Naomi’s final obstacle stood on the other side of the screen.
Scarlett Sinclair.
One of Twist Streaming’s biggest stars.
With millions of followers and years of experience, Scarlett wasn’t just another popular creator. She was a household na on the platform. Last year, she had co within inches of winning the championship, only to lose in the final monts to the tournant’s number one seed.
This year, she’d gotten her revenge.
The sa rival who had denied her the crown last season had already been eliminated by Scarlett earlier in the tournant. As far as she was concerned, the championship trophy was practically hers already.
Then she saw her final opponent.
Naomi Monroe.
A strear who, just a short while ago, had been virtually unknown.
Scarlett couldn’t understand how Naomi had managed to reach the finals, but honestly, she wasn’t complaining.
A newcor was far easier to deal with than a veteran.
At least, that’s what she thought.
Adjusting a loose strand of blonde hair, Scarlett looked into the cara and imdiately switched into performance mode. Her confident expression disappeared, replaced by a fragile, vulnerable smile.
"Guys..." she said softly. "The strear on the other side has a really powerful supporter backing her tonight. Scarlett’s honestly a little nervous."
She lowered her gaze slightly.
"You’ll protect , right?"
The effect was imdiate.
Her loyal fans flooded the chat.
"Don’t worry, Scarlett! Leave it to us!"
"We’ll smash them the second the match starts!"
"A rookie thinks she can challenge the queen? Not happening."
"Let’s teach them what a real top strear looks like!"
Across the platform, Naomi’s growth had already beco one of the biggest stories of the tournant. Thanks to her recent victories, her follower count had exploded past 800,000.
Still, Scarlett knew popularity alone wasn’t enough to win.
Money won tournants.
And she had plenty of people willing to spend it.
The mont she minimized her broadcast screen, her fingers flew across her phone.
Several private ssages were sent in quick succession.
"Victor, if you help secure the championship tonight, dinner is on ."
"Leonard, rember that outfit you ntioned? Win this for and I’ll wear it."
"Nathaniel, I just bought sothing special. Maybe you can co see it for yourself soti."
To her viewers, Scarlett was a flawless goddess.
To the wealthy n funding her career, she was sothing else entirely.
Within minutes, more than twenty high-level spenders had received personal ssages from her.
Scarlett smiled.
She knew exactly how this ga worked.
When the championship round officially opened, she was already imagining herself standing at the top of the leaderboard.
Then the gifts started pouring in.
The score bars jumped instantly.
A massive gap appeared.
Scarlett glanced at the numbers and nearly laughed.
’Just as expected.’
The visual difference looked overwhelming.
Her side had to be crushing Naomi.
But before she could celebrate, a frantic ssage from one of her moderators appeared.
"Scarlett! Sothing’s wrong!"
"Our side just spent over $300,000!"
"We’re still getting destroyed!"
Her smile froze.
"...What?"
Scarlett leaned toward her monitor.
This ti she looked carefully.
Very carefully.
Then her face went pale.
The massive score difference was real.
She’d simply read it backward.
The side with the overwhelming lead wasn’t hers.
It was Naomi’s.
Scarlett stared at the screen, convinced she had to be seeing things.
How?
How could a strear with less than a million followers produce numbers like this?
Without hesitation, she opened Naomi’s stream using a secondary account.
The mont it loaded, she stopped breathing.
The room looked less like a livestream and more like a gathering of royalty.
Emperor accounts.
Dozens of them.
Then hundreds.
VIP users packed every corner of the viewer list.
Luxury gifts exploded across the screen nonstop, one after another, without the slightest pause.
The amount of money being thrown around was enough to make most creators retire.
At the very top of Naomi’s leaderboard sat one na.
[Sober Tiger]
Contribution Value: $1,000,000
Scarlett felt her throat tighten.
One million dollars.
In a single day.
Her hands slowly curled into fists.
Jealousy crept into her chest like poison.
