The applause echoed through the venue as Taylor finished her performance. She made her way back to their table, where Lara immediately reached for her hands.
"That was absolutely beautiful! Thank you so much," Lara gushed, still caught up in the moment.
"Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness," Taylor replied warmly, embracing the bride. She then turned to Lucas and Jennifer. "So, what did you think?"
"Your voice was incredible," Jennifer said. "The way you captured the emotion of the lyrics was perfect."
Lucas nodded in agreement. "You definitely did the song justice."
Taylor's face lit up with genuine pleasure. "I'm just glad you all enjoyed it."
***
By the next morning, a clip of Taylor's wedding performance had taken over Twitter. The short video showed her singing the tender love ballad, her voice floating over gentle piano notes as she sang about angels sprinkling stardust and falling stars. Despite being filmed on someone's phone, the pure emotion in her voice came through clearly.
The clip, posted by a wedding guest with barely a thousand followers, exploded across social media. Within twenty-four hours, it had racked up twenty million views. Major media outlets picked up the story, running headlines about Taylor Swift's surprise wedding performance of an unreleased song.
#TaylorSwift topped Twitter's trending list, with fans dissecting every second of the available footage. The Swifties were in a frenzy, having only gotten a taste of what promised to be another Taylor Swift masterpiece. The brief snippet - just over thirty seconds of the full song - had created an unprecedented level of anticipation.
Comments flooded every platform:
"The way her voice just floats over those lyrics 😭"
"RELEASE THE FULL SONG TAYLOR WE'RE BEGGING"
"This might be her most beautiful love song yet and we've only heard 30 seconds!"
The short clip had accomplished what million-dollar marketing campaigns often failed to do - create genuine, organic buzz that had the whole music industry watching.
***
Fresh from the shower, Taylor settled at her piano with Lucas's detailed song arrangement for "Close to You," ready to work on the recording. Her concentration was interrupted by a message from her mother, insisting she check Twitter.
"Mom, that's what the social media team is for," she muttered, but her mother was persistent. Sighing, she opened the app and her eyebrows rose. Her name dominated the trending list - something that normally wouldn't escape her notice, but she'd been so focused on preparing for the recording session that she'd missed the online frenzy.
The wedding performance clip had taken on a life of its own. Fellow artists were commenting and sharing, all eager to hear the full version. Taylor smiled, familiar enough with viral moments to take it in stride. After some thought, she composed a tweet:
"Oops! Guess the cat's out of the bag about #CloseToYou 🙈 Blame @LucasXKnight for being too generous - letting me debut the gorgeous song he wrote for me at his friend's wedding! Now everyone's heard it before the official release 😅"
As she hit send, Taylor knew exactly what she was doing. The casual mention of Lucas as the songwriter would inevitably spark a wave of interest in his songwriting abilities. After all, if he could write for Taylor Swift, who else might he write for?
This was precisely her intention. While the music industry buzzed about Lucas's newly revealed songwriting talents, she could focus on perfecting the production without constant interruptions. It was a calculated move to redirect the spotlight.
Her strategy worked perfectly. Within minutes of her tweet, both Swifties and non-fans alike erupted with surprise at the revelation of Lucas as the songwriter. The conversation had shifted exactly as she'd planned.
***
Lucas and Jennifer lounged in his home studio, discussing their upcoming career choices and potential projects. The conversation drifted to Jennifer's newfound interest in music.
"I've been thinking about trying out music too," Jennifer mentioned casually.
Lucas couldn't help but laugh. "With your voice? You're not bad, but the music industry?" He shook his head. "That's a whole different beast."
Jennifer's elbow found his ribs. "I'm not that bad!" she protested, trying to look offended but failing to hide her smile. "I mean, I know I'm not at your level, but come on. I'm not that bad."
"Yeah, you're not that bad," Lucas agreed playfully, emphasizing the 'that.'
"You're mean sometimes," Jennifer pouted, crossing her arms.
"Just speaking the truth," Lucas said, shifting into a more serious tone. "Professional singing isn't just about having a decent voice. It requires incredible breath control, diaphragm support, proper vocal placement, pitch accuracy, and the stamina to maintain it all through entire performances. Plus, you need to protect your vocal cords from strain..."
Jennifer grumbled in response, slumping further into the couch.
Lucas let out a quiet sigh. If she only knew - his own singing abilities weren't purely natural talent. Without his "Mind Workshop" helping him perfect his vocal techniques and maintain his physical condition, he wouldn't be nearly as proficient. The workshop's ability to preserve his vocal health and physical stamina gave him an advantage others could only dream of.
