Juno Carmichael

Vesta Carmichael - Sister (Deceased)

## Background

Juno Carmichael is the youngest daughter of Edward Carmichael and Allegra Angelini. She was born and raised in an affluent area of West London, England. Her father was the CEO of a bank and her mother was a famous Italian opera singer, who had been wooed by Edward, after he saw her performing at the *Teatro alla Scala* in Milan. When Juno was just ten years old, her thirteen year old sister Vesta, was abducted whilst she and Juno were walking home from school. The masked men who kidnapped Vesta had guns and grabbed both girls, but Juno managed to escape. Soon after, a ransom demand was sent to the Carmichaels for five million pounds. The police force investigating the kidnapping, advised Juno’s parents not to pay the ransom, but Edward decided to pay it regardless. However, Vesta was not returned to the Carmichaels, and she was found brutally murdered three days later. Her killers were never found.

Juno and her parents were devastated by the death of Vesta. She felt enormous guilt over her death and Juno's mother resented her for not doing more to save her sister. Allegra subsequently left the family home and returned to Italy, leaving Juno with her father. Juno not only felt responsible for the death of Vesta, but also felt utterly abandoned by her mother. Shortly afterwards, Edward sent Juno away to boarding school, nearly a hundred miles away. A few years later, Edward was offered a new role at a global bank, with the headquarters in New York. Broken-hearted by the breakdown of his marriage, and haunted by Vesta's death, Edward moved oversees, without even telling Juno he was leaving. She remained at boarding school, feeling abandoned and betrayed by her father. The only thing that would give her any solace was her music. She had learnt to play guitar and ukulele whilst at school and found that songwriting was a good form of therapy.

Over the next four years, Juno rarely visited her father, but when she left school, she decided to move to New York. Money was really no object for Juno, as she could now access her trust fund. She decided to pursue her passion for music and applied to Berklee College of Music. However, Juno was rejected by Berklee and it hit her hard; she didn’t know what to do with her life. Juno rented an apartment in Greenwich Village and for a year, she was part of the coffee shop scene - barista by day and performing live music at night. She didn’t want to be a stereotypical ‘trust fund baby’ and wanted to forge her own path, but she didn’t think that playing coffee shops would give her the fulfilment she was looking for. So, a year later, she applied to join the Music Technology Course at NYU and started that Fall.

Given the loss she had faced in her life, Juno always sought acceptance from others. One night, whilst performing a solo set at Village Underground, she met someone who said he was a music producer and wanted to sign her to his label. Juno was about to go into her third year at NYU, but decided to drop out, with dreams of a record deal. Dr Buzz, insisted that he was only a small label and asked Juno to pay money for production and distribution costs, which he promised to pay back. She naively agreed and took money out of her trust fund. Under the stage name, ‘Just Juno’, she released a song called ‘Lone Wolf’, which bombed in the USA and most other countries, but was surprisingly a Number 1 hit in Japan. There was demand for Juno to go on tour in Japan and again, Dr Buzz insisted that Juno pay for the tour costs, which she took from her trust fund. The tour was a success and Juno had a huge fanbase in Japan, but she was becoming disillusioned with Dr Buzz; he was controlling, and hadn't paid her back any of the money he had promised her, neither had she received any royalty payments. Returning to New York, Juno felt dejected and used. She had used a large portion of her trust fund on recording and the tour, receiving nothing in return. She reluctantly spoke to her father about the situation, who advised her to sue Dr Buzz. She spent the next three years embroiled in a fierce legal battle with Dr Buzz. The intense litigation took its toll on Juno and she became somewhat of a recluse. She no longer found any consolation from music. Eventually, Juno finally won her case against Dr Buzz and most of her money was reimbursed.

Spurred on by her life experiences and her victory in court, Juno decided to pursue her interest in law. She signed up for an online education course, studying for a degree in Law, which she completed over the next three years. Alongside this, Juno decided to leave New York and go on a journey of self-discovery, in the hopes of finding a place she could call home. She travelled to Italy and started to build bridges with her mother, Allegra. She also returned to London, to see whether she could make a life for herself there, but the emotions and memories over the loss of Vesta, were just too strong. Finally, Juno settled in Los Santos. Although feelings of abandonment, rejection, failure and guilt sometimes resurface, her past experiences have made her stronger and less afraid of the future. She moved to Los Santos, yearning to forge a rewarding career path, which would allow her to help others and give her a sense of accomplishment. Shortly after moving to Los Santos, Juno applied to work for the Department of Justice and is currently a Defense Attorney.