The mic was live. The room silent.Ace gave a nod from the other side of the glass, and Liam exhaled slowly.
This wasn't a rehearsal.
This was the real thing.
His first professionally mixed track.
The Track – "Half of Me"
Liam's voice came in low—almost whispering. The lyrics were about loss, rebirth, and standing in the wreckage of who you used to be.
The room felt it.
Even the audio tech stopped chewing his pen.
By the time the last chorus hit—just vocals and a single piano note—Ace looked up slowly.
"One take," he said. "That's it. You just cut a record in one f*ing take**."
Liam blinked. "You're serious?"
Ace just pointed to the waveform on the monitor. "I've worked with names. Labels. Legends. None of them did what you just did."
Outside – Word Spreads
Nova uploaded a 15-second teaser on her burner TikTok.
No hashtags. No caption.Just Liam's voice and a black screen.
Within an hour, the clip hit 200k views.
Meanwhile – Elsewhere
In a high-rise downtown, another young man watched the clip on repeat.
His name was Caden Kross. Former indie darling. Currently trending. Dangerous when threatened.
He tossed his phone aside and cracked his knuckles.
"So the ghost finally found a mic," he muttered."Let's see how long he lasts."
End of Chapter 10