Chapter 32: The Mysterious Top Donor
Tessa had no idea how she made it back to her dorm.
It felt as though her soul had left her body, leaving behind an empty shell that moved toward the residence hall one step at a time on nothing but muscle memory.
The same scene kept replaying in her mind.
Seraphina’s breathtaking face had drawn closer and closer, while those eyes that were usually cool and distant as moonlight burned with a heat Tessa had never seen before, a desire intense enough to melt anyone caught in it.
She pushed open the door to Room 407 and found the usual lively scene waiting inside.
Vanessa sat with her long pale legs crossed while wearing a facial mask. Chloe had her headphones on and was gaming. Iris Lane was out on the balcony performing an advanced yoga stretch that looked physically impossible.
“I-I’m back,” Tessa said weakly, already preparing to collapse onto her bed.
“Tessa! You’re back! Come here, come here! I found another ridiculously hot fictional husb...”
Chloe tore off her headphones and rushed over like an excited little bird. Halfway through her sentence, however, she stopped dead.
She leaned so close to Tessa that their noses nearly touched. Her wide eyes opened even farther as she stared fixedly at Tessa’s forehead.
“Tessa... why is your forehead red?”
Chloe’s question landed like a boulder dropped into a perfectly still lake.
Vanessa shot upright, her face still covered by a black sheet mask, and turned toward Tessa.
Iris Lane stopped stretching and walked in from the balcony. Her cool gaze settled on the same spot.
Tessa’s heart lurched.
She took a guilty step backward and covered her forehead with one hand. “I-It’s nothing! I just... bumped into something earlier!”
“You bumped into something?”
Vanessa let out a soft laugh. She rose gracefully and walked over with feline steps, then caught Tessa’s slender wrist and pulled her hand away.
“Let me take a look. What sort of lamppost leaves such a... uniquely shaped and suspiciously intimate mark?”
Her voice was sweet and wicked enough to make Tessa’s scalp prickle.
“Whoa!” Chloe shrieked loudly enough to shake the ceiling. “That isn’t from bumping into something! That is definitely not a bruise! It’s... it’s a kiss mark!”
Even Iris Lane, who was usually the calmest among them, began analyzing the evidence in an almost clinical tone.
“The mark is located at the center of the forehead. Its surface area is approximately three square centimeters. The edges are blurred, while the center is slightly darker. Judging from the pressure pattern, this was not caused by a forceful collision, but by gentle contact maintained for at least two seconds. Conclusion: a kiss occurred.”
Tessa’s mind exploded.
Her face became hot enough to cook breakfast on.
“Y-You’re making things up! Nothing happened! That’s not what it is!” she protested incoherently, though her denials sounded painfully unconvincing.
“Still trying to deny it?”
Vanessa laughed until her shoulders shook. She brushed one finger lightly across Tessa’s lips, then brought it to her nose and gave it a thoughtful sniff.
“Hmm... no lipstick transfer. So our darling Tessa was marked unilaterally.”
“It was Seraphina! It had to be Seraphina!” Chloe bounced excitedly in place. “Who else could leave Tessa looking this flustered and innocent, like she just got completely bullied?”
“Vanessa! Chloe! Stop talking!”
Tessa was ready to die of embarrassment. She grabbed her pillow and swung it around like an enraged rabbit, trying to silence them.
The room descended into chaos.
Shrieks, teasing laughter, and Tessa’s indignant protests filled the dorm. After enduring half an hour of combined interrogation from all three roommates, Tessa finally found a chance to escape.
Carrying the full weight of her humiliation, she fled into her tiny streaming corner and put on her headphones.
She needed to calm down.
More importantly, she needed to make money.
The thought of the gifts she still had not purchased, and the carefully chosen items she wanted to give each girl, immediately overwhelmed the last of her embarrassment.
If she wanted to save enough money quickly, she needed to perform better than ever tonight.
At eight o’clock, the stream began on time.
“Good evening. Welcome to... Tessa’s Goodnight Study.”
