Chapter 745
“What kind of monsters would do that to their own child?” Eleanor Quinn sobbed, wiping her eyes with a tissue. She had made a point to watch the broadcast, sitting alongside Rachel, who quietly filled in the harrowing details of that night.
Elsewhere, the Mercer brothers and Lacey were also glued to their screens.
The memories were a source of crushing shame. When Mira had been thrown out, her brothers hadn’t been physically present, but they had spent years acting as Mara Mercer’s vicious enforcers. Looking back, they couldn’t fathom how aggressively stupid they had been, completely blinded by Mara’s manipulative lies. It was no wonder Mira wanted absolutely nothing to do with them. They deserved every ounce of her contempt.
Meanwhile, Mira’s classmates, friends, and legions of fans watched with bated breath, desperate to uncover the grueling reality behind her meteoric rise.
“Could you share what exactly triggered the fallout?” Clara asked gently.
“It’s in the past, and I’d rather leave it there,” Mira replied. The truth involved Mara Mercer, which inevitably led to The Vane Syndicate, a subject completely unsuitable for national television. Opening that Pandora’s box would only invite endless, dangerous scrutiny. Furthermore, the issues with Lacey and Adrian Mercer were firmly resolved; they had paid the price for their actions, and dredging it up served no purpose.
“So, pushed into a corner by survival, you had to find a way to make money,” Jasper deduced.
“It was much more desperate than that. I attended an elite prep school, and the annual tuition was hundreds of thousands of dollars. The bill was due right after the summer break. As an underage high schooler, there wasn’t a single normal job on the planet that would let me earn that kind of cash in two months p>
“Which led you to launch a business,” Clara said, awestruck.
“Exactly. I’ve always had a strong affinity for the arts. If I signed with an existing agency, as a complete unknown, they would have paid me pennies. On top of that, I had to outmaneuver the Mercer family, who would have aggressively blacklisted me everywhere. Starting my own company was my only viable play p>
“But you were entirely broke. How did you get the capital p>
“People might find this hard to
believe, but my very first employee was Kieran Holt-the current General Manager of Solflare Entertainment,” Mira explained. “He was a close friend of Ms. Brooks. As many know, Kieran used to be her talent manager, and both of them had hit rock bottom in their respective careers at the time. Twas prepating to compete in a major Melvion City talent showcase, and Ms. Brooks took pity on me because I had absolutely nothing and zero industry knowledge. She introduced me to Kieran, who agreed to help me for free. They guided me through every technicality and prepped me for the intense competition p>
“Winning that showcase brought in a solid cash prize, which became my seed money. I also landed several commercial endorsements
immediately after. The two original tracks I debuted on stage, including ‘Silent Comet,’ exploded in
popularity. The streaming royalties and endless covers generated a massive influx of revenue Just like that, my tuition was secured. From there, I formally registered my studio and scouted Gavin Hale and Aidan Chase p>
“They weren’t superstars yet, were they?” Jasper asked.
“No, they were both struggling terribly,” Mira smiled. “To be honest, I literally found Gavin busking in a public park. I heard his vocals, realized his raw potential, and signed him on the spot. Shortly after we transitioned the platform to a paid subscription model, both of them skyrocketed to A-list status p>
“Miss Mercer, you don’t just possess incredible talent-your eye for potential is lethal. You literally plucked future superstars off the street,” Jasper said, shaking his head in sheer disbelief.
“Once the music royalties started rolling in, your financial survival was guaranteed,” Clara noted. “What possessed you to keep aggressively expanding your empire during the most crucial academic year of your life p>
“Because I needed absolute power. I needed to become an untouchable monolith, and that required relentless expansion. Given my circumstances at the time, if I stopped pushing, my enemies would have crushed me into the dirt p>
“You had already escaped the Mercer family. Why were you still in danger p>
Kn
“Because weakness invites destruction That’s simply how the world works,” Mira stated smoothly “The specifics are old news, so won’t rehash them, but anyone willing to dig can easily uncover the truth. It caused a massive scandal in Melvion City back then. But beyond basic survival, there was a deeper motivation. We only get one life. We have a duty to push our limits and _build something meaningfut Whether it’s for yourself, the public, or the nation, you have to leave a legacy, otherwise, what’s the point of breathing p>
“Incredible,” Jasper murmured. “For someone so young to possess such terrifying clarity… it’s genuinely inspiring. We all have a part to play. Those with immense power shoulder the heavy burdens, and those with less contribute what they can p>
“But we still have to ask,” Clara leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “How on earth did you balance straight A’s, building a corporate empire, and elite martial arts training without collapsing p>