She stood up and walked towards the door, head held high to avoid the tears.


    Carlos wondered what trick she was ying this time when she turned around and asked, “Do you


    really not want to see me again?”


    Carlos wanted to say no, but when he thought of Piggy, the child she had with another man, he simply


    answered, “It’s true.”


    “I see.” Debbie’s eyes reddened as she lowered her head and shed a self-mocking smile. She left


    the ward without saying anything more.


    She took steps to avoid seeing Carlos again. Even though they lived in the same building, he hadn’t


    seen Debbie at all.


    Two monthster, Debbie went to the offices of recording Label with her new album.


    Listening to the original tape, Ruby gave Debbie a thumbs-up. There were ten songs on the demo.


    Surprisingly, there were two cheerful songs.


    The name of the album was “Lost and Found.” Star Empire invested a lot in promoting her. There were


    billboards, magazine ads, TV spots, a release date announcement, full concept teasers including the


    date, teaser pics, and music video teasers. Not to mention thepany was putting together a Live


    showcase. A million albums were going to be released on July 7th.


    The albums would be sold online and at each major bookstore.


    A million! That number made Debbie rather nervous. Normally, two hundred thousand was an


    appropriate number. ‘What if I can’t sell that many?’ she thought.


    She was told that Carlos was behind the decision, so she sent him a text message saying, “Carlos,


    please reconsider the number of albums. A million is a bit too much. After all, I only just signed with


    Star


    Empire.” It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in herself, but the number was a bit scary.


    She didn’t have to wait too long for his reply.


    “I have confidence in the person I chose.”


    She wanted to reply to this message and tease him by saying, “Is that because of my talent or because


    you like me?”


    But she didn’t do it. She had exhausted herself preparing the new album over the past two months, and


    she needed a break.


    What happened on July 7th was beyond belief. Every copy of Debbie’s albums, a million all told, was


    sold out on the day of release. An aggressive promotional cycle including hourly Twitter and Instagram


    updates fueled a number of pre-orders. Most of the physical products, which contained limited edition


    posters, signed photos, and a DVD of the music video never made it to the shelves.


    When Ruby told Debbie the news, she thought she was lying to make her feel better.


    “Come on! If all of my albums were really sold out in one go, I’ll hold twenty concerts in a row to thank


    my fans,” said Debbie.


    Ruby handed her iPad over to Debbie. She could clearly see the sales figures on the AMOLED screen.


    Debbie’s heart skipped a beat when she saw Ruby’s serious expression. ‘So she’s telling the truth?’


    she wondered.


    Debbie took the iPad from Ruby, and the screen was filled with small, closely-written figures. She


    scrolled the screen all the way to the end. It showed that a million albums had been sold out in a single


    day and the sales had reached $17 million.


    N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    “Know what, Deb? You’re the most popr singer now!” Ruby was practically in tears; she was so


    excited. Debbie was number one among all the singers with the best album sales.


    Debbie clenched her fists without uttering a single word. Her head was spinning because of the figures


    on the iPad. She had only one thought,


    ‘That’s a Lot of money!’ Of course it wasn’t all going to her, because thepany needed to be


    reimbursed for its efforts. The promotional cycle came to $500, Q00 easily, and that wasn’t chump


    change. But neither was how much Debbie would be getting.


    Of course, when Debbie held a concert here before, she was already a popr recording artist.