Perhaps it was because she finally had a clear goal, or perhaps the afternoon had already put her through more emotional turmoil than she knew how to process. Either way, her voice was calmer and softer than ever.
Her unique tone, youthful with a hint of laziness and fragility, became even more captivating through the professional equipment. It flowed into her listeners’ ears like rich wine and claimed them instantly.
She followed the script Vanessa had prepared, reading the quiet, soothing prose in a gentle voice. The atmosphere in the stream soon became wonderfully peaceful.
Then a familiar username with a completely black profile picture entered without a sound.
The next second, brilliant light suddenly burst across the screen.
[Just Here for the Music sent Rocket x1 to Tessa’s Goodnight Study!]
[Just Here for the Music sent Rocket x2 to Tessa’s Goodnight Study!]
...
[Just Here for the Music sent Rocket x10 to Tessa’s Goodnight Study!]
Ten virtual rockets, each worth more than a thousand credits, streaked across the screen with dazzling golden trails like a meteor shower.
The stream’s viewer count shot upward as if it had boarded a real rocket, instantly pushing Tessa to first place on the platform’s New Creator Ranking.
[Holy crap! The rich lady is back! It’s her!]
[Ten rockets right out of the gate! So this is the power of the top donor? Terrifying!]
[Rich lady, may I cling to your leg too?!]
The chat exploded.
The screen filled with endless strings of “666” and messages thanking the generous donor.
Tessa was stunned as well. Her heart pounded while she stared at the extravagant gift animations.
“Th-Thank you... thank you, Just Here for the Music, for the... the rockets...”
But that was only the beginning.
At the height of the excitement, a golden paid message slowly appeared across the top of the screen, carrying a presence that was impossible to ignore.
[Just Here for the Music: Your voice is beautiful. After the stream ends, could you sing a lullaby just for me? The compensation will be worth your time.]
The entire stream went silent for three full seconds.
Then it erupted even more violently than before.
[!!! A private lullaby?!]
[The rich lady is making her move! What kind of dangerous request is this?!]
[Sing alone for her? Satisfying compensation? Is this turning into a private one-on-one session? Is the streamer about to get herself a sugar mommy?!]
[Stop making things up! Our Tessa isn’t that kind of girl! But... rich lady, hungry, please feed.]
Tessa nearly threw the mouse across the desk.
Alone?
Private?
That sounded far too dangerous and far too intimate.
Wasn’t this basically one of those private voice-call services people talked about online?
Her cheeks turned bright red. She hurriedly leaned toward the microphone and refused as gently as she could.
“I-I’m sorry... I don’t think I’m skilled enough yet. I’m not comfortable doing private performances...”
The moment she finished speaking, ten more rockets flooded the screen without the slightest warning.
Then another golden message appeared.
[Just Here for the Music: You don’t need to be nervous. Just sing that original little melody from last time. I only want to listen quietly before I fall asleep.]
Tessa had no idea what to do anymore.
She was still flustered and preparing to refuse again when a slender hand reached in, took control of her keyboard, and typed rapidly into the public chat.
[Tessa’s Goodnight Study: Of course. This will be an exclusive benefit for our number one supporter~]
It was Vanessa.
At some point, she had quietly appeared behind Tessa. She wore the satisfied smile of a temptress who had everything under control and flashed Tessa an “OK” gesture.
The stream ended in an atmosphere that was both bizarre and wildly excited.
The moment Tessa removed her headphones, her three roommates surrounded her.
“Tessa! You’ve made it! A super-rich woman has taken an interest in you!” Chloe grabbed her and bounced up and down.
“Twenty rockets in a single stream! That comes to twenty thousand credits! Oh my God, Tessa, you’re about to become the rich girl of our dorm!”
“What are you standing around for?”
Vanessa took Tessa’s phone and opened the private-message interface for [Just Here for the Music]. She smiled like a shameless madam preparing to sell her best girl to the highest bidder.
“Hurry up and add her. Our biggest client is clearly getting impatient for her exclusive lullaby.”
Tessa stared at the friend request that had already been sent.
She felt like a duck tied to a spit over an open flame.
The road ahead looked very dark indeed.