On a reality TV trivia show, my boyfriend cruised through the competition, reaching the finals. During a commercial break interview, the host asked if he had a girlfriend. "The moment I saw her, I even had our future kids' names picked out. Now, I'm just waiting for her answer." In that highly anticipated moment, the production team had prepared a "surprise" for him. His childhood sweetheart, who had gone abroad to study, floated onto the stage like a fairy. She shyly said, "My answer is... I do." Under the bright studio lights, I saw Ethan's panicked eyes searching the vast audience until they locked onto mine. Meanwhile, I, his actual girlfriend, calmly started a live stream outside the studio. "Taking suggestions for my ex-boyfriend's baby names. If I pick yours, I'll send you an $800 cash prize." 1 One hour earlier. At the filming of the Ultimate Brainpower reality show. My boyfriend, Ethan, had crushed the competition, making it all the way to the finals. With his high IQ and incredibly handsome, clean-cut looks, it was almost a given that he would win. As there was only one final question left in the championship round, the production team suddenly built up the suspense and cut to a commercial break. They started interviewing Ethan. He smiled softly at the camera and said he was waiting for someone's answer. This sparked a flurry of speculation among the audience about whether he was going to reveal his girlfriend. This was a classic reality TV trope: right before announcing the winner, throw in a tear-jerking moment to generate buzz and trending topics. Watching the broadcast monitor in the waiting area, my best friend, who came with me, nudged my arm playfully. "Tsk, tsk. He's already got the kids' names picked out? Is Ethan planning to go public with you? He's barely famous and he's already revealing his relationship. He must really be afraid of losing you." I smiled but didn't say anything as the makeup artist worked on me. "No way, girl! Are you Ethan's girlfriend? Omg, can you get me an autograph later? My little niece is obsessed with him!" the makeup artist said, her eyes sparkling. I replied calmly, "No problem. I've got you covered." Ethan probably didn't know I was here. Otherwise, with his shy personality, how would he dare confess his love on national television? If an acquaintance on the production team hadn't contacted me saying they wanted to give Ethan a surprise, I wouldn't have just shown up out of the blue. 2 While we were in the makeup room, a large group of people suddenly walked in. In the center of the entourage was a woman with long, wavy hair, wearing a long white sweater. Because she was surrounded by assistants, I couldn't see her face clearly. An assistant beside her scanned the room, her eyes landing on us. She strutted over arrogantly and knocked on our makeup table. "Our Chloe doesn't like having outsiders around when she's getting her makeup done. Unessential personnel, please clear out." My makeup artist gave an awkward smile and curled her lip. She expertly grabbed her makeup bag and pulled us into a corner, muttering softly: "Sorry, ladies, let's just stay out of their way. I bet that's the guest idol the production team brought in for the finale. No need to start a fight. They're all like this." My best friend clenched her fists in anger. "But we were here first! Do celebrities just get to steal people's spots?" I pulled my friend back and smiled. "It doesn't matter. We're just borrowing the makeup room anyway." After quickly finishing my makeup, I was instructed to wait backstage. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the idol in the white sweater from the makeup room was also standing in the holding area next to me. I figured this was just the general waiting area, so I paid her no mind and calmly kept my distance. Suddenly, she turned her head and looked me up and down. With a laugh, she said, "So you're the champion's girlfriend?" I looked at her. Her makeup was flawless, but even the heavy foundation couldn't hide the surgical enhancements on her nose and lips. She had probably gotten a rhinoplasty and a lip lift. It seemed her makeup artist wasn't that great after all. I replied with polite distance: "He's not the champion yet." The idol scoffed and said with confident ease: "He will definitely be the champion. Ethan has that kind of capability." I looked at her in surprise, not knowing where she got that confidence. Was she also a fan of Ethan? 