Chapter 80
Emery
I stare at the number on my screen. Surely that hasn’t been calculated right. I get that there were viewers giving me gifts, but I didn’t think they were actually worth the dollar amount displayed on the screen.
Like, when a basket of fruit appeared and it said twenty dollars, I thought it meant twenty SugarLife dollars, which would convert to maybe a dollar for me or something.
I was clearly very, very wrong.
With how much money I have been receiving from my daddies and then all these gifts, and with how new my account is, I’m super surprised that I haven’t been flagged as a bot. Because, wow, there is a lot of money here.
Like, a lot a lot.
Throat suddenly very dry, I take a sip of the tea I just made myself and try super freaking hard not to grimace. How the hell does Xavier like this stuff? And without sugar or milk? I’m pretty sure that’s the only thing that makes this dark liquid of bitterness ingestible.
Last night’s live was one of my best yet, and all I did was work on the assignment from Professor Brown. I barely even spoke, way too involved in my research, and may have forgotten I was on camera for a hot minute.
EyesOnYou was in the viewers, but he didn’t say anything the entire time, which while weird, didn’t bother me. I mean, who am I to comment on the actions of some internet stranger? He was a great sounding board the other night, but that’s all he could ever be.
Some random person, watching me through a screen, typing out responses to whatever questions I ask. Okay, maybe a little more than that, but yeah, he isn’t someone I will ever know in real life, so no need to get emotionally attached.
Refocusing on my phone, I start the process of transferring the money over to my bank account, already thinking about what my new balance is going to look like. I haven’t been as frugal as I should have been with my first deposits, but I’m going to make some changes moving forward.
If I choose to terminate the contract, that weekly two and a half thousand is going to stop.
I need to use my meal card and not buy any more clothes or things, unless absolutely necessary.
I should also take advantage of the dorm building’s laundry facilities, instead of having everything dry cleaned with Oakley’s laundry.
And speaking of Oakley, I should probably get myself my own streaming service and stop mooching off hers. But only one, just so that my life isn’t only school and cam work. No need to get overly invested in things that won’t help me meet my goals. It’ll be like my own personal reward tool.
But otherwise, no more spending. I’ll put myself on a weekly allowance to make sure this money lasts. I’ll keep doing lives a few times a week, and that should keep my savings increasing so that if I ever need the money, I have it.
Who knows? I might save up enough to buy myself a house before I graduate.
Once the transfer request is complete, and because I’m a glutton for punishment, I sign into the NU forums and go lurk in The Monarchs sub-thread.
There have been a few new updates, but mostly solo shots of each of them coming and going from class. A photo that was uploaded yesterday of Darcy and Derek makes me smile. Darcy is laughing at something Derek is saying as they walk together on campus.
Just like every other photo, I click on the little menu above it and save the picture. I only hesitate for a second when I realize Xavier could be watching, but considering he was actively reading my text messages, I think it is safe—unsafe?—to assume that he has gone through my photos.
I scroll through the comments, which are all the same flavor of Yes, Professor and Daddy issues? until I find one on the most recent picture of Derek as he’s getting out of his car like some sort of movie star.
Has anyone seen Professor Knight recently? It’s been at least a week since those gorgeously ruffled blond curls have graced this sub-thread.
I take a screenshot and open my messages with Xavier.
Me: *screenshot*
Me: Your adoring fans miss you.
It takes a few seconds, but then I get a photo back, and I’m not sure if I’m irritated or elated.
Xavier: *photo of me on the couch, holding my phone and drinking my tea*
Xavier: You’re the only fan I care about.
Xavier: I’m happy to send you more pictures, you don’t need to save them from the forum.
I roll my eyes and shoot my middle finger at the offending camera.
Xavier: Don’t be embarrassed. I have plenty of photos of you too.
Xavier: *screenshot of a photo gallery*
Tapping on the picture, I enlarge it to see the thumbnails and, holy hell, every single one is of me. Most are stills from his cameras, but there are a few candid ones I’ve never seen before, not even on the forums.
I start at the bottom and slowly snake my way up. There are pictures of me sleeping in my bed. Walking across campus. Sitting in class. Eating in the dining hall. There are even photos of me at the mall with Oakley when we went costume shopping.
Jesus, this man.
How does he even find time to teach with how much he follows me around?
I make it to the top of the screenshot, with the most recent photos. I grin when I see the picture I took of Oakley and I dressed as Barbies before we left for the party. Clearly, he stole that one from me.
But then I spot the last photo in his library and zoom in as close as I possibly can before it gets blurry, because it can’t be. Can it?
Teddy with his patchwork face and my sketch books, sitting on a wooden table.
My heart goes from a background instrument to the lead guitarist as I stare at my “lost” items. It’s been weeks of not having them, and Xavier has a photo of them? A recent fucking photo too.
I scan the picture, trying to see if it was taken in my dorm, but the furniture is all wrong. It’s also not their sex apartment, since the brown leather couch is way lighter than the couch there.
The only time I’ve seen a couch in that shade is at…Derek’s.
Has that asshole had my things this whole time? Has he been lying to me this entire fucking time?
For what damn purpose? The sick pleasure of knowing I want my things back and leaving me hanging?
Did he actually find them that first time he was at the apartment?
Fuck, he would have had to separate them out before Xavier came to get my bags before showing up at my dorm that first night out of the hospital.
This whole time?
This whole fucking time?
That motherfucker.
I’m going to kill him.