chapter 5

Valerian continued, "If it bothers you, I won't let her come over anymore."

I stayed silent. Valerian made a show of disgust as he picked up the lacy bra and tossed it in the trash.

"Beatrix has always been so careless. She leaves even her underwear lying around."

After throwing it away, he turned back to me, asking cautiously, "Nadia, you're not mad about this, are you?"

I smiled without answering, but my appetite had completely vanished.

The words "we're done" lingered on my tongue, but I swallowed them back.

Planning to break up with Valerian tonight was one thing.

But we were still technically together, and I wasn't about to let Beatrix's little power slide go unanswered.

In that moment, a plan started forming in my mind.

Back at my place, I opened a social media app.

Beatrix was a minor internet celebrity.

The funny thing was, while she played wild in private, on camera, she stuck to her sweet girl-next-door image.

Right now, she was on live stream, swaying her hips and dancing with fake bubbly energy as she coaxed gifts from her top donors.

I made a post and tagged her.

I included a picture of the lacy bra.

The caption read: "Anyone want this streamer's lacy bra? Highest bidder takes it."

That night, her live chat went a bit crazy.

Some people accused me of making up drama and demanded to know where the bra came from.

How could their pure, innocent girl possibly leave her underwear lying around?

I stated the facts. "Your sweet little girl accidentally left her bra at my boyfriend's place. Might want to open your eyes before you throw more money at her."

Beatrix's innocent-girl image crumbled on the spot.

She started losing followers fast.

Her agency told her to do damage control immediately.

She ended up going live, crying and apologizing to me through tears. "We've always been completely innocent. If I gave you the wrong idea, I'm sorry. I promise I won't go to his place anymore."

I smiled and closed the stream.

What surprised me was that Beatrix never told Valerian about the whole thing.

But after that, she didn't say a word to him for over two weeks.

Then Valerian noticed her cold shoulder.

At first, he played it cool, acting like her cold shoulder didn't bother him.

But slowly, he started to panic.

He grew more distracted, checking his phone off and on.

I quietly watched the whole drama unfold.

Then, at another group hangout, Beatrix showed up with a new boyfriend in tow.

That was the last straw for Valerian.

His face darkened as he dragged her aside.

"Beatrix, who is he?" he demanded, his voice tight with anger.