Chapter 1
The album Calum and I had slaved over, polishing every last detail while cooped up in a tiny basement, finally won the Crystal Song Award.
I sat in the audience, heart thrumming with anticipation as I waited for his acceptance speech.
He'd promised that once we took home the award, he'd tell the whole world the story behind our special love song, the one that made us official.
My chest felt all warm and fuzzy. I'd made up my mind that right after the ceremony wrapped up, I'd tell him my own secret: I was actually the heiress to a major entertainment company.
My father said he would only agree to us being together if my boyfriend won the award. Today, I also invited him to witness this moment.
I watched him step down from the stage, and then…
Right in front of every single person in the room, he gestured to my best friend, Meryl. "I want to thank my one and only muse, Meryl Ronan. Without her, I never would have made it here today."
I knew exactly why he was saying that. Meryl's dad was a living legend in the music criticism world, after all.
But what he had no clue about was that very same titan of music criticism had been in my dad's study just last week, practically groveling to my dad to use his media connections to bury the scandal of his son getting arrested for drug possession.
The entire room erupted in shocked murmurs. Every single camera swiveled with a sharp whir and click, shifting focus from Calum straight to Meryl, who was sitting right beside me.
He walked down the stage steps, the trophy clutched firmly in his hand.
Under the gaze of thousands of eyes, he held out the award we'd daydreamed about through countless all-nighters and placed it directly in her hands.
"This song is called Starlit Basement. It captures the hardest, but also the happiest time of my life."
My eyes stung with tears out of nowhere.
In that cramped, less than 10-square-meter basement, I'd written the lyrics, composed the melody, arranged the tracks, and handled all the production. All he'd had to do was sing.
We'd split cheap three-dollar bread when we were too broke to afford anything else, shared a single pair of earbuds late into the night, and I'd penned every single note of this song for him.
He'd hold me tight then, repeating over and over that when we finally made it big, he'd let the whole world know every song he sang was written just for me.
But now, his gaze cut straight past me without a second glance, locking on to the girl next to me.
"Without you, this song would never exist. Neither would the man standing here today." He got down on one knee and pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket. "Meryl, will you marry me?"
Camera flashes popped like crazy, the harsh glare stinging my eyes so bad I had to blink back tears.
All around me, screams and well wishes roared loud enough to shake the room.
"Marry him! Marry him!"
Meryl clapped a hand over her mouth, sobbing as she nodded and let him slip the diamond ring onto her finger.
They locked lips in a passionate kiss, the shining, blissful center of every single gaze in the room.
And me? I was the laughingstock of the century.
Just three months earlier, Meryl had called me sobbing, saying her dad, Simon Ronan, the titan of the music criticism world, didn't approve of her dating a singer and was forcing her to go on blind dates.
I'd stayed up all night talking her down, soothing her every worry.
That memory hit me like a punch to the gut, and I pushed myself to my feet, ready to slip out.
But a firm hand closed around my arm, yanking me back before I could take a single step.
Calum had let go of Meryl at some point, and now he stood planted right in front of me, his brows furrowed.
"Thalia, where do you think you're going? This is our celebration." His tone was so casual, like nothing had happened at all.
I stared straight into his eyes, and he felt like a total stranger.
He'd told me once the awards ceremony ended, he'd prove everything to me.
Turns out, this was the proof he'd been talking about...
A huge, flashy proposal to my so-called best friend.