3 The show progressed with tension and excitement. Finally, Ethan answered the last question correctly. The other contestants were slower than him. The entire audience stood up, and cheers echoed through the studio. I watched Ethan stand up from his seat. His tall, lean figure looked even more striking under the spotlight. The corners of his mouth lifted into a faint smile. He was flawless from every angle. He was born for the stage. My heart was pounding. Even though we had been dating for five years, I still couldn't suppress my excitement in that moment. And right at that moment, the host suddenly smiled mysteriously. He announced that a special guest had been invited to share in Ethan's championship moment. Ethan looked momentarily stunned. "Who?" The host deliberately built the suspense: "The person who has been waiting five years for your answer, of course!" I nervously tugged at my clothes, ready to go on stage. But in the next second, the host suddenly looked toward our direction. "Please welcome the member of the idol group T-16, and the girlfriend of our champion Ethan—Chloe!" I froze on the spot, doubting my own ears. Did the host mix up the guest star's name with mine? But the idol in the white sweater beside me suddenly reached out, pushed me aside, and flashed me a triumphant smile. Then, she said to the nearby crew member: "Keep the unessential personnel out of the way backstage." She then confidently walked onto the stage. While Ethan was still in shock, she stepped forward and threw herself into his arms, looking down shyly. "I'm sorry to make you wait so long. The answer is... I do." 4 On the stage. A handsome man, a beautiful woman, a heartfelt confession. It was picture-perfect. Confetti and streamers rained down on the stage. I stood frozen in place. It took me a long time to react. The acquaintance from the production team jogged over nervously, apologizing profusely. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, Maya. I just found out too! Chloe is a newly debuted, highly popular idol. The producers said having her appear would definitely get us trending and bring traffic to the show. But I don't know how they gave Chloe the title of Ethan's girlfriend. There must have been a mix-up!" I had already recovered from the shock. I turned to look at the person apologizing to me. "Is that all? Didn't you guys also investigate and find out that Chloe is Ethan's ex-girlfriend?" I had never met Chloe. But I knew about her from Ethan. Six years ago, she went abroad to become a trainee. Afraid of jeopardizing her career, she dumped Ethan without a second thought. Now that Ethan is famous, she's back to ride his coattails? Thinking about what Chloe said to me backstage before going on... she clearly knew who I was and said it on purpose. The production team member looked embarrassed. I didn't say much more, just looked at Ethan on stage. I saw the sheer panic on his face. He reached out, seemingly trying to push her away. But Chloe cleverly let go first. He immediately grabbed his microphone, looking frantic. "You guys..." But his microphone was cut off the very next second. I watched this unfold, then withdrew my gaze. I didn't say much, just calmly told the crew member next to me: "I will definitely pursue what you did today to the very end. Whether it was Chloe's idea or a deliberate move by the production team, get ready for a letter from my lawyer." I turned to leave the studio. A voice from the production team yelled angrily behind me: "You're just a minor influencer! Who do you think you are? You can't sue us! Ethan knew about the production team's arrangement all along! He approved it himself. Of course, whoever he says is his girlfriend, is his girlfriend!" "Oh? Is that so?" Ethan approved it? Hmm, very good. Then I'll deal with both of them. 5 I twitched the corner of my mouth, not bothering to acknowledge them. I grabbed my best friend, who was still in a state of shock, and walked right out of the studio. My friend trailed behind me, and once she processed what had happened, she was furious. "Are we just going to leave like this? What's the meaning of this, treating us like monkeys? The production team clearly invited us!" I didn't say a word, my head bowed in deep thought. My friend couldn't help but step in front of me to stop me. "What are you thinking? We should rush onto the stage and clear things up! You are Ethan's actual girlfriend. That confession was definitely meant for you, and it got hijacked by that idol! Ugh, so shameless." I stopped and looked back at my friend. "Rush onto the stage to do what? Wait for them to cut our mics, create a broadcasting incident, let the rumors fly, and let the production team reap all the benefits?" My friend calmed down, and after a while, she said indignantly: "So we're just going to take it? They invited us and then pulled this crap! And what the hell is Ethan doing? Why didn't he explain things!" I shook my head and laughed. "Do you think your best friend is that easy to bully? Letting people step all over us?" "Although I don't know if Ethan knew about this, rushing the stage is clearly not the best way to handle it." My friend's eyes lit up. "Do you have another idea?" By this time, my friend and I had already left the TV station. I thought for a moment and pulled out my phone. I dialed Ethan's number. I figured he must be off the stage by now. As expected, the call went unanswered. His phone was probably left backstage while he was on the show. But that was fine. Not being able to contact him didn't mean I couldn't do anything. I suddenly asked, "Don't we have a live stream tonight?" I'm a beauty influencer. I've gained a sizable following through makeup tutorials, with over two million followers on YouTube. My friend is my assistant; I'm the face, and she runs the account. The account isn't huge, but it's big enough to handle this situation. My