Chapter 8 - THE BLACKLISTED FILE
Pandemonium erupted in the boardroom. Board members began arguing openly, gesturing frantically at their tablets as stock prices for Sterling Enterprises plummeted four percent in real-time trading.
"Silence!" Marcus bellowed, standing up from his leather throne, his cane trembling. "You think you’ve won, Julian? You think this paralyzed street child can run a billion-dollar empire? I built this company! Every director in this room owes their fortune to me!"
"You built it on stolen music and silenced lives, Grandfather," Maya said quietly.
Every head turned back to the twelve-year-old girl.
She tapped her tablet screen, broadcasting a scanned document onto the boardroom's massive central display wall.
It was an original copyright registration dated thirteen years ago. The Winter Aria—the song Julian had recognized at the gala—had not been composed by Julian or Marcus. It had been registered by Elena Vane, alongside a series of commercial jingles and symphonic scores that Sterling Enterprises had secretly acquired, rebranded, and used to build their multibillion-dollar media licensing division.
"You didn't just drive my mother away, Marcus," Julian realized, his eyes widening in horror as he read the filing history. "You stole her entire portfolio before you blacklisted her."
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"She was compensated!" Marcus shouted, his composure completely disintegrating. "She was a nobody! We made those melodies famous!"
"You stole from an independent artist," Sarah corrected, stepping forward with the federal auditors. "Which constitutes corporate intellectual property theft and fraud on a federal scale."