She knew exactly how much effort it took to convince wealthy n to spend money.
Every expensive gift she’d ever received had co with expectations attached.
Every donation carried a price.
Yet this mysterious supporter had casually spent a million dollars on Naomi without hesitation.
The comparison felt unbearable.
For the first ti in years, Scarlett found herself questioning everything.
What had all those years of compromise earned her?
Money?
Fa?
Attention?
She looked across the split screen at Naomi.
Young.
Beautiful.
Natural.
The audience loved her.
The platform loved her.
And sowhere behind her stood a man powerful enough to shake the entire industry.
Scarlett suddenly felt exhausted.
The championship she’d chased for years no longer seed important.
She felt dirty.
Like she’d spent years clawing her way through mud only to realize soone else had reached the summit without losing themselves.
The countdown reached zero.
The final results appeared.
Naomi Monroe: $4,000,000
Scarlett Sinclair wasn’t even close
Combined with the previous rounds, Naomi had generated nearly six million dollars worth of gifts during a single tournant run.
Her follower count surged again.
Three million.
Four million.
Five million.
By the end of the night, Naomi Monroe had officially beco one of the biggest creators on the entire platform.
Then sothing unexpected happened.
A massive golden animation suddenly exploded across every broadcast room on Twist Streaming.
The effect was impossible to miss.
The entire platform paused to watch.
A verified account had entered Naomi’s stream.
Roro Dennis.
Chairman of Twist Streaming.
The chat erupted.
"Wait... is that actually Roro Dennis?"
"The chairman himself?!"
"Why would he show up personally?"
"Forget Naomi. Look at who’s really being honored here."
"Exactly. Chairman Dennis isn’t here because of Naomi. He’s here because of Sober Tiger."
Many viewers had never heard the na before.
Others imdiately recognized it.
The highest-ranking executive on the entire platform had entered the room in person.
Even Naomi was caught off guard.
She already knew Luca held shares in the company.
Still, seeing the chairman appear publicly was another matter entirely.
Her heart raced.
Everything that had happened tonight traced back to one person.
Luca Hale.
If she hadn’t lost her airline job weeks ago...
If she hadn’t t him that day...
None of this would have happened.
The thought left her both emotional and grateful.
A ssage soon appeared in the public chat.
Roro Dennis: "You have a wonderful voice. Keep working hard."
Naomi smiled brightly.
Naomi Monroe: "Thank you, Chairman Dennis. I won’t disappoint you."
A few seconds later, another ssage appeared.
Roro Dennis: "Mr. Hale, when are you finally coming to New Orleans? We still owe each other a drink."
The chat exploded again.
Mr. Hale?
Chairman Dennis was addressing Sober Tiger directly?
Sober Tiger: "Soon. I’ll stop by headquarters when I get the chance."
Roro Dennis: "Good. I’ll be waiting."
Millions of viewers watched the exchange unfold in stunned silence.
Neither man bothered moving to private ssages.
They chatted casually in front of the entire platform as though they were discussing weekend plans.
The reaction was imdiate.
The stream’s private ssage system nearly collapsed.
Female creators from across Twist Streaming began flooding Luca’s inbox.
So introduced themselves.
Others sent photos.
A few skipped introductions entirely and got straight to their intentions.
If Naomi’s success had proven anything, it was that catching Sober Tiger’s attention could change a career overnight.
Unfortunately for them, Luca wasn’t interested.
After glancing at the endless notifications, he opened his settings nu and disabled private ssages altogether.
Across the platform, hopeful strears watched their ssages go unanswered and collectively felt their hearts break.
anwhile, once the championship celebrations finally settled down, Luca picked up his phone and dialed Olivia Grant.
After all, he still needed to settle one important matter.
Earlier that day, he’d instructed Twist Streaming’s operations departnt to use company resources to help stabilize the tournant rankings.
And Luca Hale wasn’t the type of person who forgot his debts.
Reviews
All reviews (0)