Aria's POV
I laughed.
I couldn't help it. Maya stood there accusing me of stealing her song, and all I could do was laugh.
"You think this is funny?" Maya's voice shook. "You stole from me!"
"What song?" Damien's voice was sharp. He looked at me, then at Maya. "What song are you talking about?"
"Phoenix Rising," Maya said quickly. "I wrote it three weeks ago. Aria heard me singing it and now she's pretending it's hers!"
Three weeks ago. She was already lying. The song didn't exist three weeks ago. I hadn't even written it yet in this timeline.
But she didn't know I knew that.
"That's interesting," I said calmly. "Because I haven't told anyone what song I'm singing today. So how do you know it's 'Phoenix Rising'?"
Maya's face went blank. "I... you told me this morning!"
"No, I didn't." I looked at Damien. "She came to my apartment. Tried to convince me not to audition. I never mentioned my song choice."
"She's lying!" Ethan stepped forward. "Maya would never steal. You're just jealous of her talent!"
I looked at my ex-boyfriend. The man I'd loved. The man who chose Maya over me in my first life.
"And who are you?" Damien asked coldly.
"Ethan Kim. I'm Aria's boyfriend. And I'm telling you, she's the thief here, not Maya!"
"Ex-boyfriend," I corrected. "I broke up with you this morning."
Ethan's face went red. "You can't just—"
"Actually, she can." Damien stood up. "And I'm wondering why you're here at all. This is a closed audition. How did you get in?"
Silence. Maya and Ethan looked at each other.
"We followed her," Maya admitted. "I was worried she'd steal more of my work!"
Damien's eyes narrowed. "You stalked another contestant. Broke into a private audition. And you're accusing her of theft." He looked at security. "Remove them."
"Wait!" Maya grabbed a folder. "I have proof! Look!"
She pulled out sheet music. Threw it on the judges' table.
I walked over and looked at it. My heart stopped.
It was "Phoenix Rising." The full arrangement. With Maya's name on it as the composer.
But that was impossible. This song didn't exist yet. I hadn't written it. She couldn't have stolen it because there was nothing to steal.
Unless...
"Where did you get this?" I asked quietly.
Maya smiled. Triumphant. "I wrote it. Two weeks ago. I have the dated file on my computer. I have voice recordings. I have everything."
My mind raced. This made no sense. In my first life, I wrote this song in three weeks. Maya stole it after hearing me play it.
But now she had it before I'd even written it?
How?
Then it hit me. The timeline changed. When I came back, things shifted. And somehow Maya had the song early.
Or... someone gave it to her. Someone who knew I'd sing it today.
"Let me see that." Damien took the sheet music. Studied it. "This is dated two weeks ago."
"Exactly!" Maya looked at me with fake sadness. "Aria, I know you're desperate to succeed. But stealing won't help you. Just admit it."
I felt the room turn against me. The other judges whispered. Even Damien looked at me with questions in his eyes.
This was it. My second chance was dying before it even started.
No. I didn't survive thirteen years of hell to lose again.
"You want proof?" I said. "Fine. Let me sing. Then you'll know who really wrote it."
"How will that prove anything?" Ethan demanded.
"Because," I said, looking straight at Maya, "only the person who truly wrote a song can sing it with their soul. You can steal words. You can steal notes. But you can't steal the pain that created it."
Damien sat back down slowly. "Sing. Both of you. Maya first, since she claims she wrote it."
Maya went pale. "What?"
"You have the sheet music. You have recordings. So sing it for us. Show us your song."
"I... I'm not warmed up!"
"Neither is Aria." Damien's voice was ice. "Sing. Or leave."
Maya looked trapped. She walked to the stage, shaking. Picked up the microphone.
She started singing.
Her voice was pretty. Technically perfect. She hit every note correctly.
But it was empty. Like reading a script. No emotion. No soul. Just words and melody.
She finished. The room was silent.
"Thank you," Damien said flatly. "Aria. Your turn."
I walked to the stage. Maya tried to hand me the sheet music.
"I don't need that," I said.
Because I didn't. This song came from my heart. From my pain. From dying at thirty-five with nothing but regrets.
I closed my eyes. Took a breath.
And sang.
"From the ashes I will rise, phoenix wings against the skies..."
My voice wasn't pretty like Maya's. It was raw. Raspy. Filled with thirteen years of suffering.
"They tried to clip my wings, tried to dim my light, but I was born to burn, born to fight..."
I felt every word. Every note. This was my story. My resurrection.
The room disappeared. It was just me and the song. The song I would write. The song Maya would steal. The song that haunted my first life.
But this time, I sang it first.
"Watch me rise, watch me soar, I'm not that broken girl anymore..."
When I finished, the room was dead silent.
I opened my eyes.
One of the judges was crying. The other sat frozen, mouth open.
Damien stared at me like he'd seen a ghost. "That was..."
"The truth," I finished. "That's what real pain sounds like. That's what real music sounds like. You can't fake that."
Maya's face had gone white. "I... I did write it! I did!"
"No," Damien said quietly. "You didn't." He looked at me. "How did you write something with that much pain? You're twenty-two years old."
I met his eyes. "Some people live a whole lifetime of pain in just a few years."
"Or a few lifetimes," Damien said softly.
Wait. What?
Why did he say that? Why did he look at me like he knew?
Before I could respond, Damien stood up.
"Aria Chen, you're hired. Exclusive contract with Apex Entertainment. I'll handle your management personally."
The room exploded. The judges started talking over each other. Maya screamed. Ethan yelled.
But all I could do was stare at Damien.
Because he smiled at me. A small, knowing smile.
And whispered something only I could hear.
"Welcome back."
My blood froze.
Welcome back.
Like he knew. Like he remembered. Like he'd been there before too.
But that was impossible.
Wasn't it?