Chapter 4

With Ava' s songs, particularly the haunting power of "Brooklyn Lullaby," Lucas started to get noticed.

Small gigs led to bigger ones, local buzz to indie label interest.

Then Sophie Bellweather appeared.

Ava knew Sophie from high school.

Wealthy, popular, and cruel. Sophie and her clique had made Ava' s high school years a quiet misery, with their subtle barbs and looks of disdain for the scholarship kid from the wrong side of Queens.

Now, Sophie was a minor pop starlet, a social media influencer with connections.

She saw Lucas, saw his rising star, and latched on.

Suddenly, Sophie was Lucas' s "muse," his "collaborator."

Ava watched, a knot of unease tightening in her stomach, as Sophie' s influence grew.

Sophie suggested changes to the songs, to Lucas' s image.

More commercial, more pop, less soul.

Ava tried to protest, to protect Mateo' s legacy, her work.

"It' s what the industry wants, Ava," Lucas would say, already distant. "Sophie knows this stuff."

The Indie Music Vanguard Awards were supposed to be Lucas' s big moment, their big moment.

He was nominated for Best New Artist. "Brooklyn Lullaby" was getting airplay.

Ava sat in the audience, a small, hopeful smile on her face, even as Sophie sat next to Lucas in the nominee section.

When Lucas won, he performed.

But it wasn' t "Brooklyn Lullaby."

It was a slick, overproduced version called "Manhattan Lights."

The lyrics were tweaked, the raw emotion gone.

And the announcer said, "Performing his hit single, 'Manhattan Lights,' co-written with the talented Sophie Bellweather!"

Ava felt the blood drain from her face.

Co-written? Sophie?

After the show, Lucas found her backstage. He was beaming, high on adrenaline and champagne.

He didn' t even notice her shock.

"We did it, Ava!" he said, then corrected himself. "I did it!"

He handed her an envelope. "A little something for your trouble. Severance, you could call it."

Inside was a check for a few thousand dollars and a gift-wrapped box.

A designer handbag.

"Sophie picked it out," he added, as if that made it better.

"My contributions..." Ava started, her voice trembling.

Lucas waved a dismissive hand. "You were great for the early stuff, Ava. But Sophie, she gets the business. It' s a new chapter."

Shadows for the sun. Now she understood.