Chapter 5: Her Glow, His Downfall

Life went on after the breakup. I threw myself into work and living well. Without having to help with his streams or edit his videos, I suddenly had a lot more free time. I thought about getting a side gig.

All that video editing had made me pretty skilled. I decided to start my own account—movie commentary. I’d edit movies into short videos, write scripts, and narrate the story. I’ve always loved movies and wrote tons of reviews in college, so it was easy to get started. I registered, filled out my info, and picked my favorite suspense film. I wrote the script, edited, recorded, and subtitled everything myself. It took me a week to finish the first video, but the response was amazing. Even though others had covered that movie, my script was fresh and from my own perspective. People left comments praising my writing.

That gave me confidence, so I jumped into the next video. In six months, my account gained nearly a million followers, and I started getting ad offers. Both my job and side gig were on track.

With some free time, I realized I hadn’t checked up on Carter in ages. At first, after the breakup, I’d think of him and feel a pang. But now, it had been so long I didn’t even miss him. I’d really moved on.

One night, out of curiosity, I searched for his account. He was streaming live.

"Girl, I’ve got fifteen kills and he’s only got five. Are you coming with me or him?"

The greasy tone made me cringe. In just six months, he’d turned into this? He flirted nonstop with his female teammate, totally abandoning his cool persona. Without me there to keep him in check, he’d let himself go.

The chat was full of comments:

"Help, this streamer is so cringe!"

"Does he even remember the cold-blooded sniper he used to be?"

Someone wrote a long comment:

"I’ve followed since he only had a thousand fans. Back then, Lone Wolf barely spoke, 30+ kills every match—so exciting. Now, when’s the last time he played solo squads? Always flirting, his aim’s gotten worse. My old love kept me watching, but I can’t anymore. This is my last stream—goodbye."

There were only about a thousand viewers. When I helped with his account, he had that many even before he blew up. At his peak, there were nearly 20,000. In just six months, he’d fallen back to where he started—or worse, since his reputation had tanked. The chat was full of insults.

I checked his videos. He’d only posted about twenty in six months, about one a week. He’d supposedly hired an assistant for editing and account management, but the frequency was worse than when I worked late and posted regularly. The new editor just copied my old style—same cuts, same music, nothing new, and the quality was lower. The feedback was clear—views, shares, and likes had all plummeted.

I could tell at a glance what the problem was. The new editor clearly didn’t watch all the footage—just grabbed a few highlights and called it a day. There was no care or passion. But then, why would an employee care as much as I did? He’d never find someone as dedicated as me again. My videos were his peak.

After seeing how badly he was doing, I felt relieved and stopped caring.

But to my surprise, he reached out to me. Since I’d blocked him everywhere, he texted me from a new number. Hilariously, he asked if I’d be willing to edit for him again—quit my job and work for him full-time, and he’d pay me $1,200 a month. The arrogance in his tone was laughable. Where did he get the nerve?

I turned him down flat. My main job already paid over $1,500 a month, and my side account brought in plenty. His offer was a joke.

But Carter kept pestering me, texting over and over. Fed up with his patronizing attitude, I decided to set him straight.

"You think $1,200 a month is enough to hire me? Dream on!" I called and let him have it.

"Lily, I checked—that’s the top rate for editors. You only work three or four hours a day. Where else could you find such easy, high-paying work? Don’t be greedy."

"My editing takes a ton of effort, and my quality is way above the rest. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be begging me to work for you. Just compare your current videos to mine—don’t you see the difference?"

He snorted, sounding dismissive. "You don’t actually think my success was all because of you, do you? Lily, let’s be clear—I made it because I’m good at games and got lucky playing with a top streamer. Skill and luck, that’s the real reason I blew up!"

"I’ve only been gone a short while—do you really not notice how much your popularity has tanked? Is it that hard to admit someone else is good at what they do?"

"Editing is easy to learn, but good aim isn’t. Besides, ups and downs are normal. My popularity’s just dipped, but it’ll bounce back."

"Here, let me give you a video account. Watch it, then tell me editing doesn’t matter."

Half an hour later, he called back.

"That’s your account? That’s your voice? How is it possible—you built a whole channel in this short a time and got so many followers?"

"I do all the editing, scripts, and narration myself. You know what I earn from my followers and ad deals. Do you still think you can afford me?"

He was silent for a long time, then hung up.

I knew I’d hurt his pride. He still couldn’t admit I was a big part of his success.