Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 56: A Pair of Boots

Kaija’s brow furrowed. Not only was she surprised that Karl was willing to give her a song he penned, he was actually suggesting she break the rules, despite being one of the judges himself.

"But isn’t everyone supposed to do everything themselves, even the songwriting?" she asked. "If I take your song, I’m basically disqualified."

"But did Liisi write the song herself?" Karl shot back, one eyebrow rising. "She did you dirty, and you wanna be nice and play by the rules? Let me give you some honest veteran advice, birdie.

There’s no such thing as purity in this industry. Doing whatever you have to do to be on top is the only rule. Otherwise you’ll never survive in this cutthroat game where everybody wants to win. And this is just a tiny competition inside your own label. Imagine what it’s really like out there."

She frowned, leaning against the wall as she considered his words. She’d seen enough dirty tricks from coworkers back in her airline days to know Karl wasn’t bluffing.

"You’re seriously giving me your song?" she asked, hesitant.

"Will you just accept it before I change my mind?" he snapped.

"Alright, alright," she said, rolling her eyes. Compared to Antony who made her feel genuinely grateful when he offered to produce her song, receiving help from Karl felt... forced. "Will you show me the song later then? I’ve gotta run, otherwise my instructor won’t help me produce the song at all."

Karl’s face suddenly went stiff. "Did you just say your dance instructor also produced your song?" he asked, his voice dropping into that low, dangerous growl again.

The switch in his tone made her uneasy. "Uh... yeah. Is there a problem?"

"And does that producer happen to be a golden-eyed bastard called AK?" he growled, slamming her favorite cup onto the counter in one swift, violent motion that made both her and the coffee jump.

Now she was very sure something was seriously wrong between those two men. Cold sweat started prickling down her spine. "Uh... yes, it’s AK. You... have a problem with him?"

Karl suddenly stormed toward her and grabbed her shoulders, his voice erupting sharply. "Listen very carefully, Kaija Sepala! I’m not giving you my song if you’re letting that bastard produce it. Not now, not ever, and not even in my next lifetime!"

Before Kaija could wrap her mind around whatever grudge Karl held against Antony, the front door bell chimed.

Ding dong.

Both their head snapped toward the front door, then back to each other, their faces blanked with shared panic.

Thud thud thud.

Impatient knocks came, followed by a voice they both knew far too well. "Dummy, you’re awake? It’s me, Antony."

Kaija’s face went from stunned to horrified in less than a millisecond. She grabbed Karl by the collar of his shirt, voice dropping into a frantic whisper. "Get in one of the rooms! Now! Any room! And keep your mouth shut until I go find you. Don’t you dare make a single sound, you hear me?"

Karl frowned, his voice matching her whisper with a guttural growl. "Why the hell is that bastard coming to your flat at this hour? Isn’t he supposed to be in the dance studio?"

She yanked his collar harder. "You’re asking me? How am I supposed to know?! Just hide yourself, please, for God’s sake!"

He raised both hands in surrender, "Alright alright, I’m going. Jeez." Then he quickly slipped into one of the bedrooms and shut the door while Kaija rushed toward the door.

She paused, peeked through the peephole to confirm it was indeed Antony, fixed her messy hair and pajamas, then cracked the door open and poked her head out.

"Instructor!" she greeted him with a forced, sugary smile. "What brings you here this early? I can walk perfectly fine now, you know?"

Antony stared back at her with his usual severe expression, now sharpened with deep concern. He pushed the door wide open in one swift shove that made her jump and walked in like he owned the place.

"You still have the nerve to act so cheerful?" he asked. "Someone just sent me the video going viral around the company group chats. Apparently Liisi from Lipsticksomehow overheard our song?"

She closed the door behind him with a quiet, relieved sigh. Turns out he had come to talk about that, not to carry her all the way to the dance studio again.

Calmly, she said, "I saw the video. I confronted Liisi just last night, but she shamelessly denied everything. Now that she already posted it and everybody knows she’s competing with it, there’s nothing I can do now. I don’t have enough solid proof to prove that I wrote it first."

Antony turned around, voice rising with frustration. "You’re seriously going to let it slide? You’re withdrawing from the competition?"

Her expression remained as calm. "I’m letting it go, but I’m not withdrawing. I have a new song and I’ll work on it, more carefully this time, with the time I have left. Will you help me with it?"

Though her tone stayed steady as she spoke those words, inside, she was praying Karl didn’t hear any of that and explode from whatever room he was hiding in like an angry raccoon.

Antony exhaled, his shoulders easing. He was still much displeased that Kaija was letting Liisi get away so easily with stealing their joint hard work, but he also knew bringing the case to the festival board would only lead to bigger problems. Rumors would spread fast, and Liisi’s huge fanbase among the staff would shred a trainee like Kaija.

"You’re quite efficient, aren’t you?" Antony commented. "Then let’s start recording the new song as soon as—"

His words cut off as his eyes drifted past her and landed on... a gigantic pair of men’s leather boots sitting on the shoe rack. His eyes slightly narrowed, then darted around the room, searching for a clue.

"Hey, dummy," he said, voice dropping low. "Is there someone else in your place right now?"