Chapter 2

I stayed obediently in bed, but my attention never strayed far from the comments that appeared in front of me every so often.

"Victor already has people investigating what supposedly triggered Lindsay's allergic reaction. He's trying to find proof that she's faking it."

"Good luck with that. There's nothing for them to find."

The 50 million dollars hadn't made it through the accounts tonight, and the loan sharks' deadline was tomorrow.

Victor, what were you going to do now?

As if the comments had heard my thoughts, another one appeared almost immediately.

"Victor's next move is to go straight to the hospital and pressure Lindsay in person. He's bringing a new contract, too. He wants to raise her termination clause to 50 million dollars."

50 million dollars?

My fingers tightened around the blanket.

Early the next morning, the door to my hospital room swung open.

Victor walked in with dark circles under both eyes and the polished smile of a concerned employer, complete with a fruit basket in one hand.

The lawyer, Bruce Allen, followed behind him with a manila envelope tucked beneath his arm.

"Lindsay, feeling any better?" Victor asked. "Wow. That really is bad."

He set the fruit basket on the nightstand, speaking so gently that his tone made my skin crawl.

At least the swollen red bumps covering my face looked convincing enough that I didn't need to fake being sick.

"You didn't have to swing by, Mr. Vaughn," I replied.

Victor pulled over a chair and sat beside the bed.

"You're the face of the company. Of course, I have to check on you when something happens. What did the doctor say?"

"They said it's an acute allergic reaction and want to keep me here for a couple of days."

Victor nodded as his gaze lingered on the swollen welts across my face. The corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly before he recovered.

"Then take care of yourself. But there's a piece of paperwork we should get taken care of while you're alert."

He glanced at Bruce.

Bruce stepped forward, pulled a stack of documents from the envelope, and placed them on top of my blanket.

"This is an addendum to your contract," he explained. "We've revised several provisions, mainly to give you stronger protections. Your revenue share is also increasing from 15% to 20%."

He adjusted his glasses and rattled through the explanation.

I picked up the contract, slowly flipping through the pages.

The comments had been right.

The termination clause now set my penalty at 50 million dollars, yet neither Victor nor Bruce had bothered to mention it.

When I reached Section 12, I found an entire paragraph buried beneath dense legal jargon, but the actual meaning was simple.

Any money transferred through the bank account linked to my livestream would become my sole legal responsibility.

My fingers trembled slightly as I stared at the page, but it wasn't because I was afraid.

I was furious.

"Mr. Vaughn."

I raised my head. "My head is killing me right now. I can barely focus enough to read. I really appreciate you coming to see me, especially when you're also increasing my commission. But could you give me a couple of days? I'd rather wait until I'm discharged before I sign anything."

Victor's smile stiffened for a second.

"Lindsay, this is fairly urgent. We have a new partnership starting next week, and the process can't move forward until the updated contracts are signed."

I coughed and slid the papers back to him.

"I honestly can't concentrate. My head feels like it's buzzing. You wouldn't want me signing something this important when I can barely process what I'm reading, would you?"

Victor stared at me for five long seconds, then deliberately put on a concerned tone as he said, "The stream performed terribly without you. The company took a significant hit.

"Lindsay, you're our top performer. One of your streams can easily generate eight figures in sales.

"A new host simply can't build that kind of audience overnight. In fact, what a rookie brings in during an entire stream is barely a fraction of your numbers.

"I hope you'll recover quickly and get back to work. The company needs you."

That was what he really cared about.

They needed my track record because if a rookie host suddenly generated millions of dollars in a single stream, the numbers would look suspicious enough to raise questions.

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I forced myself to keep up the weak, exhausted act.

"Rest assured, Mr. Vaughn. I'll do everything I can to recover."

When Victor realized I wasn't going to budge, a sharp glint flashed through his eyes.

His brow tightened. For a moment, he looked like he was about to drop the act and curse me out.

Just then, the door opened.

Tasha walked in carrying a bouquet. "Oh, Mr. Vaughn, you're here, too. Lindsay, you scared me to death yesterday. When I heard they'd rushed you away in an ambulance, I was so worried."

The moment Victor saw her, a flicker of irritation crossed his features.

He parted his lips to speak, but Bruce quietly tugged at his sleeve.