Chapter 5

Caleb was furious.

Slamming me to the ground wasn’t enough. He kicked me several times, spitting out the most vile insults. My mom rushed forward, immediately turning off the stream, then tenderly picked up the pig’s head, dusting it off. Her face darkened as she stood by, watching me writhe in pain on the floor.

After Caleb finally vented his anger, she came over and added another slap, punishing me for my poor streaming performance that day. She called me a “worthless good-for-nothing” before turning to ask Caleb, with concern, what was wrong.

Blood dripped steadily from my nose onto the floor. I didn’t bother to wipe it, just watched it slowly collect into a small pool.

“She transferred the money directly to my teacher!” Caleb shouted hysterically at my mom. “Didn’t I tell you to make her transfer it directly to ME?!”

He kicked over the ‘fairy chair’ I used for streaming, pacing furiously. “Now look what happened?! Jax and his guys were looking for me outside, demanding their money back! What am I going to do?! Huh?!”

He roared several more times, then his tone shifted, and he started to cry, pulling my mom’s hand and kneeling. “Mom, Mom, Mom, save me, save me… They’ll kill me! Please save me, please…”

I remained with my head turned, unmoving, but I knew my mom was surely heartbroken for Caleb right now, maybe even shedding a few tears.

“Okay, okay, Mom, Mom will save you,” my mom promised repeatedly, quickly helping Caleb up. After comforting him for a few more minutes, she came over and, without a word, started patting down my pockets.

My entire body ached so badly that I had no strength to resist. In the end, I could only watch helplessly as my mom took the six hundred twenty-five dollars I’d hidden in my bra. She gave it to Caleb, telling him to use it for an emergency, to go plead with Jax for a few more days of extension.

“Three days, just three days!” My mom held Caleb’s hand, her eyes filled with aching tenderness. “Mom will make sure this worthless good-for-nothing gets all the money for you, okay? Don’t be afraid, my little Caleb.”

Caleb and my mom left.

As he walked out, he didn’t forget to kick me one last time.

I lay on the floor, I don’t know how long, before struggling to get up. I reopened the computer, watching the rolling comments in the live stream room.

A notification chimed in the bottom right corner.

—My virus is pretty good, huh! Guaranteed your mom won’t know you’re still streaming ( ･⊝･∞)

I stretched my lips into an ugly smile and replied: Good.