My Wife Let Her First Love Take My Award, So I Got Every Investor to Pull Out

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.”Noah, who had been ready to take a beating, touched the work badge in his hand and looked at me with some surprise. Every company employee in the room froze. Only Sophie’s face showed a hint of surprise and anger. I smiled and looked at the two of them. “Why would I hit someone?” I walked over and patted Noah on the shoulder, then smiled and said to him, “With a frame this small, I’m afraid I’d beat him to death and end up in jail.” Noah shivered all over and took a step back. Didn’t I know that their people had already picked up their phones and were waiting for me to make the first move? They wanted to keep evidence and hand it over to the police back home, then try to leave a stain on my record. I wasn’t going to give them that chance. Sophie lifted the work badge in her arms and questioned me: “Ethan, what do you mean?” “You flew all the way to the U.S. just to throw this childish tantrum at me? Take it back now!” I looked at her angry eyes and couldn’t help laughing. “Isn’t this what you wanted?” “Give everything to your white moonlight, and push him up to the sky. Isn’t that what you wanted?” “Now the one accepting the award is him, the one getting famous is him, and now I’m even giving the producer position to him. Why are you unhappy instead?” “Who exactly is throwing a childish tantrum?” Sophie looked at me and couldn’t say a word, muttering you, you, you for a long time. Noah, that two-faced green tea guy, stepped forward and blocked Sophie, looking at me with provocation. “Ms. Carter is doing this for the good of our company, Mr. Moore. You don’t need to stay angry.” “Anyway, the lyrics and music for the future still have to be written by you, Mr. Moore!” I quickly stepped back to put some distance between us. Without taking his bait, I just looked at Sophie. I wanted to see what exactly she would say. Sophie seemed to snap back to reality and directly stuffed the work badge into Noah’s arms. “It’s fine. Since he gave the position to you, just keep doing it well.” “The songs were already better after you revised them, and if you write according to your own ideas, you’ll definitely do even better!” In the end, she still chose Noah. He smiled and accepted the work badge she handed over. “I definitely won’t let Ms. Carter down. I’ll take our company to the next level!” Noah raised both arms and shouted, and all the people from the company below looked at him and cheered with him. Sophie had completely forgotten I was there, staring at Noah with an infatuated gaze as he stood proudly in the spotlight. Only I watched Noah quietly and let out a laugh. Noah probably really thought, just like the internet said, that if you can sing then you can write songs, and writing songs is especially easy. The barrier to songwriting really is low, but making a successful commercial song takes countless rounds of thought. The rhythm of the melody, the notes in the chorus, the rhyme of the lyrics, even the connection between the instrumental break and the words—all of it has to be handled. Every time I wrote a song, I poured in all my heart and soul, just so I could create the perfect music in my mind. But Noah didn’t care. Every time he got my work, he casually changed a few words, altered a few notes, and then had his people get the recording studio ready. He called himself a genius, saying he didn’t need to get familiar with a song and could sing it after just one look. But only I knew he even needed someone else to sing for him when it came to actual singing. Every concert he ever held was lip-synced, and the person recording in the studio had never been him! No matter what the issue was, he knew nothing about anything. Aside from the title of superstar on his head, he couldn’t do anything. But he somehow thought singing and writing songs were easy, and figured that as long as the cover only showed his face, countless fans would flock to him. He probably thought that once he had finally shoved me out, everything would be fine, not knowing what was waiting for him. Without me, the company was a leaderless flock, and he wouldn’t be able to sing a single song. Sophie turned to me and said, “Fine, considering you’re an old employee, I won’t fire you.” “The company still needs someone to clean, so I’ll pay you 2,000 dollars. Go rest up a bit more.” Clean? Make me, the lyricist of a song that won the International Hit Song Award for Best Lyrics, go clean? If I wanted to find a music company, people would be fighting to hire me. A 2,000-dollar salary wasn’t even my daily spending money, and it was pure humiliation. No matter how much they paid, wouldn’t I still just be a janitor? As long as I was still in the company, I would definitely be bullied by the two of them working together, and there would be absolutely no good ending. “I said I’ll resign. You don’t need to humiliate me by talking about cleaning toilets.” I said to Sophie: “I don’t want severance pay. Just leave me the song I just finished writing, and then we’ll be even.” That was the most perfect music in my mind, the one that had used up all the effort of my life. Sophie looked at me with a smile