"Why don't you consider business instead?" Lucas suggested, smoothly changing the subject. "It could be a nice change of pace between acting projects, maybe even give you new challenges."
"Business?" Jennifer's interest piqued. "Any specific suggestions from the mighty tycoon?" She smirked. "I mean, you've got your fingers in everything - Uber, Vine, and that complicated blockchain stuff I can't even understand."
Lucas smiled, shaking his head. "I'm not going to suggest anything that complex. For you, I'd recommend something that plays to your strengths as a star." He sat up straighter, shifting into mentor mode. "Think fashion lines, skincare products, perfumes. Or even collectible plush toys with your brand. The key is leveraging your existing fanbase."
"So basically, exploit my fame?" Jennifer raised an eyebrow, but her tone was more curious than critical.
"It's not exploitation - it's smart business," Lucas explained. "People naturally gravitate toward what celebrities endorse. If you're photographed carrying a specific coffee mug tomorrow, that same mug will probably sell out by next week. Why not create something meaningful within that influence?"
Jennifer leaned forward, increasingly engaged. The idea of building something of her own, beyond acting, was starting to appeal to her.
"Let me think... I might have to invest millions to get started," Jennifer mused, her tone optimistic despite the numbers.
"Just because you can earn millions from one project doesn't mean you should risk it all," Lucas cautioned. "Better to start smart than sorry."
Jennifer grinned mischievously. "Why worry when I'm dating a tycoon actor?" Though her tone was light, they both knew she'd be careful with any business venture.
Their conversation was interrupted by Lucas's phone buzzing with messages from Neil. Reading them, his brow furrowed in confusion. Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, and several other major artists were suddenly reaching out, all wanting either collaborations or original songs from him.
"What's wrong?" Jennifer asked, noticing his puzzled expression.
"It's strange... I'm getting song requests from a bunch of famous artists," Lucas said, still staring at his phone.
Jennifer tilted her head thoughtfully. "Could it be because of Taylor? You did just write that song for her."
Lucas shook his head. "Yeah, but how would they even know about that?" He quickly typed a message to Neil asking for clarification.
Neil's response came quickly: Taylor had tweeted about Lucas writing "Close to You" for her. Combined with the viral wedding performance video, it had sparked intense interest from other artists wanting to work with him.
"Ah, now it makes sense," Lucas chuckled, showing Jennifer the explanation. He wasn't sure if Taylor was trying to share credit or cleverly cause chaos in his schedule. Either way, it seemed his calendar was about to get much busier.
***
In the weeks that followed, Lucas strategically distributed songs from his previous life to various artists of this timeline. Each song was carefully chosen to match the artist's style and the current musical climate. Meanwhile, Jennifer was making steady progress with her business venture, occasionally seeking his advice but mostly forging her own path.
While his music collaborations flourished, with frequent invitations to perform at major concerts, Lucas kept his focus primarily on his acting career. Warner Bros. Pictures was eagerly pushing for "Joker 2," hoping to capitalize on the first film's unprecedented success. Simultaneously, Damien Chazelle had finally secured backing for "La La Land," and immediately reached out to Lucas for the lead role. Lucas smiled at the invitation - Damien hadn't forgotten that his breakthrough with "Whiplash" came largely thanks to Lucas's early support and performance.
But it was an unexpected email that really caught his attention. A startup called FreeAI was seeking investors, presenting a compelling vision for artificial intelligence development. Lucas recognized the parallels immediately - this company's trajectory mirrored that of OpenAI from his previous life. Without hesitation, he invested $2 million in the venture.
As he signed the investment documents, Lucas couldn't help but feel satisfied. He knew the potential impact AI would have on the future, and FreeAI's approach was remarkably similar to what he remembered. Some opportunities were too significant to pass up, especially when you had the advantage of knowing how the future might unfold.
In this timeline, Tesla hadn't yet achieved its meteoric rise. While others saw a struggling electric car company, Lucas recognized another golden opportunity. He knew that Tesla would eventually become a trillion-dollar giant, and securing a significant stake now would only strengthen his growing influence in the business world.
As Lucas was planning his Tesla investment, an unexpected invitation arrived from Diddy. William, his grandfather, urged him to accept it, citing the old adage about keeping enemies closer than friends. The suggestion made strategic sense - infiltrating Diddy's inner circle could provide valuable intelligence about his operations.
But Lucas had a different approach in mind. He'd been in ongoing discussions with FBI agents that William had introduced him to. Rather than immerse himself in what he knew would be a world of corruption, he chose to maintain his distance. The thought of witnessing those activities firsthand turned his stomach - he'd rather let the federal authorities handle that side of things.
Some battles, Lucas had learned, were better fought from a safe distance.