 PM, Kaija made her way back to the dance studio.

She’d finished a full day of boring classes, and she didn’t even know if she could dance at this hour anymore. But Dani had claimed that in previous competitions, some artists had stolen song ideas from trainees just by eavesdropping on their practice sessions.

Since trainees were less popular, they’d only gather more embarrassment and hatred if they tried to argue the song was theirs. The artists always won. Kaija definitely didn’t want that.

Dani was already inside, next to the speakers. She’d gotten everything set up and ready.

"You’re ready to be blown away?" Kaija asked as she connected her phone to the speaker via Bluetooth.

"Ooh, girl, I’m born ready," Dani said with a thumbs-up.

Kaija hit play, and the beautiful lyrics filled the room. Dani sat on the floor and listened in complete silence, her attention snapping to every beat and word. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

The melody was undeniably beautiful, along with the beat and the instrument switches between verses and bridges. It was masterful work, but why did it sound so... familiar? Especially the lyrics? It reminded her of something she’d seen recently in the company group chats.

It was a video of Liisi practicing for the festival. The footage was short, only thirty seconds, but enough to show the whole bridge and verse. The longer Dani listened to Kaija’s song, the tighter her brow drew.

"What’s the matter?" Kaija asked, leaning against the mirror. She’d noticed the uneasy look on Dani’s face, and she was already starting to feel uneasy herself.

"Kaija..." Dani looked up at her, tone serious. "Are you sure no one else has heard your song?"

"Only Antony heard it since he helped me with it. Other than that, no one. Why?"

Dani let out a sharp sigh. "You really don’t check the group chats at all, do you?"

She pulled out her phone, opened the messaging app, and swiped around looking for the video. The moment Dani hit play, Kaija’s face hardened to stone.

"This was shared in the group chats two days ago," Dani said as she handed her phone to Kaija. "Everyone was swooning over how amazing it was, and Liisi openly declared this would be her song for the festival. Sometimes artists share their songs early in the chats so no one else dares to copy them, you know? Liisi does that every year."

Kaija’s hand trembled as she held the phone. On the screen was Liisi’s lovely face, singing beautifully and emotionally in the recording booth.

Apparently, she still kept that pastel pink hair. Now Kaija was even more convinced that the small figure with pink hair she’d seen the other day after leaving Antony’s office had really been Liisi. She’d sung the whole song right before that when Antony showed her the beat, and Liisi must’ve been eavesdropping the whole time.

She smack her head hard. How could she have been so careless? The offices weren’t soundproof like the recording booth.

From the video angle, her eyes also caught a familiar figure sitting at the controller table just outside the booth through the glass. He was wearing a cap, but that blonde hair and sleepy face were unmistakable. It was Raimo, the rude producer who had turned down her song the other day.

Kaija’s body started shaking uncontrollably with rage. That bastard had called her song an amateur work, and yet here he was, making the song for Liisi? Her grip on the phone tightened so much that Dani almost thought she might crush it.

"Woah, woah, easy, easy," Dani said as she jumped up, hands raised, quickly snatching the phone back before Kaija could break it. "Was it really your song? Did Liisi actually steal it from you?"

Kaija let out a long sigh, her face drooping with defeat. "Yeah... I wrote it for a week straight and recorded it with Antony for another whole week. Not to mention all the days Antony worked solo on the beat and instruments. That’s it for me and the festival now, Dani. What do I do?"

The festival was less than two weeks away. How could she possibly write a new song, produce it, and practice the choreography in time? She turned around and started banging her head against the mirror repeatedly.

The sudden loud impact made Dani jumped to her feet. She hurriedly grabbed Kaija’s hair and yanked her back before Kaija could deal irreversible damage to the poor mirror.

"Hey! Get yourself together!" Dani yelled. "You have two weeks left! If you speed through it, you might make it! Stop! Just write another song!"

Kaija suddenly stopped cold. "No." She muttered as she turned to Dani and grabbed her by both shoulders. Her eyes flashed with murderous intent as her voice dropped into a low, dangerous growl. "I need to go confront that two-faced, pink-haired witch."