that was not quite a smile and said to me: “Sure, I can give the lyrics and music back to you, as long as you go apologize to Noah. Then I’ll return this song to you.” Apologize? He took my song, took my place, and went to the award stage I had dreamed of. And now I was supposed to apologize to him? I walked up to Noah and slapped him hard across the face. “This is my apology. Do you like it?”I turned and walked out of the banquet hall, not caring how they shouted after me. I first took a taxi to the airport, and after the rain stopped, I flew back home. First I went to the company and packed up all my things, and took back my new song as well. This was my intellectual property. When everything was packed up, I looked at the empty company and the ring I still hadn’t given out, and my memory instantly went back to before. The year I graduated from college, I couldn’t find a job. No music company was willing to take my work, and I had spent my very last penny. As someone who grew up in an orphanage, I had always fought the world alone since I was little. Until that day, when I could fight no more. I stood alone on the overpass, looking at the traffic coming and going, and a death wish rose in my heart. The world was so big, and so many people had a harbor and a place to rely on, yet I had nothing. I stood there alone until midnight. Alone on the city bridge, unseen by anyone, one star like the moon as I looked at it for a long time. The surging traffic below the overpass had already stopped, leaving only the black, hard asphalt. I didn’t want my death to land on someone else’s car roof and ruin someone else’s good mood. I was just about to take one last look at the world when I saw the most beautiful sight in this world. Sophie was holding up a bottle of liquor, smiling brightly. “Don’t do anything rash. Have a bottle of liquor!” I’ll never forget the taste of that bottle of liquor. It was bitter, sharp, and carried a hint of sweetness. It was as if there was still a Sophie in this world. That day we talked about everything under the sky and beyond, and when she left, she gave me 2,000 dollars. She told me, “Keep going. Don’t give up!” 2,000 dollars wasn’t much, but it was enough for me to live. And I really did gain the hope to keep living. After that day, my biological parents suddenly found me and cried over me again and again in their arms. They said they had searched for me for 20 years and only found me today. Overnight, I went from a penniless orphan to the eldest son of the wealthiest family in Harbor City. When I received the first money my parents gave me, I didn’t hesitate at all and immediately went to find Sophie. Because I remembered that bottle of liquor, and I also remembered that she had said she wanted to build a music company of her own. I threw all the money I had into Sophie’s company, and I became the company’s only core lyricist and composer. She told me at the time that she wanted to release the most perfect song, so that people all over the world could appreciate the beauty of Chinese music, and that she wanted to stand on the International Hit Song Awards stage and proudly read her acceptance speech. Back then I thought I had met my true love, but I never expected she already had a boyfriend, and that was Noah Brooks. I can guarantee that I liked her more than anyone in the world, but I couldn’t do something like come between them. So I could only bury my feelings and throw all my energy into music creation. The first song the company used all its money to make and try to make a name with failed. The song we had bought and placed all our hopes on faded into mediocrity, and the huge publicity budget didn’t even make a splash. When Noah heard about it, he didn’t hesitate for a second. He immediately packed up all of Sophie’s remaining property and left her. I knew Noah was with Sophie for money, for her assets, but Sophie didn’t know. She started spending every day trying to get back together with Noah, with no mind to pay attention to music creation. And Noah grew completely sick of her too. He sold the house Sophie had bought for him, went abroad, and cut off all contact. Because Noah left, Sophie and I truly ended up together. When I wanted to propose to Sophie, she shook her head and said to me, “When we win the International Hit Song Awards, then you can make up this proposal to me.” We only got the marriage certificate. There was no wedding and no proposal. Back then I thought I was the happiest person in the world, with the person I loved, the work I adored, and a company that was booming. But now I finally know. Sophie never forgot Noah Brooks. The one she truly loved was always Noah Brooks, no matter how much I gave her. What she said about not wanting my proposal was probably just an excuse. She just wanted to leave her first times to the Noah Brooks she truly loved. Ever since Noah came to the company, Sophie had been glued to his side. Even though the two of us were already legally married and were real husband and wife. I looked at the ring in my hand and gave a self-mocking laugh. Maybe I was the only one left who still remembered that proposal promise. I flung it straight into the company trash can. Let it be. We’d never see each other again.