Rewind With A Superstar System-Chapter 125: I’m Fucking Rich!

<🎧 Song Recommendation: A Milli by Lil Wayne>

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(December 1st, 2019 — Venetian Islands>

The morning sun reflected off the calm waters surrounding the Venetian Islands, filling Von’s rented mansion with bright, natural light.

Inside the spacious living room, the atmosphere was a mix of focus and barely hidden excitement.

Zack was seated on one of the plush white sofas, his laptop resting on the glass coffee table in front of him. He was clicking through spreadsheets, surrounded by a few neat stacks of paper.

Across from him, Emily sat with her legs crossed. She was sipping a warm cup of coffee and typing quickly on her tablet. The massive flat-screen television on the wall had been turned on, waiting for an input signal.

They were waiting for him.

Footsteps echoed from the top of the wooden stairs. Von finally came down, fresh from a morning shower. He wore a simple white t-shirt and loose gray sweatpants. Even in his casual clothes, he carried himself differently now.

"Phew... Sorry for the hold up," Von said, running a towel over his damp hair as he walked into the parlor. He tossed the towel onto a nearby chair and sat down right in the middle of the longest couch. He looked between his manager and his lawyer. "So, what’s the meeting for?"

Zack pushed his glasses up his nose and a smile broke through his face. "Well, the waiting period is over. All the money has rolled out already. From the Vanguard merch collaboration to the digital streams. They’re all here."

Von’s eyes naturally lit up hearing the news. He could easily estimate his earnings based on how viral his songs were, but he couldn’t know the exact dollar amount. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and turned his attention to Emily.

"Don’t leave me hanging, Em," Von said with a grin. "What are the figures?"

Emily set her coffee mug down on the glass table. Instead of just telling him, she tapped her tablet. The big television screen on the wall flashed to life, projecting a PowerPoint presentation she had prepared earlier that morning.

"Well, as you know," Emily began with pride, "The hype behind Lost & Found hasn’t died down yet. Actually, it’s still growing. The album is still charting Number One on the Billboard 200, five weeks after its release."

She swiped her screen, and the slide changed to show the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

"And for the singles," she continued, pointing at the screen, "It Doesn’t Even Matter and Coming Home are still charting Number One and Number Three respectively. But a huge factor that contributed to keeping you charting so high for so long were your streams."

She changed the slides again. This time, a massive bar graph appeared, showing off his streaming numbers.

"This data is from Musicify alone," Emily explained with wide eyes. "You’ve amassed 190 million streams from It Doesn’t Even Matter alone! That’s 850 million streams when we put the whole album into perspective. Record breaking numbers, Von!"

Von knew this information already from checking his own phone, but hearing it out loud didn’t stop him from being surprised all over again.

"The growth has also heavily affected the older tracks," Emily said, swiping to another slide. "Masquerade is currently charting at Number 16 on Billboard. That means you have ten of your songs charting in the top 30 right now. Oh, and did I mention that the music video now has 380 million views on InkTube?!"

Von sat quietly for a moment, letting the praise wash over him. But the suspense of the actual money was getting to him. He rubbed his hands together.

"Wow, Emily. I’m really impressed," Von couldn’t help but blurt out, cutting her off playfully. "But get to the point. You’re killing me with the suspense here."

"Okay, okay," Emily laughed and shaked her head. She quickly clicked through a few more slides showing analytics and listener demographics. She stopped on a slide that displayed the Vanguard logo. "Another major factor for your Billboard success is none other than moi," she said, tapping her chest with a smug face.

"Thanks to the Vanguard Merch collaboration we rushed out, it has made up thirty-three percent of your total earnings. And that’s despite us only keeping fifty percent from the deal with them. The fans bought everything."

"And what’s the total?!" Von begged with a groan.

Emily smiled widely. She tapped her tablet, and a literal drumroll sound effect played through the room’s speakers. A more elaborate slide showed up on the TV, detailing all his income and their various sources. Von’s eyes skimmed past the boring text, searching directly for the bottom line.

GROSS TOTAL: $8,781,850.25

Von blinked a few times to confirm he was seeing the numbers well. The text was large and bold, but it still felt like an illusion. He slowly turned his head over to his lawyer.

"Zack, you have four eyes. What’s that amount, please?"

"Eight point seven million, sir!" Zack laughed loudly and threw a playful salute from his seat.

Von stood up from the couch. He took a few steps, walking around the living room as the reality of the money truly hit him. He ran a hand through his hair, a massive grin taking over his face.

