Rebirth Snatching Back My Stolen Luck novel Chapter 47

I shot up from my scat. “You have news about Longing Bird?”

DEAN

Looking at the smug smile on Callum’s face, I had my answer.

I moved closer and sat across from him. “She finally showed up?”

He nodded. “Her editor told me they got in touch with her yesterday after her account went back online. They ar- ranged to meet at the company today.”

A flicker of relief crossed his face. “Now I’ll finally be spared the endless nagging from those with their eyes on her IP–people who keep pushing me to use it without her permission. Bunch of thieves.”

“They even had the audacity to claim she was the one who breached the contract first,” Callum snorted. “Even if that were true, the least they could’ve done was take her to court, and not try to snatch her copyright behind her back.”

Honestly, I wasn’t in the mood to care about the company’s internal squabbles. Not when there was something much more important on my mind.

“I want to meet her.” I leaned forward, my gaze steady and determined.

Callum studied me, his fingers tapping lightly on the desk. “You’re really doing this for Aunt?” he asked, his tone making no secret of his skepticism.

“Sure, her favorite comic artist went on hiatus, and she asked you to check with me. But it’s been six months, Dean.”

“Knowing you, there’s definitely more to it. You wouldn’t be so invested if this was solely because of your mom.”

“I didn’t ask before because there was nothing to ask about. But now that we finally have news–care to tell me the

real reason?”

Sometimes, having someone who knew you inside out wasn’t necessarily a good thing. It meant you had no secrets in front of them.

As usual, Callum was right.

I did have another reason for looking for Longing Bird.

Half a year ago, my mom had asked me to find out when her favorite webcomic artist–Longing Bird–would return from hiatus. She even said that if it was because of money, she’d pay her out of her own pocket, so long as the up- dates came.

Maybe it was her unusual earnestness that day, or maybe it was curiosity. Either way, I downloaded the FeatherInk

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Chapter 47

Comics app and read her work.

And then… I became a fan.

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Even now, I find it strange. The stories were clearly female–oriented romance–something I’d never have read in the past–yet they pulled me in.

Maybe it was her storytelling.

The pain, the vulnerability, the quiet strength, the refusal to surrender to fate common to those characters that stayed with me.

With her comics, she didn’t just win me over; she also inspired me.

Back then, Astral Studios was in a slump with sales, user growth and retention, all down. But seeing her popularity planted an idea: a female–oriented narrative game.

At first, I didn’t even consider this country’s market, and focused on Agate Country and its neighbors.

But when I saw the prototype my all–action, male–centric dev team produced, I realized we needed someone like Longing Bird.

Someone who understood women’s stories, who could weave emotional nuance, romantic tension, and layered female POVS.

Someone with ready–made IP, a loyal audience, and an unmatched narrative voice.

And that’s how I ended up back in a country I had no interest of returning to, after leaving a decade ago.

When I finished, Callum stared at me for a long while before sighing. “You’re really… the worst, D.”

“I can’t believe that after everything, you’re just trying to poach her from me.”

He stood up and moved to the window, hands in pockets. “But not this time.”

“We’ve spent a year trying to reach her, and now that we’ve finally succeeded, you want to swoop right in? Not hap- pening.”

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