Chapter 6
When I landed, the livestream had already started.
The relationship tester was stretched out on a hotel bed in a slinky slip dress, looking very comfortable.
In the chat, people were asking why I hadn’t shown up yet.
Joking that I was somewhere crying.
She told everyone to be patient with unenlightened girls, but she couldn’t quite hide the smile creeping onto her face.
Time ticked by.
Then people started noticing.
“Why hasn’t the guy shown up yet?”
“Are we being played?”
“Honestly, we’ve only ever seen chat logs. We’ve never seen them together on screen.”
A flash of panic crossed her face, but she recovered quickly, tossing her hair back.
“Would I seriously fake something like this? When a woman like me makes a move, no man says no.”
“Okay then, help me test mine after this.”
“Sure. Once I finish this one and help that girl finally break up with her scumbag, you’re next.”
The comments flooded with people thanking her.
Saying she was selfless and amazing.
And that only someone like me deserved to be cheated on.
I had been quietly watching the whole time.
Finally, I typed:
“There’s still time to stop this. I’m telling you, stop now.”
The second I appeared, the chat exploded.
“Oh look. It’s the internet’s most famous doormat.”
“Here to watch your man cheat in real time.”
Then came the sound of a key card at the door.
The relationship tester hid her phone, puffed herself up, and looked right at the camera.
“Don’t be scared, sweetie. This is all for your own good.”
The hotel room door swung open.
A man walked in.
Not Aaron.
He was in his thirties, broad-shouldered, wearing a wrinkled black hoodie and carrying a ring light under one arm like he’d forgotten it downstairs. For one full second the entire livestream froze with him.
The relationship tester’s smile flickered.
The comments did too.
“Wait, who is that?”
“That’s not him.”
“Is this the assistant?”
The man looked from her to the hidden phone, then sighed like he was tired down to the bone.
“We’ve got a problem,” he said. “He’s not coming.”
She shot up off the bed so fast the silk hem of her slip snapped against her thighs. “What do you mean he’s not coming?”
“I mean exactly that.” He tossed a second phone onto the bed. “His phone’s off. And before you start, the front desk said nobody with his name checked in.”
The chat went from excited to vicious in under ten seconds.
“So this was fake?”
“I paid for this.”
“She’s scamming again.”
Again.
That word made my pulse steady instead of spike.
Again.