Since this was the first time Stella fell in love, she was so naïve that she was easily seduced by Marc.

I even warned her out of concern that the reason Marc was with her was that he had impure intentions. I never dreamed that Stella would stab me in the back and tell Marc.

Marc rushed to scold me. He called me an unwanted old hag and if I sabotaged their relationship, I would die a miserable death.

Since Stella could not deter Marc, she asked for my forgiveness over and over again.

If it were not because of Stella, I would have cut ties with both of them a long time ago.

Today, Marc took it even further and made a scene during our livestream.

Meanwhile, Stella just accepted Marc's order.

“Don't cry, can't you be more assertive?”

I was beyond furious seeing Stella like that.

Marc snapped, "Why are you so mean? Stella is mine. You don't have the right to lecture her."

He then turned to Stella, "Honey, see … You regard her as your best friend, but she considers you as the enemy. If it weren't for me today, wouldn’t she have bullied you to death?”

Marc really had the victim card act down to an art.

I snapped back, “With talent like yours, you’re wasting your life not running a tea shop!”

The veins of Marc's forehead bulged.

He grabbed the ring light in the studio, slammed it to the ground and shattered everywhere. The shards went everywhere.

"I let you have a live broadcast! Let you do a live broadcast! Just because I was polite to you, do you really think you're some hotshot?"

"Marc! Stop this!" Stella screamed. She was so afraid to see how unhinged Marc was.

However, no one could rein him in from doing something stupid.

At some point, I wondered if Marc had an ultra-high male ego.

“Fine! Stop smashing things. I’ll let you join,” I said as I saw him wreck our studio. I had no choice but to back down.

Only then did Marc stop destroying the studio. He looked so smug like he had managed to do his scheme.

He began to lecture me, "See? If only you had done it earlier, things would be better. As a woman, it's no use to be successful in your career. No, how much you earn, you still have to marry eventually. Don't you know as a woman, our job is to be a good wife and mother."

It's absolutely disgusting.

I wasn’t compromising because I was scared of him. It was because today was the annual shopping festival.

We had a contract, so we had to finish this live broadcast. If we failed to do that, me and Stella could go bankrupt.

Clearly, Marc had especially picked today to make trouble.

“Marie, I knew you cared about me the most!” Stella hopped and hugged me tightly.

I peeled her off me and said coldly, “Don’t celebrate just yet. I’m not done.”

“Damn woman, now what are you scheming?” Marc's anger flared again.

"Like I told you before, I'm not against you personally. I just think your presence clashes with our channel’s vibe. If the fans react badly to you, you’ll have to back out and you are not allowed to stir up trouble again … period.”

"You!"

Marc rudely flipped me off but Stella managed to coax him.

"Marie is right," she said, "If the fans don’t like it and the channel tanks, it’ll hurt all of us. Marc, please ...for my sake, can’t you behave?”

“Okay, baby, I’ll listen to you.”

Marc cupped her face in his hands, full of arrogant confidence. “I’m handsome and lovable. Why wouldn’t the fans accept me?"

“Some people are just insecure about their looks and afraid I’ll steal their spotlight," he sneered.

I didn’t have time to waste arguing with this testosterone-filled drama king. My only focus now was getting through today’s streaming event.

As for Stella, having that kind of man, all I could say was good luck.

I thought letting Marc join would finally bring some peace.

However, the first time we filmed a video together, he began to make a scene.

The original video idea was about Stella and me building our business together. We were showcasing strong, independent women supporting each other.

Marc looked disgusted after hearing the original video concept. He said, "The fans had already been bored of seeing this kind of small talk between small women all day long."

“The content of the video should be explosive and conflictual, you guys don't understand this kind of advanced filming technique, right?” he said.

He proposed changing the video content. He would play the role of a domineering president, Stella would be the sweet, submissive wife and I would be the vicious girlfriend who was creating trouble.

The man actually believed no one could see he was scheming. This move would make him the main character while Stella and I were reduced to his sidekicks. So, obviously, I refused.

“Don’t be difficult for no reason! I’m doing this for our own benefit. Nowadays, every influencer is trying to reinvent themselves, so if you keep recycling the same content, you’ll be left behind!” Marc snapped impatiently.

What a load of crap!

Our account was obviously at the place when the traffic was at its best. It means the market nowadays likes this kind of content. So, even if we did want to rebrand, now was not the time.

However, Marc was so self-centered, that he could not handle a single opposition at all.

“Well, Stella and I both agreed. That’s two against one, so the majority rules. You can join or leave,” he said smugly.

I looked at Stella as I silently asked her.

She avoided my eyes, while hiding behind Marc and whispered, “Marie, just try Marc's way once, okay? We have that lipstick and deal, and if we don’t shoot something soon, we’ll breach the contract .…”

Now she remembered about breaching the contract.

