Calvin's Industry

Calvin Constantine slowly peeled off his lollipop wrapper. The sharp and annoying sound was loud enough to catch the attention of everyone in the quiet boardroom. Everyone seated there looked at him with disgust. This was a serious meeting, yet here this grown adult was, indulging himself like a child. But everyone's attention quickly shifted to the man in charge upon hearing his voice. "Twenty years," Nathan Harrington, Calvin's father-in-law, said with a rumbling tone that frightened everyone. No one could even bring themselves to look at his face. They could only see his large hands marked by dark knuckles, old bloodstains that soap couldn't wash away anymore. "For twenty years, I worked hard building this company from the ground up." Nathan rose from his seat. His large shadow covered most of the room because of how tall he was. Though he wore an expensive black suit that cost more than average people earned in a year, the danger of making him angry was most apparent. He had

Everyone in the room closed their eyes as if that would protect them from what was about to unfold. Everyone except Calvin. Nathan Harrington had destroyed men's lives for much smaller insults than this. He hadn't just ended careers. Nathan had ruined families and made people disappear, all for showing him disrespect. But before he could pronounce his judgment, Ronald got to his feet. The blood on his mouth was still there, but his fear was now replaced by anger. "Who do you think you are?" Ronald yelled at Calvin, even though his voice cracked with pain. "Show some respect! Apologize to my father immediately!" But Nathan looked at his son with disgust. "Sit down, boy," he commanded. "This isn't your fight anymore." Not wanting to take another hit, Ronald fell back into his chair. The shame of being dismissed like that seemed to hurt worse than his physical injuries, but Nathan didn't care. Now he was looking at Calvin. "I've met stubborn young men like you before. The kind o

Everyone else in the room gasped. The collective sound was so loud that it could be heard in the hallway. Ronald's pen fell to the floor, and Stephanie's coffee cup rattled against its saucer. Abigail looked shocked but not too surprised. She noticed this as she angrily stared at her stepdaughter. Something about Abigail's face suggested she'd known this was coming for a long time but said nothing. "You all heard me correctly," Calvin said with a bolder and more confident tone. "I'm leaving this company today. I'm starting my own label." Calvin faced Nathan once again. "I'm going to show you how to run a music business the right way. It will be just me, my agent, and my artists. There will be no army of uninspired writers or corporate handlers destroying ambition and creativity." He dropped the grape-flavored candy on the table for Nathan before quickly picking up his briefcase, ready to leave. "I'll teach you what real leadership looks like, and it will be much better than eve

About an hour later, Abigail was sitting in her car outside Jason McCallister's home. How her husband knew he lived here was beyond her, and she tried her best to calm down. The neighborhood looked tired and forgotten, with rows of small houses featuring dead lawns and broken streetlights. It was hard to believe that a young music icon who sold out stadiums just a few years ago was now living here. This was crazy, but she trusted Calvin. Abigail looked at the rearview mirror to make sure her hair was perfect. Taking a deep breath, she walked to the front door. The porch light was broken and Abigail had to stand alone in the dark for a while, tracing her hands on the outside wall to find the doorbell. She pressed it once and there was no response, then Abigail pressed it over and over until she saw a curtain move upstairs. Someone had noticed her, and she stood still, trying her best to look harmless. Given the circumstances, she wouldn't be surprised if he was too scared to answer

When Calvin hung up, he was sitting in his friend Martin's living room, staring at his laptop screen. A countdown timer showed two minutes until he went live on MeTube, and even though he had only announced it an hour ago, over 5,000 people were already waiting in the chat room with the numbers still climbing. Hearing him throughout the call, Martin put down his phone and shook his head. "With the way you keep secrets from your wife, I'm surprised she hasn't divorced you yet." Calvin seemed to be more focused on the live feed, refusing to look away from the screen before adjusting the camera angles and lighting. The live video had to be perfect, but he heard what Martin said. "That's exactly why I'm doing this. That's why I'm willing to destroy Nathan Harrington. Abigail trusts me to protect her and everything we've built together, and I won't disappoint her." He nodded slowly. "Yeah, love sure makes us do crazy things. But this is way out of your league, Calvin. What you are abo