I am the Entertainment Tycoon

Theo was in a trance as he watched the acapella group's performance of 'The Scientist'. A myriad of emotions passed through him as he listened to their beautiful voices.

At that moment, he remembered the first time he had listened to this song as if it had happened just yesterday...

'Theo sat on the edge of his bunk, the old mattress sagging beneath his slight weight. The room around him was dimly lit by the soft glow of a small lamp on the table beside his bed. The orphanage's walls were cold and plain, a faded blue that had once been cheerful but now seemed muted and tired. His siblings were scattered throughout the room, each lost in their own world of grief.

But Theo couldn't focus on them. His mind was a storm of thoughts and emotions, all swirling around the one undeniable fact that had been delivered to him just hours before—his brother was gone.

The words had come from Mrs. Ellis, the caretaker, her voice trembling as she tried to offer some comfort. But no words could ease the pain that stabbed through Theo's heart. He had known his brother was sick and had seen him grow weaker with each passing day, but he hadn't been prepared for this. How could he be?

He was only ten, still a child, and now he was supposed to understand that his brother wasn't coming back.

In the silence that followed Mrs. Ellis's words, Theo had felt numb. He hadn't cried, hadn't screamed, hadn't done anything. He had just sat there, staring at the wall, his mind refusing to process the reality that had been thrust upon him. His sister had cried, and his other brother had tried to comfort her, but Theo had felt nothing.

It was as if a thick, impenetrable wall had gone up inside him, blocking out everything—his emotions, his thoughts, his pain.

Now, sitting in the stillness of the night, Theo wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to talk to anyone, didn't want to think about what had happened. All he wanted was to escape, to find some way to push away the growing weight in his chest that threatened to crush him.

His gaze fell on the small, battered radio on the table. Music had always been his solace, a way to escape the harsh realities of the world, if only for a little while. With trembling hands, he reached over and turned it on, hoping to find something that could drown out the silence in his mind. The static crackled for a moment before a song began to play.

He didn't recognize it at first, the soft piano chords filling the room, the haunting voice that followed. It was slow, almost melancholy, but there was something in it that caught Theo's attention. The lyrics drifted into his consciousness, each word wrapping around his heart, squeezing it tighter with every line.

"Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry. You don't know how lovely you are..."

The words hung in the air, resonating deep within Theo's chest. It was as if the singer was speaking directly to him, as if he understood the pain, the confusion, the overwhelming sense of loss that Theo was feeling.

"I had to find you, tell you I need you, tell you I set you apart..."

Theo's breath hitched in his throat, the wall he had built beginning to crack, tiny fissures spreading through the barriers he had tried so hard to maintain. The music swelled, the piano growing more intense, the voice more urgent, and Theo could feel the emotions he had been holding back starting to rise to the surface.

"Nobody said it was easy, it's such a shame for us to part..."

A tear slipped down Theo's cheek, followed by another, and then another. The song continued, each line tearing down another piece of the wall until there was nothing left to hold back the flood of emotions. The pain, the sorrow, the anger—all of it came rushing out at once, a torrent of feelings that Theo was powerless to stop.

He curled up on the bed, clutching the pillow to his chest as the sobs wracked his small body. He cried for his brother, for the life that had been cut short, for the memories they would never make together. He cried for himself, for the loneliness that he knew would follow, for the fear of facing the world without his brother by his side.

The song played on, the lyrics echoing in his mind, mingling with the sound of his own cries.

"Nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be this hard..."

It was true. Nothing had ever been this hard. Theo had lost people before—friends who had left the orphanage, caretakers who had come and gone—but this was different. This was final. There would be no more visits to the hospital, no more hoping that his brother would get better. There was only the cold, stark reality that his brother was gone, and nothing Theo could do would ever change that.

The song began to fade, the final notes lingering in the air, but the pain inside Theo didn't go away. It stayed with him, a dull ache in his chest, a reminder of what he had lost. He continued to cry, the tears flowing freely now, soaking the pillow beneath him. He didn't try to stop them, didn't try to hold back. He couldn't. He was too tired, too broken, to do anything but let the grief consume him.

Hours passed, and still, Theo lay there, the radio long since turned off, the room once again plunged into darkness. He was exhausted, his body drained from the intensity of his emotions, but the tears kept coming, though slower now, less forceful.

Finally, as the first light of dawn began to filter through the window, Theo's sobs quieted. His eyes were swollen, his throat raw, his body heavy with fatigue. He hadn't moved from his spot on the bed and hadn't said a word to anyone. He was too tired to move, too tired to think.

The song's lyrics still echoed in his mind, a constant reminder of the pain he was feeling. But there was something else there too, something that Theo hadn't expected—a sense of release. The wall he had built was gone, and though the pain was still there, it was no longer trapped inside him.

He had let it out, had allowed himself to feel it, and in doing so, had begun the long, difficult process of healing.

Theo closed his eyes, the exhaustion finally overtaking him. He fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, the pillow still clutched tightly in his arms. The tears had stopped, but the grief remained, a part of him now, something he would carry with him for the rest of his life.

But for now, in the quiet of the early morning, Theo found a small measure of peace. The storm had passed, leaving behind a sense of calm, fragile but real. He would wake up to a world without his brother, but he knew now that he could survive it. The music had shown him that. It had given him the strength to cry, to let go, to begin to heal.

And for that, Theo would always be grateful.'

Theo's memory trance was only broken when he heard the thunderous cheers from the crowd.

His eyes focused on the acapella group on the stage as he started clapping as well, but his face showed a mix of emotions. He was smiling, but streams of tears were rolling down his cheeks, while his smile had a touch of sadness and happiness.

He was happy and grateful but also sad that their performance was able to bring him to the day that he lost his brother. That day was one of the worst days of his two lives, but he was happy that the memory of his loved ones from his past life still lived inside of him.