Meghna swallowed. He’d never mentioned that. Meghna had seen several drafts of the song. And though the second verse had changed a lot, he’d never said that Julie had helped him with it. He’d let Meghna think those changes were all his.
And the changes Meghna had made? She’d offered those freely. As his writing partner. As his friend. She’d known that the songs were his at the end of the day, but she hadn’t realized that he had pretended he’d come up witheverythingon his own. That he’d lied about all the help Meghna had given him. That he’d taken credit for Julie’s words.
A lick of anger shot up her spine.
“Julie, can I talk to you for a second? Outside?” The words were out before Meghna could reel them back in.
Julie’s eyes lit with surprise. “Yeah, um, sure.”
Meghna followed her out of the room, down a hallway. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She was so angry. At Seth. At Karthik. At herself.
Karthik had been right. Sethhadbeen taking advantage of her. He hadn’t looked at her own writing for months. And he expected too much from her. Expected that she’d drop everything to answer his questions, take his calls, provide feedback. Their writing partnership had somehow become all about him. Part of her had known that, but it had happened so slowly. She hadn’t been able to fully accept it. Especially because…it was Seth.
Seth, who’d read her work and encouraged her when no one else would. Who’d listened to her. Who’d made her feel seen and valued. Who’d broken her heart.
And now Karthik knew that too. Her face heated as she remembered the way he had thrown that accusation at her. Like a grenade. And at the time, she hadn’t known how to respond. She wasn’t sure whether she had ever really been in love with Seth. This…this couldn’t possibly be love. But she had feltsomethingfor him, and knowing that Karthik had figured that out…She wanted to sink into the floor.
Julie raised an eyebrow, and Meghna hesitated. She didn’t want to mess things up for Julie. Not on her wedding day. Maybe she had wanted that a few months ago. Had secretly hoped that the wedding wouldn’t happen. But she didn’t want that anymore. Meghna faltered for a moment, wondering if she should even bring any of this up. But if she didn’t say it now, it’d be too late. Julie was set to marry Seth in a few hours, and she deserved to know the truth before then. She deserved to go into the relationship with her eyes wide open. To not be strung along or used for her talent.
“Julie,” she started. “That song you were talking about? I saw what the second verse looked like before. It was…It was completely different. If you made those changes, I think you deserve songwriting credit.”
Julie laughed lightly. “That’s so sweet, but really the lines I gave Seth were lines I cut out of one of my own songs. Lines I hadn’t planned on using anyway. I’m glad they worked for him, but it wasn’t a big deal.”
A sneaking suspicion crept through Meghna’s mind. “Did you do that on other songs?”
“Yeah, some. But I mean, Seth’s helped me with my music too. He always listens to my stuff and tells me what’s working and what’s not.”
“But Julie, that’s not the…If you’ve been writing parts of…” Meghna stopped, taking a deep breath. “Those lines you were talking about? Back there? Those lines from ‘Angel in Red’? I wrote them.”
Shock splashed across Julie’s face.
“I know you may not believe me or think I’m just making it up, but…I texted those lines to Seth. I meant for them to just be a suggestion. I didn’t think he’d actually use them. Though when he did, I mean, it wasn’t that surprising. He’d done it before. And it was just a couple lines. He always made it seem like it was no big deal because the rest of the song was his. But if you’ve been…If some of this has been yours…”
“Not on that song, but…” She bit her lip. “Did you do anything on ‘Eyes on You’?”
“Some work on the bridge.”
Julie’s mouth dropped open. “Me too! He told me he wanted to change the rhyme structure. So, I helped him rewrite it. Except for the last line, but that must have been…”
Meghna nodded. “That was mine.”
“He never said…He never said anything about you writing any of it. I mean, I knew you were writing partners. Seth’s always said howthankful he is for you and that you’ve helped him so much, but he never said…” Julie trailed off, her eyes blank and unfocused.
Meghna’s mind whirred, pieces of lyrics running through her head. How many of the words she’d once attributed to Seth’s “genius” had really come from Julie? How many times had Seth lied to her? Taken credit for something that wasn’t his?
Anger churned low and heavy in her gut. She wanted to go find Seth. Confront him. Ask him how he could do this. She almost suggested it, but when she saw the expression on Julie’s face, the words died in her throat.
Julie looked so lost, her gaze distant. There was a tiny tremble in her lower lip.
“What do you want to do?” Meghna asked gently. Even though she knew exactly how she wanted to handle things, she wasn’t the only one wronged here. And this was still Julie’s wedding day.
“I don’t know,” Julie whispered.
“Okay. That’s okay.” Julie needed more time. And so did she. Meghna could get in Seth’s face and have it out, but then what? She needed to think things through. What could she ask for? And how could she hold him accountable? She needed to make a plan.
“Why don’t you finish getting dressed? I’ll try to figure something out, but I won’t say anything to Seth until you’re ready, okay? Want to meet downstairs in an hour?”
Julie sniffed, but nodded, offering a small, sad smile. Then she left, heading back to finish her hair and makeup. And put on her wedding dress.