friend was stunned for a moment, then quickly caught on. "Yes, we're supposed to do a sponsored live stream at 8 PM. But didn't you delay it because you were going on the show? Are you planning to clear things up on the live stream?" I told my friend to keep a close eye on Twitter's trending topics. This championship was broadcast live. I imagined Ethan's and Chloe's fans were probably going crazy. My friend, having worked with me for years, understood my plan. Not only did she keep an eye on the trending topics, but she also asked some contacts to dig into Chloe's background. Soon, my friend angrily shoved her phone in my face. Sure enough, the incident was already trending on Twitter. #GeniusStudentVSBeautifulIdol #WhatAGodTierShip Someone had posted a clip from the show. The comments underneath were flooded with netizens. "Ahhh, what is this god-tier visual pairing! I'm shipping it!" "Omg, a confession five years in the making. Ethan is so handsome. I already know this is going to trend!" "I've been stalking his Twitter, and he's always showing off his girlfriend, but never showed her face. I didn't expect him to make it official on a show." "Boo-hoo, am I the only one heartbroken? The idol I just started stanning is already taken! Ugh, but they're still so cute together." "Sister, why are you dating right after debut? Isn't focusing on your career better? I'm a career stan!" "What does the person above mean? Are you saying our Ethan isn't good enough?" I calmly scanned these comments. My friend looked at me with concern. "Don't be mad, this is definitely a trending topic bought by Chloe's team, just to create hype! These netizens are being duped! I'll go buy a trending topic right now to clarify that you are the real girlfriend! Let's see if she still has the nerve to show her face!" "Don't do anything yet. Let's wait and see if there are any other trending topics," I replied calmly. "Wait? What are we waiting for?" 6 I didn't say much more. I took out my phone, logged into my account, and opened the live stream interface. Probably because of the promotional posts over the past two days, as soon as I went live, five or six thousand people flooded into the stream. Seeing the growing number of viewers, I quickly pulled out my makeup bag and started removing my makeup bit by bit. "Welcome to the stream, babes! Today, I'm going to show you how to do a 'tea-tearing' (anti-mean girl) makeup look." The chat started scrolling rapidly. [Ahhh, you're finally live! So excited!] [What's a 'tea-tearing' look?] [You're removing your makeup now, are you out somewhere? The background doesn't look like your usual setup.] [Yeah! Looking at the background, it looks like the Cube TV building! Were you invited to record a show?] [Good eye, commenter above! I just googled it, and the logo in the back is definitely Cube TV. I think today is the 'Ultimate Brainpower' finale!] [Did you go to see Ethan's live show too? Did you see our guy officially announce his relationship? Boo-hoo.] I scanned the screen and said calmly: "I came here today for a show, but there was a slight hiccup. However, I have a question for you guys. I want your suggestions for baby names for my ex-boyfriend. If I pick yours, I'll send you an $800 cash prize." The chat exploded instantly. [What baby names? Are you having a baby?] [Are the people above blind? She said naming her ex-boyfriend's baby. Wait, ex-boyfriend?! When did you even get a boyfriend? Breaking up and naming a baby what the hell!] [I'm going crazy!] [Class rep here! Did anyone notice an issue? Maya is at Cube TV, and today Ethan and Chloe just made their relationship official. I remember Ethan's confession: 'The moment I saw her, I even had our future kids' names picked out.' Could Maya's ex-boyfriend be Ethan?! Holy shit! What a massive piece of gossip!] [The commenter above discovered the truth!] [Damn, is Chloe the other woman? Is this the main chick tearing down the side chick? Maya, give us the scoop!] [Seeking confirmation! Is Ethan your ex-boyfriend?!] [+1] [+1] Because of this, the live stream completely blew up! Some nosy people posted about it on Twitter. Not long after, Chloe's fans caught the scent and swarmed over. In an instant, a hundred thousand people flooded the stream! [Chloe fans checking in! Our fairy Chloe shines alone, no one else should try to leech off her fame!] [What D-list influencer is trying to leech off our Chloe? Get lost!] [Twitter army reporting for duty! What's this influencer's name? Maya? What the hell, trying to leech off Chloe? Ethan already officially acknowledged her! What 'ex-girlfriend' nonsense!] [Just looked at this minor influencer's content, hahaha, so dead. Is leeching off fame the norm in this circle?] My friend stamped her feet in frustration beside me. I remained calm, didn't say a word, and continued slowly removing my makeup and applying foundation. Right at that moment, a FaceTime call from Ethan came through. I answered it, unhurriedly turned on the speaker, and placed the phone to the side. I continued the live stream. 