Chapter 8 - The Name on the Music
Six months later, a court-approved settlement recognized me as the original composer of The Winter Garden.
The publishing record changed.
For the first time, the score read:
THE WINTER GARDEN
Composed by Sarah Bennett Carter
I stared at my name for almost ten minutes.
Not Victor.
Mine.
The royalty compensation was substantial.
More money than I had ever imagined possessing.
But the first thing I did was not buy a house.
I paid off Michael's old medical debt.
Technically, I no longer owed most of it.
I did it anyway.
Then I created the Michael Carter Fund for young musicians whose careers had been damaged by financial hardship or institutional retaliation.
Alexander offered to finance everything.
I refused.
He smiled.
“Good.”
“Why good?”
“Because I wanted to see whether you'd let me turn restitution into another rich man's rescue story.”
I laughed.
“I won't.”
“I know.”
We eventually partnered equally.
Whitmore Foundation supplied infrastructure.
I retained independent control of the fund.
Emily asked:
“Does this mean we're rich?”
“Define rich.”
“Can we get takeout without checking the coupon drawer?”
I laughed.
“Yes.”
Her eyes widened.
“Then we're rich.”
May you like
Fair enough.
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