Chapter 1

Tags: Mommy Blogger, Family Trauma, Influencer Livestreaming, Suffocating Household

My mother was a famous mommy blogger with tens of millions of followers. I was her ultimate cash cow.

Every detail of my life had been broadcast across social media without an ounce of privacy, purely for engagement and views.

She once giggled while livestreaming the day I got my first period:

"Look at that, everyone! My little angel is growing up. Who wants to know which brand of pads she's using?"

She read a love note written to me by a classmate aloud to millions of strangers online:

"Thinking about romance at such a young age? No dinner for you tonight."

When I sobbed and begged her to stop, she slapped me across the face:

"I'm doing this for your own good! What's wrong with giving you a taste of the real world early?"

For the sake of views, she even barged in while I was taking a shower, claiming it was just "wholesome mother-daughter bonding."

Whenever I grew attached to something, she would put it up for auction to her audience.

This time, she put my late grandmother's heirloom up for sale.

I finally shattered and leaped off our high-rise balcony.

After my death, she hosted a pay-per-view livestream titled: *How to Cope with the Loss of a Child.*

She genuinely believed she could milk my tragedy for attention and make a fortune just like always.

What she didn't realize was that I had left behind a special "parting gift."

She just had to open it with her own hands.

…

My mother sat before her streaming setup, her makeup flawless and her smile radiant.

The theme of today's stream was a "charity auction."

The subtitle read: *Teaching Children Non-Attachment to Material Possessions.*

Holding up a plush velvet jewelry box, she displayed it directly to the camera.

"Family, the final treasure in tonight's charity auction is Chloe's most precious silver bracelet."

My heart stopped.

That silver bracelet was slipped onto my wrist by my grandmother right before she passed away.

She told me it was our family's heirloom, passed down from generation to generation.

"You see, while this bracelet isn't worth much materially, it holds profound sentimental value for Chloe."

"Putting it up for auction today is meant to teach Chloe, and every child watching from home, that genuine love means sharing, not possessing."

The live chat flew by at breakneck speed.

[Evelyn's perspective is on another level.]

[A true educator and mother.]

[Chloe is so blessed to have a mom like you.]

Blessed? I felt like I was living in hell.

She posted the auction link in the chat.

Starting bid: one dollar.

I dashed forward.

"No! Mom! You can't sell that!"

I reached out to grab the velvet box, but she shoved me back with force.

Stumbling backward, my hip slammed into the wooden sofa arm.

Facing the lens, her warm expression didn't falter, and her tone remained silky smooth.

"Chloe, sweetie, don't be unreasonable. This is about learning to share love."

Tilted just outside the camera's frame, her eyes turned ice-cold.

She silently mouthed a vicious threat:

*Move another inch, and I'll break your legs.*

Tears welled up in my eyes.

I turned toward my father, who was sitting at the other end of the sectional.

"Dad…"

My dad stood up immediately, but certainly not to defend me.

He seized my arm in a vice grip and dragged me back onto the cushions.

I knew very well that he was currently up for a tenured professorship at the university. Mom's lucrative streaming revenue was the secret grease smoothing his academic connections.

He had whispered to me in private before: "Chloe, just put up with it for now. Once I secure tenure, I'll take you away from here."

I had waited three agonizing years for that promise, only to watch him withdraw further and further into cowardice.

Leaning down, he hissed into my ear, "Don't mess this up for your mother! Can't you see the red light is on?"

Through blurred vision, I stared at the auction monitor.

The bids spiked rapidly.

A hundred.

A thousand.

Ten thousand.

Every tick of the counter drove another invisible blade straight through my chest.

The elegant, poised woman smiling at the lens, and the silent, complicit man beside her.

These were my parents.

One built a reputation as a celebrated parenting guru by trading away my dignity and privacy.

The other chose silent complicity, happily reaping the wealth and prestige it generated.

They were perfect partners in crime.

And I was the collateral damage fueling their empire.

The final hammer fell at seven thousand dollars.

Mom practically glowed with triumph on screen.

Dad remained seated beside her, quietly refreshing his mobile banking app to verify the transaction.

My throat constricted until I could barely draw breath.

"Thank you to our generous winner! Every cent of this will be donated in Chloe's name to underprivileged children in rural schools!"

In the chat, praise poured in like a tidal wave.

My entire world fell into dead silence.

Mom's cheerful voice, the scrolling comments, Dad's shallow breathing—everything seemed muffled behind thick, soundproof glass, distant and surreal.

My left wrist felt cold and empty.

*Grandma, I'm so sorry.*

*I couldn't protect the one thing you left for me.*

*And I don't have the strength to protect myself anymore.*