Chapter 237: Album Launch Countdown

The announcement on social media had sent shockwaves through the region.

Within an hour, the quiet countryside roads surrounding Lumen were completely jammed with bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Tens of thousands of fans had swarmed the venue, creating a massive, glowing sea of phone screens, banners, and chanting crowds under the night sky.

Inside the restaurant, every table, lounge, and standing space was packed to maximum capacity.

Patricia’s staff was working at lightspeed, serving up the new special combo meals to a line that wrapped around the block three times over, but the indoor space simply couldn’t hold the explosive crowd gathering outside.

I stood by the floor-to-ceiling glass panel on the top floor, looking out at the endless ocean of fans spilling across the lawns, parking lots, and hilltops.

"Ethan..." Patricia said, stepping up beside me with her tablet, looking both thrilled and slightly overwhelmed. "Security is doing great with perimeter control, but the main hall is completely sold out. Most of these people won’t even be able to see Ruby if she stays on the indoor main stage. They came all this way in the middle of the night."

"We can’t leave half the crowd out in the cold," I said, a slow smile spreading across my face as I looked up at the building’s architecture.

"What are you thinking?" Chloe asked, stepping up on my other side, holding her glass of champagne.

"The rooftop," I said smoothly, turning to Ruby’s stage director. "Move the main rig, the production cams, and the sound stack directly to the open-air roof deck. Set up a massive 360-degree LED screen system pointing out toward the countryside fields."

Ruby’s eyes widened, a thrilling burst of excitement hitting her as she gasped. "A rooftop concert?! In the middle of the countryside?!"

"It turns the entire Lumen complex into a giant natural amphitheater," I said, putting my hands in my pockets. "Every single fan on these hills will get a front-row view, the livestream aerial shots will look insane, and the energy will echo for miles."

"On it, boss!" the stage director yelled, frantically shouting orders into his comms.

I caught Sarah’s eye and gave her a quick nod. In under two minutes, she had the security teams, stage techs, and audio engineers orchestrating the transition seamlessly.

Up on the open-air roof deck, the towering LED screens flared with brilliant light, illuminating the massive crowd below.

Standing right by the stage entrance, young Emiliana was holding her golden mic tightly, her knuckles turning white as she looked down at the sea of tens of thousands of cheering fans. She took a deep, shaky breath, her shoulders tense.

I walked over, squatted down to her eye level, and placed a warm, reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"You’ve practiced for this every single day, Emiliana," I said with a confident, easy smile. "You earned this stage. Just go out there, sing your heart out, and have fun."

Emiliana looked into my eyes, her nervous trembling settling into a determined grin. "Thanks, Ethan! I won’t let you down!"

She gave my hand a quick squeeze and stepped out onto the glaring, illuminated rooftop stage right alongside Ruby. The moment the opening chords of their feature duet hit the speakers, the crowd exploded. Emiliana’s voice rang out crystal-clear through the countryside night—pure, powerful, and breathtakingly pitch-perfect. Seeing her shine alongside Ruby brought a deafening cheer from the entire venue.

I walked back over to the elevated VIP terrace, taking a glass of champagne from a server tray. Chloe slid her arm through mine, resting her head lightly against my shoulder, while Patricia stood on my other side with a proud, glowing smile as the revenue numbers on her tablet skyrocketed into seven figures.

"What a night," I murmured softly, watching the light show dance over the countryside. "Only thing missing is May. Wish she was here to see this."

"Who said I missed it?" a slick, athletic voice called out from behind us.

We all turned around. There stood May, leaning casually against the terrace railing, wearing her sleek racing jacket over her athletic wear, a sharp, playful smirk on her face. Her short hair was slightly wind-ruffled, looking as stunning and confident as ever.

"May!" Chloe laughed softly. "How did you get here so fast?"

"Drove, obviously," May grinned, walking over and bumping her shoulder lightly against mine before taking a sip from a spare glass on the table. She looked out over the massive, packed countryside venue and raised an eyebrow at me.

"So..." May teased, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she glanced between Patricia, Chloe, and me. "Is this where you guys did your little cosplay trip that time?"

I chuckled, pulling May in close by her waist alongside Chloe. "Something like that. Glad you made it, race champ."

"Wouldn’t miss Ruby takeover for the world," May replied softly, leaning into my side as the midnight countdown clock on the main screen hit ten seconds.

The towering rooftop LED screens began flashing in synced, neon-purple pulses as the giant digital clock hit the final ten seconds. The entire countryside—tens of thousands of fans on the hills, the packed crowds on the Lumen terraces, and over twelve million live viewers tuning in globally—began chanting in unison, their voices shaking the ground.

"10... 9... 8..."

Ruby stepped to the front edge of the roof deck, her eyes glittering under the spotlights as she held the microphone high. Beside her, Emiliana held her breath, holding Ruby’s free hand tightly.

"3... 2... 1..."

BOOM.

A blinding eruption of cold-pyro fireworks shot off the edges of the Lumen roof, illuminating the entire countryside in brilliant silver and gold sparks. Bass vibrated through the floorboards as Ruby hit her opening high note, her voice soaring over the electric cheers of the massive crowd.

At that exact microsecond, the digital drop went live across every streaming platform on earth.

Standing on the VIP terrace with my arms wrapped around Chloe and May, with Patricia typing furiously on her terminal beside us, we watched the live telemetry feeds on Sarah’s tablet—and what happened next was pure, uncut dopamine.

The Global Streaming Avalanche

[LIVE ANALYTICS - HIDDEN GEM ENTERTAINMENT] 1,200,000 Streams Initiated

#1 TRENDING GLOBAL

TRACK 1 ("LUMEN NIGHTS" FT. EMILIANA) DEBUTS AT #1 WORLDWIDE

"Spotify’s main servers just flickered," Sarah reported with a calm, proud smirk, adjusting her glasses. "Ruby currently occupies Positions #1 through #12 on the Global Top 50 Chart. She wiped out the entire top 10 in under five minutes."

On the rooftop stage, the massive screen behind Ruby switched to show the real-time global charts. The instant the live crowd saw Ruby’s face occupying every single top spot on the world leaderboard, a deafening, euphoric roar exploded across the hills.

Ruby caught sight of the live chart takeover on the monitors. Tears of pure joy welled in her eyes as she hit the final climax of her track, blowing a kiss to the ocean of flashing phone cameras. Emiliana jumped up and down, pointing at the #1 spot next to her name, completely overwhelmed with excitement.

May let out a low whistle, taking a sip of her champagne and nudging me with her elbow. "Damn, Ethan. You guys didn’t just drop an album, you just hijacked the global music industry in one night."

"That’s how Hidden Gem operates," I smiled, pulling Chloe and May tighter against my sides as the bass washed over the terrace. "We don’t compete. We dominate."

Chloe leaned up on her tiptoes, pressing a warm kiss to my cheek with a triumphant smile. "A #1 global chart sweep, a total Sterling Co. takeover, and the estate’s highest single-night revenue record... I’d say this calls for a proper toast before May’s race tomorrow."