Chapter 297: You Made That Song Public

The moment he spoke, he noticed that both Jasper Sterling and Jane Lancaster were giving him strange looks.

"I stole her song?" Jane Lancaster was dumbfounded. ’This wasn’t in the original plot.’

Chloe Dave said, "I uploaded that song online a long time ago. It’s set to private right now, but I can make it public anytime. We’ll let everyone judge whether or not you stole someone else’s work."

The movie had officially premiered yesterday, and just one day in, the reception was already excellent.

An influencer with five million followers, whom Chloe Dave followed, had earnestly recommended the movie. She swore it was a genuine recommendation and that she wasn’t just saying it for a paycheck.

The influencer came from a wealthy family and wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, so she definitely couldn’t be bought off. This made her words highly credible.

Most importantly, she didn’t just praise the movie; she raved about the theme song. She said listening to it in the theater moved her to tears and that its beauty was soul-stirring.

Since the movie had just been released, none of the related music was available yet, and you couldn’t find it anywhere online.

The influencer eagerly declared that she would see the movie a second or even a third time just for the theme song. She also said that once the soundtrack was released, she was going to buy it all up!

The thought of a song composed by Luna Morgan receiving so much praise and adoration made Chloe Dave swell with pride.

He hadn’t seen the movie himself, but he’d done some digging. Just as he’d suspected, the theme song was credited to "Jane"!

This was solid proof she’d stolen someone else’s song. Jane Lancaster was completely shameless!

The thought of her achieving fame and fortune by stepping on Luna Morgan made Chloe Dave’s blood boil. "Did you think that just because you signed a contract, Luna wouldn’t dare to speak out? Trying to snatch someone’s work for a mere hundred thousand? You’re nothing but a common thief!"

Luna Morgan stared at him in shock. "Chloe Dave, how could you do this?"

She was starting to panic. If Chloe Dave really made this public, not only would Jane Lancaster’s reputation be destroyed, but it would drag down the movie too!

Chloe Dave felt a pang of guilt. He didn’t want to hurt Luna Morgan, but everything he was doing was for her own good.

He turned to glare at Jane Lancaster. "Well? It’s come to this, and you still won’t admit it?"

Jane Lancaster said, "...I’m not denying it. I did steal something from Luna."

Chloe Dave breathed a sigh of relief. As long as she admitted it, that was good enough. Otherwise, he couldn’t guarantee what he might have done.

"Are you just caving now because you’re afraid I’ll go public, ruin the movie’s reputation, and get you sued?" he asked after a moment.

Jane Lancaster nodded calmly. "Yes. I am, after all, truly terrified."

Chloe Dave: "..."

Was it his imagination? He felt that she didn’t look scared at all. In fact, her eyes seemed to hold a hint of pity for him.

Jane Lancaster was at a loss for words, ranting internally.

’So this is what they call having an idiot on your side.’

’It’s not the scheming villain you should fear, it’s the fool who has a moment of inspiration.’

’I spent two exhausting months holed up in a recording studio every single day, and it was all undone by this guy’s one brilliant, fatal move.’

Caleb Lowell’s head snapped up to look at Jane Lancaster. ’So, she didn’t steal Luna Morgan’s song?’

"Chloe Dave, are you sure you haven’t made a mistake?" he reminded him, his voice tight with restraint.

"President Lowell, you’d better pray he hasn’t been running his mouth online. Otherwise, I’m afraid Miss Morgan is going to be accused of being a clout-chaser."

Jasper Sterling paused, then added, "I’m an investor in this movie. I can say with certainty that the highly acclaimed theme song was composed by Jay."

Chloe Dave was completely floored. "But Jane Lancaster admitted it..."

"She meant she stole Luna Morgan’s chance at fame," Jasper Sterling said, a knowing look in his eyes. "But if you don’t have the talent to begin with, how can someone else be blamed for taking the opportunity?"

It wasn’t stealing so much as a complete blowout.

He had heard Luna Morgan’s song, too. It was nowhere near as stunning or timeless as Jane Lancaster’s.

Jared Thorne had also said that Luna Morgan’s song was decent, but it always felt like something was missing. That’s why it was kept as a backup.

Not until Jane Lancaster’s song appeared, which completely blew him away.

So why should this chance at fame belong exclusively to Luna Morgan? If your work isn’t up to par, you can’t blame anyone for being replaced.

Chloe Dave’s head was buzzing. How could this be? "But there’s an erhu in that song... and Jane Lancaster definitely doesn’t know how to play the erhu!"

A hush fell over the room.

Chloe Dave immediately realized his mistake. Vincent Holt had a picture of Jane Lancaster playing the erhu as a child; she clearly knew how.

Besides, there was a rumor in their group chat that Jane Lancaster had busked as a child, playing the erhu... and that she’d worn skimpy outfits to entertain the wealthy.

A thought struck him, and he quickly pulled out his phone. He then saw a flood of notifications in the background, which was making his phone lag.

The day’s dramatic reversal had once again drawn a lot of attention to the name Luna Morgan.

Because a post he had made a few days ago mentioned Luna Morgan by name, many people had found their way to it.

Netizens, with their eagle eyes, had quickly picked up on the hidden accusation in his words. They were shocked. The theme song for that movie was actually composed by Luna Morgan?

Jane Lancaster had shamelessly used her status as Luna’s savior to pressure her into giving up the songwriting credit?

The comments section exploded, with everyone calling Jane Lancaster shameless.

However, a few scattered people who had seen the movie asked if he had made a mistake. They pointed out that Luna Morgan’s name was indeed in the credits, but for a different, much less impressive song.

These rational comments were drowned out by a flood of emotional netizens. Conspiracy theories emerged, suggesting the two songs had been swapped. They demanded that Chloe Dave release the track to expose Jane Lancaster once and for all.

Chloe Dave looked at his private messages, and a cold sweat broke out on his brow.

’It’s trending so hard right now,’ he thought. ’What am I going to do if it turns out I was wrong?’

Gavin walked over and whispered something in Jasper Sterling’s ear. Jasper Sterling looked up at Chloe Dave. "You really just had to dig your own grave, didn’t you?"

Caleb Lowell’s expression faltered. He also glanced at his phone. "Did you release the song?"

"I didn’t!" Chloe Dave took a step back. Then, a thought struck him, and he frantically refreshed the comments, sorting by "newest." He saw that the latest few were all tearing into him.

He suddenly remembered. Fearing Luna Morgan would stop him, he had given his music account login to someone else, telling them to release the track when the time was right.

’Does that mean... the song was actually released?’

One by one, netizens went to listen to the song, then returned to the comments section to curse him out.

Many of them had seen the movie the day before and adored the theme song, which was why they couldn’t stand the thought of it being plagiarized.

Chloe Dave’s social media account was full of posts about his daily life, and the prestige of his family name made his words seem highly credible.

They never expected him to be a liar! ’Is he nuts? Does he think it’s fun to mess with us?’

Of course, the people attacking Chloe Dave were still in the minority for now. The movie had only been out for two days, so many people hadn’t seen it yet and were unaware of the facts.

Some of Chloe Dave’s longtime fans assumed the detractors were paid trolls. They passionately defended their idol, cursing the others for twisting the truth and wishing them a horrible death.

The people being cursed at were furious. ’Who’s the one twisting the truth here? Are you all idiots? At least go see the movie before jumping to conclusions, or you’re going to look like a fool when the truth comes out.’

The two sides descended into an all-out flame war.