7 Ethan's familiar voice came through. "Baby, I was wrong! Can I be saved if I kneel on a washboard?" "I don't know what's going on, but I'm innocent! Don't associate me with whatever that was! You're the only one I've ever wanted to go public with! That Chloe thing was orchestrated by the production team. I've already fallen out with them, and I'm contacting my lawyer to sue the show and Chloe right now." "Baby, please say something. Where are you? I searched the whole station but couldn't find you." I let him talk enough. I coughed twice and calmly picked up the phone. "Ethan, I'm live streaming." Ethan froze on the other end of the video call. I expected him to be angry. But he quickly recovered. "Is it your main account? Wait for me! Wait, can I say hi to the fans on the stream first?" "I don't think anyone wants to see you right now, myself included." With that, I hung up the FaceTime call. The entire live chat was filled with question marks. [????] [Was that Ethan's voice just now? So sweet, so soft!] [I want to see Ethan! We want to see him!] [Ahhh, it really was Ethan's voice! It's real!] [What the hell is going on! I'm so confused, there's too much tea to spill! Where's the class rep, give us a summary quickly!] [Isn't it obvious? The one leeching off fame isn't Maya, it's your disgraced idol! Shamelessly stealing someone else's boyfriend!] [Exactly, it's hilarious. Your idol is the one leeching off anything she can. The man himself just debunked it live.] [To the brainless fans above, is Maya your own mother? Defending her so fiercely. Just because she says it's Ethan means it's Ethan? Maybe she hired a voice actor. If you have the guts, let Ethan debunk it himself on the live stream.] [Ethan is probably with our fairy right now. How could he appear in this D-list influencer's live stream? Hilarious.] Opinions were divided in the live chat. Especially Chloe's fans, who started spamming heavily. My friend stared at me worriedly and told me to mute the mic for a second. "What do we do now? These people don't believe it at all. Should we ask Ethan to post a clarification tweet?" "No rush, the situation isn't clear yet." My hands didn't stop; I diligently recorded my makeup tutorial. My friend watched the live chat excitedly beside me. "We have almost three hundred thousand viewers now. Should we start selling products?" "Go for it." "What should we sell?" "Tea eggs and green tea, buy one get one free." "Pfft..." My friend gave me a thumbs up. The links were quickly posted. As expected, Chloe's fans in the live chat started their cynical remarks again. [This minor influencer's true motive is finally revealed. Leeching off fame just to sell products. We've already gone to find our fairy Chloe. Just wait for the lawyer's letter! Best to get her canceled!] Despite the insults, the two items went out of stock in less than a minute. There were also quite a few donations floating on the screen. My friend had been keeping an eye on Twitter. Now she grabbed my phone and muted the live stream. Then she cursed angrily. "That stupid green tea Chloe just posted a tweet, look at this! Damn it, saying we're the ones staging a collision. Who's the one staging a collision? She has no shame." I took the phone and saw a tweet Chloe posted a minute ago. "At an important moment in my life, I didn't expect someone to try to leech off my fame. All I can say is, whatever makes you happy." It had only been a minute or so. It already had thousands of retweets, and the comments were full of hate directed at me. Most of them were saying I was calculating and shameless for leeching off her fame. I let out a cold laugh. These people are really interesting. While I was looking at Twitter, the live chat suddenly started flashing with a screen full of "Dream Castles." 50 of them in a row. If I remember correctly, one of those costs about $400. That's $20,000 spent in one breath. In an instant, all the comments in the live chat were drowned out by this massive display of wealth. And the account ID of the person sending the gifts: Maya's Ethan. 8 "Baby, don't be mad. I'll give you all my appearance fees from the show, including the secret stash I hid! Please don't be angry!" This comment flooded the entire live chat, making it hard for anyone not to see it. The chat went absolutely berserk. Some people said I staged it, but the man himself was debunking it live. Soon, a fan realized what was happening. [Ahhhh, it really is Ethan! I followed the account, and it's Ethan's verified main account!] [An online confession! That thing on the show was a script, right? This is Ethan's true wife. I can finally ship them!] [I'm even more confused. What the hell is going on? Who is the real girlfriend? I want to cry.] I saw that public opinion had fermented enough. And a certain someone's attitude towards admitting their mistake was also very proactive. So I said goodbye to the viewers in the live stream and closed it. As expected, after our series of maneuvers. The top five trending topics on Twitter were all about #Ethan, #Chloe, and #Maya. And very quickly. Ethan also pinned a tweet. It only had one sentence. "The person I confessed to on the show is my girlfriend, Maya. As for why Chloe appeared, I don't know, it was arranged by the production team. I explained this on