When They Beg, I Rise!

He caught sight of the form sitting on the coffee table - it's for college applications.

Lemira nodded, "Go grab the paperwork."

"Sweet Lemon, with your streams blowing up, Alaric's gotta know, right? Bet he's kicking himself now, losing a rockstar sister like you."

Thaddeus emerged from the bathroom, his bathrobe hanging loosely, his hair still wet.

Orion's face darkened, "Get back to your room and don't come out until you're dressed properly!"

"Oops, I was just too excited and forgot."

Thaddeus quickly retreated to his room to change. Geez, didn't expect him to be such a green-eyed monster, especially when he dresses so modestly!

Lemira went to the kitchen and brought out a platter of sliced fruits, noticing Orion seemed a bit worn out.

Orion glanced at the fruit platter, "Decided which platform you're signing with yet?"

"I'm thinking I won't sign. I checked out PixelStage's contract, and they require a set amount of streaming hours daily. Once school starts, I won't have that kind of time to stream, not as freely anyway."

Not signing meant she could still earn through the platform, albeit without the promotional support from them.

Thaddeus, now fully clothed, joined them, "That's easy, just negotiate with PixelStage. They'll surely agree to your terms."

Lemira was surprised, "Why? I heard PixelStage's contracts are pretty standard, rarely modified for newcomers." Unless they were a big deal.

Thaddeus coughed, "You might as well mention it, who knows? After all, you're a catch, and the platform is able to make profit; they aren't foolish."

Lemira felt Thaddeus was joking! Maybe Thaddeus could pull some strings for her, but she didn't want to owe favors.

Lemira shook her head, "Forget it. My earnings have been decent these past days. I should have enough for tuition and living expenses once school starts."

As Thaddeus munched on fruit, he quipped, "What about Alaric? I don't believe he couldn't recognize your voice!"

Orion shot a cold look his way, "Can't you keep your mouth shut even when you're eating?"

Lemira smiled, "I ran into him at school today, but I didn't admit it, and he couldn't be sure!"

"He's just feeling guilty. Sweet Lemon, you should show your face on tonight's stream, scare the life

out of him! Make him regretőve

Lemira shook her head, "There's no need. I just wanna keep my distance from them." She wouldn't let them disrupt her life.

Thaddeus wanted to add more but was silenced by a look from Orion. After Lemira left, Thaddeus spoke in a hushed tone, "Why not let me pitch in, give Sweet Lemon a chance to blow off some steam?"

"We can stand up for her without making her do anything."

Orion had his plans already.

---

Half an hour before the live stream.

As Lemira went online, the streaming room was already bustling with anticipation.

Evelina was there too, seething with jealousy as she saw the follower count hit 300,000.

Just because she was good at gaming? How could she gain so many followers?

Evelina glanced at Alaric beside her, "Alaric, what's your plan now?"

Alaric watched the stream with a stern face, "Let's see how this plays out first." Evelina gritted her teeth secretly.

PixelStage had specially pushed Lemira's

skyrocketing her visibility.

stream to the homepage et

Curious fans flocked to her channel

[Ms. Lemon, you're so savvy with your game commentary, were you a pro before?] [Heard SkyBlaze's captain wants to recruit you, which team are you considering?] [Yeah, SkyBlaze's captain even holds the top spot, and he's watching now.]

Lemira noticed the top fan's name was indeed Alaric. She began, "SkyBlaze did approach me, but..." Alaric's heart tightened at it.