Chapter 2: Silent Rooms, Louder Lies

In the morning, as I brushed my teeth, Mrs. Rowley got up.

"Lily, up so early?"

"Yeah, I have work."

"Well, there’s still work to do back home, so I’ll be leaving today."

"So soon?" I quickly spat out my toothpaste. I didn’t expect her to leave so fast.

"Yeah, I just came to bring you those peanuts. I told Carter—he’ll take me to the station."

She’d come to coach her son on how to deal with me, but said she was here just for me. The irony wasn’t lost on me. Sure, she did.

We’d been discussing marriage, and as his mother, she came in person but never brought it up. No mention of the wedding, which relatives to invite, or when the families should meet—she acted like none of it even existed.

If she wanted to play dumb, fine. I didn’t care anymore. I was done jumping through hoops.

"Sorry, I couldn’t take the day off. Hope that’s okay."

"Not at all," she said, waving it off.

That evening, when I got home from work, I heard Carter’s voice in the living room.

"Come with me, girl, champ’s gonna carry you to victory!"

My heart skipped a beat—at this hour, he should be streaming. He usually streamed from six to midnight, but yesterday’s schedule changed because his mom was here.

But flirting on stream? Without me there to remind him, he’d already forgotten to keep up his cool persona.

I sat on the couch, took out my phone, and opened his Twitch stream.

His username was “Lone Wolf” because he liked solo squads, fighting alone.

Sure enough, the chat was filled with question marks and comments:

"Did I hear that right? Lone Wolf just flirted with a girl?"

"Is this really my cold-blooded sniper?"

"Told you, every gamer flirts with girls. The cool act is just a persona."

"Disillusioned. He’s fallen. I put my trust in the wrong guy!"

Maybe he saw the chat—he muted his mic and stopped talking.

The girl on the back of his motorcycle kept chattering away:

"Wow! You drive so well, champ!"

"Champ, that four-man wipe was amazing!"

"Why aren’t you talking, champ?"

People in the chat joked that Lone Wolf was getting back into character.

Then Carter played flawlessly, shifting everyone’s attention. No one cared about the flirting anymore.

He ended up with 33 kills, carrying the girl to victory. For the rest of the match, he kept his mic off and even turned down her friend request, trying to save face.

He’d always been good at games in college, often carrying me to wins. Honestly, gaming skills do add to someone’s appeal.

He chased me for over half a year, and part of why I said yes was because he was so cool in-game. With him, I always won. If anyone messed with me, he’d hunt them down.

Back then, he didn’t have a cool persona. After avenging me, he’d taunt the other player’s loot box, making them rage.

After graduation, he worked at a regular company in his field, but quit less than a year later.

"I want to be a Twitch streamer," he said, eyes determined.

I knew how much he loved gaming and was willing to spend hours practicing and studying tactics. He was still young—why not take a chance? Who hasn’t failed a few times when they’re young?

I supported his dream completely.

Even though he was skilled, there was no shortage of talented streamers online. After months of streaming, nothing happened. Even with 30+ kills every game, his stream barely had a few dozen viewers. He was frustrated, and I worried too.

I noticed that many streamers also made videos, so I stayed up late watching countless clips from top streamers. The key was having a unique style. Some were funny, some flirted, some played up partnerships, some were cool and silent, some were goofy but lovable. You needed a clear persona and a development plan so viewers would remember you.

I helped Carter build his persona—the cool, silent sniper. I started learning to edit, cutting together his best kills with music for flashy highlight videos. The first video I posted did great—over ten thousand likes that day. I kept posting new clips every couple of days. It wasn’t a viral sensation, but compared to before, it was a huge improvement.

People started finding him through the videos, impressed by his skills, and followed him. His followers steadily grew. He wasn’t invisible anymore—he became a small streamer with over a thousand viewers each stream.

The best part was, he got his first ad deal. When he landed it, he spun me around in excitement.

"Thank you, babe! When I make it big, I’ll buy you a house!"

Back then, his happiness was real, and he truly wanted to share it with me. I believed every word.

But people change.