stage, but my mic was cut. I hope the production team and Chloe's studio apologize to my girlfriend, otherwise I will screenshot and save all the attacks my girlfriend suffered as evidence for a lawsuit." Then underneath, he attached a photo of him and me together. My friend observed all the trending news. Her mouth hung open. "Holy crap, how did you know Ethan would cooperate with you? It was actually the production team causing trouble! I knew your simp Ethan wouldn't have the guts to do something like that!" "Standard operation. His popularity isn't something just anyone can leech off of, especially random nobodies." I told my friend to pack up our things. We're going home now. "Aren't we waiting for Ethan to come out of the TV station so we can leave together?" I glanced at the TV station. I said slowly: "If he could have come out, he would have found us by now. He's probably being blocked by someone. It's fine, old flames catching up. We'll just go back and wait for him." Before I got in the car, I suddenly remembered. "What was the total sales amount in the live stream today? Deduct the merchants' cost price, our slot fees and commissions, and the donations from the live stream, and donate everything to children in mountainous areas." "Got it! Don't worry, the tea eggs and green tea were from merchants I contacted urgently, the fees aren't high, but we sold a lot. Once the revenue comes in, I'll donate it all for you!" 9 Not long after we got home. The trending topics had completely blown up. More and more topics emerged. #Chloe'sDownfall #CalculatingProductionTeam: Let the Real Girlfriend Watch from the Audience While Promoting a Newcomer on Stage #Chloe'sCancellationLive #CalculateChloe'sPsychologicalTrauma After I took off my makeup, I put on a face mask. Not long after, the door was opened. Ethan rushed into the house, darting around frantically. Seeing me lying on the sofa. He finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Ba..." "Change your shoes." I didn't even lift my head. Ethan instantly swallowed his words, changed his shoes, and then walked over slowly. He was still carrying a durian in his hand. "Baby, I was wrong. I've already bought a durian. I'll crack it open right now, you eat the durian, and I'll kneel on the shell. Can we call it even on this?" I sat up with the face mask on. I stared at him expressionlessly. "You're quite self-aware, but what exactly did you do wrong?" He pinched his ear, looking at me pitifully, his nose red with anxiety. "I really don't know what the production team was doing, and I don't know why they sought out Chloe, or even invited you to the venue. But don't worry, I've already handled it. I'm suing both the production team and Chloe! No one can bully our baby!" I sighed and peeled off the mask. "I'm not talking about that. I understand the situation. I just want to ask what you were thinking? Confessing to me on a show? Did you take the wrong meds?" Seeing that I didn't look angry. Ethan instantly bounded over with a cheeky grin. He rubbed against me with his fluffy head. "That's because you kept refusing my proposals. I had no choice but to resort to this." "Oh, so you wanted to use public pressure to force my hand?" "Of course not! How could I do that? I was just... just too nervous. Plus, the production team said the interview had to be heartfelt, preferably a deep confession or something." "Haha, alright. What about Chloe? Aren't you going to explain?" As soon as I finished speaking, I saw Ethan frown in disgust. Then he said: "There's nothing to say about her. She's so fake." According to Ethan's own account. The moment he realized the person on stage was Chloe, he pushed her away immediately. He wanted to explain, but his microphone was cut off by the production team. He rushed off the stage to find me. But he was stopped by Chloe and the production crew. The production team explained that it was for the show's effect. And Chloe even stated that she only accepted the production team's invitation to perform, and this was just a prank. But he didn't accept this kind of uncommunicated prank. So he didn't say a single word to Chloe the whole time. "That's it? Nothing else?" "What else could there be? I'm definitely innocent. You have to believe me. If you're still not satisfied, I can only apologize with my life!" "That's not necessary. I'm just curious about one thing: why would Chloe do this?" Ethan let out a scoff. "Why? For the hype, of course. It's her usual tactic." "Hearing your tone, it seems you have some complaints? Mind telling me about this ex of yours?" I asked tentatively. It would be a lie to say I wasn't angry. No girlfriend doesn't care about her boyfriend's ex. Especially since Ethan and I have been dating for five years. We just met each other's parents not long ago. We're at that critical stage of preparing for marriage. I have to do a background check in advance. Ethan took a slow, deep breath. "That's a long story." "Then make it short. Summarize it in 100 words." Ethan's face turned red for a long time. "Can we not talk about this today?" "Sure." That night. Ethan slept on the sofa.
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