Chapter 4

A few days passed.

While I was taking my son to preschool, I ran into Bradley Combs, an old rival who had once tried to win Victoria's favor. After Vicky chose me, he began hurling insults as his petty form of revenge. He believed he could get away with it because his father was wealthy, while I was always struggling.

Bradley flashed a sly grin. "Oh, boy! Why, it's our Big Boy Nolan!"

I ignored him.

He trailed after me, still wearing that shit-eating grin. "Lemme guess. You've been too tired to satisfy Vicky's appetite lately, haven't you? Why let a flower like that wither if you can't even summon the energy, man? You should've told us. We could've all pitched in and helped you."

I turned and grabbed him by the collar. "What the fuck was that supposed to mean?"

Bradley squirmed. "Hey, hey! There's truth to what I said, man. Don't shoot the messenger. Your wife's been spreading the fun around to everyone. Don't you know that?"

I shoved him away and threw him to the ground.

He winced, then pushed himself to his feet, glaring at me. "I won't forget this, you bastard. You'll pay for this!"

I frowned as he stormed off. What did he mean? Was he trying to drive a wedge between Victoria and me? I would not put it past him. Envy could easily motivate something like that.

Still, he had never said anything like this before, despite years of picking on me. That alone made the comment feel suspicious. I trusted my wife, but Bradley's words left a sour knot in my stomach.

I had to ask her myself.

…

Victoria was still livestreaming when I returned home. From inside her makeshift studio, I could hear her speaking in a sweet, cutesy voice. I could not possibly barge in while she was live.

I went to our bedroom and signed up for a new account. Then I opened Victoria's channel.

To my surprise, she had already gathered at least 30,000 live viewers, even though she had started the job only a month ago. I had no idea so many people were eager to buy swimsuits.

Or were they?

Victoria wore a lacy swimsuit today. It was revealing, though still within what I could tolerate. I exited the stream and checked some of her older videos, which had nowhere near the same level of popularity.

I felt puzzled when I discovered she had sold only about 25 pieces of swimwear so far. Her commissions alone could not possibly bring in that much money. So where was it really coming from?

I returned to the livestream and watched the chat more closely.

[Smile for me, sugar!]

Victoria immediately turned to the camera and gave a seductive smile.

A pop-up flashed across the screen at once. That was it. She had earned money from a single smile.

[Anyone want to bet on her breast size? The losers have to send our swimsuit princess "The Premium Gift"!]

I understood now. Victoria was not selling to female customers. She had attracted a crowd of rich perverts instead. Worse, the openly flirtatious way she interacted with them made my anxiety grow stronger. Bradley's words echoed in my mind.

I forced myself to focus on the stream again and noticed that the viewer count had climbed past 100,000. How was that even possible? Did top influencers really pull in audiences like this on a regular basis?

One viewer in particular, "The Alpha Brat," kept spamming the so-called premium gifts. He repeatedly sent the highest-value tips. I had not seen him pause for even a minute.

I checked the tip rankings and saw that The Alpha Brat had already given Victoria 40,000 dollars in total. I could hardly believe it. Victoria had somehow earned that much money in a single livestream.

Yet I felt no joy for her. My anxiety only deepened.

I had heard how influencers on this platform often built hype to drive tips. Many audience members were actually part of their own team. Their job was to stir up excitement and push the crowd to spend more. In return, they received 50% of the money the influencer earned.