I was so angry I could feel my heart shaking. However, I masked the ache and worked together with them to shoot the video.

The moment we posted the new video, with a totally different style, it caused a strong reaction from the fans.

“I hate to say it, but I’m out.”

"What's going on with this sudden change of style? You didn't give us any heads-up at all! Can you at least consider how your fans feel?”

“Who is this guy? Does he really think he’s hot? He’s gross and sleazy.”

“Two beautiful women are so eye-catching, but they have to insert a pig-headed man, is this account going to take the funny route?”

“Isn’t this Stella’s boyfriend? I think she mentioned she was dating.”

“No way! I hate this kind of sisterhood business, one of them is in love and she demands to drag a man into the business, it's even more disgusting than eating a fly.”

The negative comments flooded the video.

Marc was unabashed. Instead, he patted himself on the back as he said, "See, how great I am? The number of comments on one of my videos is worth ten of yours.”

I was standing at the side with my hands folded in my chest and sneered, "Yeah, right. It gathered ten times bad reviews and got twenty times fewer likes. What a win!"

Marc snorted coldly, “You're just jealous of me, you women are just small-minded, nothing like a big man like me who is dedicated to his career.”

A man who lived off his girlfriend thought highly of himself. Perhaps he was hallucinating because he had eaten too much of toxic mushrooms.

Since he was so sure of himself, let him face the backlash.

The next day, when I went live broadcast, the number of people online in the live room soared to one hundred thousand people. Almost all of them were there to roast Marc.

However, he just smiled and popped champagne in the live broadcast room to celebrate the boost of the traffic.

He brushed off the negative comments as "he was still learning in filming", "this is part of the transition process", "they are trolls" and "they are the losers who are jealous of him."

Marc's strategy to cope with it was to shoot more videos so the fans would get used to the new styles.

Only someone like him would force fans to accept loads of garbage.

I thought he had already stooped pretty low and yet, I did not realize some people dare to use any underhanded tactics for the sake of profit.

During one of our livestreams, just as I was introducing a product .…

Without consulting us, during the live streaming, Marc suddenly pulled out a bag of noodles that was not in the live streaming category. He was about to drop the purchase link with gusto.

Thankfully, I was quick enough to notice and snatched it away just in time.

“What the hell is this? Who told you that you could add this random thing like this?”

When Stella saw we were going to have a blow, this time, she finally used her brain and immediately ended the live broadcast.

"I’m part of the owner now too. Do I need your permission to put in something?” Marc refuted. "This slot fee for this product is five times higher and gives more than fifty percent commission. The one who doesn't take this kind of money is stupid!"

"I’ve put up with your crap long enough, but selling some shady, unverified garbage product like this, I refuse!"

I was so furious that I threw the bag of noodles and stomped on it a few times.

The moment he saw I ruined his stuff, Marc raised his hand, ready to strike me.

Luckily, I had been ready for that. I nimbly dodged it and backhanded him with a slap in the face.

“Bitch, how dare you hit me?”

“Damn right, I did. A bitch like you deserves to be hit.”

"Marc, don't be so hasty!" Stella wrapped her hands around Marc tightly.

The other staff jumped in to stop him.

With a raised voice, I said, "We never sell fake or shoddy products in our live studio, I'll call the police if anyone dares to do so!”

“Don't, Marie! Marc didn't do it on purpose, I promise it won't happen again.”

“Stella!” I roared like a lion because I was so furious.

“If you can’t even tell right from wrong and you’re still defending him, then maybe it’s time we went our separate ways!”

Even though I did now want to walk away from the business I’d worked so hard to build, if they kept going like this, something bad was bound to occur sooner or later.

So, it was better to leave at the very beginning and keep the existing interests.

“Who are you trying to threaten? You think the business won’t survive without you?” Marc sneered. “Stella, don’t let her scare you. Let's part ways.”

Marc's cunning eyes glinted with a smile. He had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

"Marie, please don’t be rash. Let’s talk things over.” Stella finally pulled out of her daze. Her eyes were red as she reached for my hand.

I pulled away.

“Why are you begging a person like that? I’m the one in your family, Stella. If she wants to leave, let her go,” Marc said.

He turned and looked at me with vicious eyes, then said, “This account belongs to Stella. She’s just been kind enough to let you work with her all these years. If we’re part ways, we need to calculate exactly how much you owe us.”

As I saw him pull out a calculator and start punching in numbers, I really wanted to laugh.

“If that’s how you want to play it, then we’ll settle this in court. Whatever the judge says I owe, I’ll pay.”

I smoothed back my hair and turned to leave.

“Stop right there! Who said you could just walk away?” Marc growled as he blocked the door impolitely.