Urban System in America-Chapter 146 - 145: News About Emma

Back home, Rex pulled into the garage and carefully took the painting out of the car, holding it upright with measured care.

Just then, another car rolled in behind him. Victor and Kaelan stepped out, sharp-eyed and composed as always, though there was a subtle tension in their posture.

"Boss, that was a really dangerous situation," Victor said with a wary smile, his voice laced with concern. "Can you please avoid things like that in the future?"

Kaelan gave a small nod of agreement beside him.

Rex offered a faint smile in return, nodding. "Honestly, even I didn’t expect it to turn out that way," he said. "But yeah—let’s all be more careful next time."

With that, the three of them entered the house. Kaelan and Victor returned to their rooms, while Rex brought the painting into his room and set it down gently in a well-lit corner to dry.

He stepped back and studied it one last time.

It was chaotic and bold, wild brushstrokes clashing in beautiful defiance. There was something oddly triumphant about it—as if it had captured a fleeting emotion and trapped it forever in oil and canvas.

There was still quite some time until midnight. So, he sat on the bed, grabbed his phone, and, out of habit, started browsing the internet for anything interesting.

Most of it was forgettable—celebrity gossip, market volatility, the latest political missteps—until a particular headline made him stop.

His thumb froze mid-scroll.

"Superstar Emma in Dispute With Label Over Copyright."

He blinked once, then sat up straighter, his expression tightening as he tapped into the article.

It was a news report about Emma.

Yes, that Emma—the only one he knew. A slow sense of unease settled into his gut as he read through the article in detail.

The headline came from an insider industry outlet, and the article was far from casual gossip. According to the report, Emma was currently in a heated dispute with her company over the copyrights to her entire music catalogue.

Rex’s expression tightened as he read further.

The article explained that the company held full control over the copyrights and master recordings of all her released tracks—standard practice in the industry, even in this world. Just like on Earth, the music industry in this world worked on a system where companies—rather than the artists themselves—owned the copyrights, master recordings, and related rights.

And artist were often bound by one-sided contracts. The companies fronted the costs, but in exchange, they claimed ownership over everything: the music, the branding, the public image—even the stage names in some cases.

It was a system that looked neat and business-like on paper, but Rex knew better.

He had seen it unfold before—again and again—in his past life.

He’d seen it play out dozens of times in his past life. Talented artists would rise to fame, only to discover too late that they didn’t truly own a single note of their success.

And behind the scenes, they were shackled. Their creativity, their time, their very identity became a product. Some never realized until it was too late—until their voices were no longer theirs to control. In the end most of them succumbed to depression, anxiety and various mental problems and had to resort to drugs and alcohol to numb themselves.

Emma’s case mirrored those stories almost too perfectly.

Recently, Emma’s contract with her label had come to an end. But due to past unpleasant experiences, she had chosen not to renew it. Honestly, she didn’t need their support anymore. Emma was the kind of artist who handled almost everything on her own—writing, composing, producing, directing her music videos. As for stuff like marketing and distributing?

She didn’t need it.

Just the words of her releasing a new song would cause a sensation in the world, and companies would rush to distribute even at loss, just to get on her good shoes, just for the privilege of saying they worked with her.

And yet, the company she was in right now, demanded a lion’s share of the profits while providing diminishing value in return.

Yet despite all this, she had stayed. Out of loyalty, perhaps out of gratitude, perhaps because it was her first label. She’d endured, even as her fame skyrocketed far beyond what the label could sustain or support.

And because of her, a once-obscure label had transformed into a major powerhouse in the music industry. But somewhere along the way, the company got too greedy and seemed to have some misconceptions that they were real figures behind her success instead of her own talents.

So, instead of treating her like the treasured cornerstone she was, they began treating her like a cash cow.

The results were predictable.

Now that her years-long slavery contract had finally expired, she had chosen to walk away.

And that, apparently, was an unforgivable offense.

The company, outraged, tried to retaliate. At first, they threatened to block her from performing and distributing her music. But trying to "block" a top-tier superstar like Emma was laughable, and they quickly realized as much.

So they turned to a more sinister strategy: threatening to sell her music catalogue to one of her known enemies in the industry—people who had nothing to do with her journey but would gain control over everything she had poured her soul into.

No matter how good a person is, if they truly want to succeed, making enemies becomes inevitable. Even if it’s not your intention—even if you’re a saint—rivalry and resentment will find you. That’s just the nature of the path to success.

What’s that saying again? Yes,

"If you don’t have enemies, you’re not truly successful yet."

Yeah, that one.

Given her wealth, Emma could certainly afford to buy back the rights herself. And in fact, the moment she caught wind of the situation, she contacted the company without hesitation and offered to purchase the catalogue at a price far higher than anyone had expected—an amount that would’ve turned heads across the industry.

But just like any other industry, the music business isn’t that straightforward.

It’s a tangled web—a complex ecosystem built on overlapping interests, invisible politics, and deeply entrenched power structures. Deals aren’t made on price alone. Ego, control, leverage—these all play just as big a role as money.

And from the way things looked, the company’s response wasn’t exactly positive.

(End of Chapter)