Chapter 1 The Girlfriend Behind the Camera

As I held up my phone and confronted him, Caleb only frowned and said, "Jessica's been pampered her whole life. She can't handle a normal job, so being a content creator suits her well. I'm just helping her get some views. Don't be so sensitive."

Although he made it sound reasonable, I understood exactly what he meant.

He wanted to use the account I had built with years of hard work to boost Jessica's popularity.

I didn't argue back. Instead, I turned on the camera and recorded the first and only video of myself ever appearing on this account.

…

After I finished recording, I scheduled it to automatically post after three days.

Three days from now would be our fifth anniversary together. It was also the fourth anniversary of this account.

Four years ago, the very first video we casually uploaded went viral overnight.

At that time, Caleb spun me around in our rented apartment and was grinning like he had won the lottery.

"When we hit 50,000 followers, you'll be on camera with me. I'll show everyone how beautiful and talented my girlfriend is."

Later, 50,000 became 500,000. Then, 500,000 became nearly two million. However, he never mentioned putting me on camera again.

The front door swung open just as I set the camera aside. Caleb walked in while carrying the smell of freshly stir-fried ginger and scallions.

When I smelled that, I immediately knew that he had been over at Jessica's place again.

Half a month ago, someone had mocked Jessica for gaining weight at an event. Since then, she had insisted on losing weight. Caleb volunteered to cook healthy meals for her every day since he was afraid that she would not eat well.

Ever since then, he would make her three meals a day no matter what.

Meanwhile, I was left eating cold takeout after pulling two all-nighters to edit their videos.

Caleb walked straight into the bathroom. A few minutes later, the shower stopped.

As he came out, he asked while drying his hair, "I saw you setting up the camera. What were you filming?" As he spoke, he picked up his phone, and his eyes were glued to the screen.

I told him honestly that I was filming a video of myself.

He didn't look surprised and simply hummed in response.

When I saw his reaction, I knew that he hadn't really heard what I had just said.

As his fingers moved quickly across the screen, the smile on his face grew wider.

Seeing this, I switched to my alternate account and opened Jessica's fan group.

Caleb had created this account when Jessica first became a content creator. He worried she wouldn't have any supporters, so he made several fake fan accounts to cheer her on.

He had made so many accounts that he had forgotten about them. One of them ended up in my hands, but he never noticed.

The group chat was lively. Caleb had used his personal account to send out several money packets.

"Thanks for supporting Jessica. Please continue to support her."

His words sounded like he belonged by her side.

The chat instantly started to fawn over it.

"Caleb spoils her so much!"

"It's nice to watch a real couple supporting each other!"

"Caleb, you're way too in love!"

I claimed two of the money packets before quietly leaving the chat.

For some reason, my eyes stung.

Six months ago, someone had taken a picture of Caleb and me from behind. At that time, people guessed I was the girlfriend behind his camera.

However, Caleb never responded to any of these comments, so most people soon assumed that I was doing this just for fame and accused me of trying to steal someone else's boyfriend.

I asked him to clear things up, but he refused and said that some of our followers were his fangirls.

"They can keep living in their fantasies as long as you stay behind the camera. Going public right now wouldn't help our account."

Yet, he had no problem openly supporting Jessica and helping her build her career right now.

As I thought about it, I closed my eyes to force back the tears and headed toward the bedroom.

Just as my hand touched the doorknob, Caleb called my name.

"Melanie."

I stopped.

For the first time that evening, he finally looked up from his phone and asked, "Where is my chamomile tea?"

I would make chamomile tea for Caleb every single day since I was worried that staying up late would make him look tired on camera. I spent weeks researching recipes and adjusting the ingredients until I found the perfect one.

It wasn't difficult to make. I even tried to teach him once.

Back then, I was busy editing and hadn't even had time to eat, so I asked him to make it himself. However, he glanced at the recipe and frowned as he said, "I can't do it. It's too complicated."

Hence, I would always squeeze out another 30 minutes to make it for him no matter how busy I was.

Still, it was ironic that he had no trouble learning Jessica's weight-loss meals, even measuring them down to the last gram. Yet, he couldn't learn how to brew one cup of chamomile tea.

"I think you've got a talent for cooking," I said calmly. "From now on, you should make it yourself."

As my words fell, silence filled the room.

Then, Caleb's voice turned cold as he said, "What are you throwing a tantrum for? Jessica needs to stay slim because she's on camera. That's why I cook for her. You don't even appear on camera, so you can eat whatever you want."

When I heard his words, my fingers balled into a fist.

After all, he was the one who refused to allow me to appear on camera rather than me being unwilling to show my face.

However, I knew that saying this now wouldn't change anything. Thus, I pushed open the bedroom door and shut it behind me.

Just as I was drifting off to sleep, someone suddenly grabbed my wrist. The next second, I was yanked violently off the bed.