"I’m rich! I’m fucking rich!" he kept screaming, extending his hands out in disbelief as he comprehended the figures. To make this kind of money in less than two months was completely diabolical. It was life-changing.

Emily chimed in from behind with a happy laugh. "Independent privileges, Von. You own your masters. The money is complete and sitting safely in the business account."

Von took a deep breath, letting the excitement settle. He eventually smiled, walked back over, and sat back down on the couch. He looked at the two of them, his mind was already shifting gears.

"Alright," Von said, rubbing his chin. "Now, what’s next?"

Zack cleared his throat and picked up a pen and a notepad. "Well, you have your federal taxes to sort out first. And then the management commissions for Emily and myself. I’ve done the math for you. After everything is paid out, you are left with $4,281,152.00."

Von felt something instantly deflate inside of him after seeing the final slide Zack pulled up. Going from eight million to four million was a harsh reality check. But that was the truth of earning money at the highest level. You never got to keep all of it.

He smiled wryly. Four million was still four million dollars in pure cash. It was more money than most people saw in a lifetime, and he was going to make the most out of it.

"Welp..." Von said, sitting up straighter. "While we’re at it, I’ll share my plans on how I’ll spend my money, just to get your opinions."

Emily and Zack immediately grew attentive. They both knew Von was smart, but a sudden influx of cash could make anyone crazy.

Von began, "So Em, how’s the animation coming up?"

From the day they saw Lost & Found performing so well, they had decided to not miss the music video opportunity. But because they had limited capital at the time, they had decided to make an animated video for Coming Home after Midnight Pulse suggested it. The animation studio had been working on it for weeks.

"They recently contacted me," Emily replied, checking her notes. "They said you can have the first look by the 13th. So, if there are no major changes, everything should be fully ready to drop by the 15th."

"Great," Von said with a nod. "I’m looking forward to that. And while we’re at it, I have three more music video ideas. The budget for them is going to be 700k dollars total, and they’ll be for You’re Gonna Come Home, A Thousand Miles, and It Doesn’t Even Matter."

Emily frowned slightly. "But Von, isn’t 700k too much? You don’t need to spend so much on videos if we’re being honest."

"Nah, it’s just enough," Von explained calmly. "The ideas are worth visualizing. And I have crazy ideas in mind. It will go a long way to keep the album in discussion for a long time."

After making Emily realize the importance of the visuals, Von did the quick math in his head. Subtracting the video budget left him with over 3.5 million dollars.

"Alright," Von went on. "From the remaining cash, I’ll set aside 1.5 million dollars to buy some stocks soon enough."

Zack almost choked on the water he was drinking when he heard Von’s declaration. "One point five what?"

Von laughed at the lawyer’s reaction.

"Chill, man. Trust me on this one. I know what I’m doing. I’ll tell you when I make my move, and if you two are wise, you’d better follow suit and copy my actions. I won’t say anything else about it for now."

Emily and Zack looked at each other without raising any other questions. It sounded like a massive gamble, but Von hadn’t been wrong about anything yet.

"That leaves me with just about two million dollars left," Von said, tapping his fingers on his knee. "Next, I’ll buy a new house."

"With how much?" Emily asked. "What type of house are we talking about here?"

"I’m considering a modern estate in Pinecrest," Von replied smoothly. "Something very private. Over ten thousand square feet. A place where I can build a real studio."

Zack shook his head, instantly doing the real estate math. "An estate like that in Pinecrest might easily bleed into the ten million dollar range. Taking on a huge mortgage right now isn’t really advisable for such a move yet."

"Don’t worry about it," Von said confidently. "I’ll probably pay ten percent down after getting a Jumbo Mortgage. As for the future, I have plans, of course. I’ll be able to pay it off."

Zack sighed but finally nodded. "Alright then. We’ll discuss more about what exactly you want so we can start house hunting right away."

"Sure, sure. I’ll send you a list of features this evening," Von said. He then turned back to his manager. "Is there anything else I might have to start getting ready for?"

Emily suddenly remembered something. She scrolled down on her tablet. "Yes. There’s news... It’s about Julian."

Hearing that hooked Von’s attention.

"He’s releasing a Christmas EP this Friday," Emily told him. "And he’s featuring some big names on it. I’m just informing you in case it’s useful info to you."

A wide, competitive smile spread across Von’s face hearing the news. He hadn’t screwed the charming prince over enough yet. Letting Julian take the spotlight for the holidays was simply unacceptable.

"What a time," Von chuckled, his mind already racing with ideas. "And I was also planning to drop a surprise single this week."

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and unlocked the screen.

"It’s time I call Aura."