Livestreaming the Low-Budget Life Chapter 07
“When are you going to pay back the money? The ten million dollars you borrowed has racked up interest. It’s already 50 million!”
My parents and Ruby were so shocked they forgot to turn off the live stream, leaving everyone to witness the humiliating scene.
Meanwhile, the stream’s viewership rose as more people tuned in to watch the drama unfold.
Dad looked confused. “Ten million dollars? What are you talking about?”
The debt collector scowled and shoved the loan agreement in Dad’s face, his signature glaring up at him. “It’s all in black and white. You signed it yourself. How could you not know?”
At that moment, Dad finally realized I had tricked him into signing the papers.
“That was Aria’s loan! Go after her! Why are you coming after us?” he shouted.
The debt collector grabbed all three of them, making sure they couldn’t escape. “I don’t care who actually borrowed the money. I hold the person who signed it responsible.”
Now they were going to feel all the pain I had suffered back then.
Didn’t they promise they’d make it up to me? I was only asking for ten million. That wasn’t even that much, right?
Ruby’s voice shook with fear. “The interest has already piled up to 50 million dollars. Dad, can we even come up with that?”
On the surface, their life looked glamorous, with a huge villa and all, but they spent recklessly. Money never stuck
around.
The debt collector sneered. “It’s 50 million dollars today. Tomorrow? It could be 60 million dollars.”
Dad bristled. “Do you want me to call the police?”
“Go ahead. Let’s see if they’ll bail out a man who uses his own daughter as a live stream gimmick to torment her.”
Deflated, Dad muttered, “Give us some time to get the money together.”
“Dad, what do we do now?” Ruby asked.
“First, we’ll sign the villa over to pay off our debts.”
“But then we’ll be broke! How am I supposed to keep living in the villa?” she protested.
He slapped her across the face. “Shut up! You idiot!”
Meanwhile, the comments were blowing up.
“Aria’s payback is insane. I thought just disappearing abroad was impressive, but she’s still got tricks up her sleeve.”
“Should I donate a huge amount to help the streamer recover?”
“They brought this on themselves. Serves them right.”
Before all this, I’d asked the debt collector to film a video of him pushing them to settle their debt.
My parents had tried to flee with Ruby that night, but the debt collector was waiting at the villa gates. They couldn’t get away. Dad even ended up beaten in the attempt.
The debt collector didn’t mince words. “If you can’t pay, you can always use your daughter as collateral. She’s quite pretty, after all.”
Terrified, Ruby dropped to her knees, pleading. “Please, Dad, don’t sell me to them!”
Dad’s eyes flickered as if he’d just thought of something, and he forced a smile. “Don’t worry. We’ll definitely come up with the money.”
In the end, they’d signed the house over to pay off the high-interest loan and had moved into a modest two- bedroom apartment.
Things were that bad, but Dad kept streaming anyway. With a topic this hot, he could still make a little money, and every bit counted.
Most of the comments, however, were mocking them.
“They’re still streaming for money? How shameless.”
“No donations for this old geezer.”
“Their suffering doesn’t even come close to what Aria went through. They’re still living far too comfortably.”
