No Longer Your Live-Streamed Wife

Chapter 1

Throughout the 2 years Gavin Stone and I had been married, he had one particular habit in bed. Whenever things became intimate, he covered my eyes with a silk tie.

I believed him when he said it was just a private game between us in the bedroom, until the tie slipped off tonight.

In the dim light, I saw a phone propped on the nightstand, connected to a live video call. On-screen, my best friend, Melissa Rhodes, wore a barely-there camisole, biting her lip as she watched.

Gavin didn't stop. Instead, he raised an eyebrow at the camera and smiled.

"Missy, can you see clearly? The positions you taught me are definitely more interesting than having her just lie there stiff as a board."

My mind went blank. I shoved him away with all my strength.

"Wendy, what is wrong with you? If you didn't lie there in silence every time, do you think I'd need Melissa to coach me online?"

On the screen, Melissa adjusted her clothes and put on a wounded expression.

"Wendy, don't misunderstand. I just felt bad that Gavin was so frustrated. I only wanted to help save your marriage."

I stared at the two of them flirting through the screen and went completely numb.

What I had believed was intimacy between my husband and me was nothing more than a filthy game they used to entertain themselves.

"Give me the phone."

The phone on the nightstand was still connected to the video call. My best friend, Melissa, stared back at me from the screen, and the recording timer in the corner showed 38 minutes.

My husband didn't stop what he was doing right away. He merely smiled at her.

"That looked more natural than last time. I guess your advice worked."

He ended the call without any visible panic, picked up my robe, and handed it to me.

"We'll talk after you calm down."

"How many times?"

"How many times what?"

"How many times has Melissa watched us?"

"This was the first time."

He didn't hesitate.

The next second, a message appeared at the top of the screen.

Melissa: This one looked more natural than the previous six. Next time, remind her not to bite her lip. She looks too stiff.

Gavin's thumb stopped over the screen.

I stared at him. "That was the first time?"

His lips tightened. "The previous six were only live calls. Tonight was the first time we recorded anything."

Another message appeared before he finished speaking.

Melissa: Still, the final cuts of these six episodes keep getting better.

Gavin's fingers went still.

"Wendy, this is difficult to explain. We'll talk when you've calmed down."

It wasn't that he couldn't explain it. He simply hadn't had enough time to come up with a story that explained everything away.

After a moment of silence, Gavin took my hand.

"I admit this wasn't the right way to handle things, but I involved her because I wanted to improve our relationship. Whenever you're uncomfortable, you don't say anything. I ask what's wrong, and all you do is shake your head."

I stared at him, stunned by his complete lack of guilt. It took me several seconds to find my voice.

"I told you I didn't like being blindfolded."

"But you stopped refusing later."

He said it as if my silence from then on counted as consent forever.

His phone chimed again. A platform notification flashed across the screen.

Notification: The Silent Spouse Project: Paid Series Updated

Gavin swiped it away immediately.

A chill swept through me.

They hadn't only recorded me. They had turned the recordings into paid content.

"Gavin, did you sell videos of me?"

"Of course not. That was an automated notification. Melissa runs a relationship-advice account. She probably had the wrong dashboard open."

"The wrong dashboard, six times?"

He bent down and picked up the silk tie that had fallen to the floor.

"Wendy, don't lump two separate issues together."

A tiny W was embroidered near one end of the tie.

I had given it to him for his birthday during the first year of our marriage.

Back then, he wrapped it around his wrist, bent down, and kissed me.

"From now on, only my wife gets to untie this."

The first time he used it to cover my eyes, he asked whether I was afraid.

I said I was.

He held me tighter. "Then we'll only use it when it's just the two of us."

Now it had become a recurring prop in their videos.

"I never slept with Melissa," Gavin said, softening his voice. "I didn't kiss her. I didn't have s*x with her. You can't throw away our marriage over a few video calls."

I took the clothes from him and got dressed one item at a time.

"You recorded me six times."

He tried to soothe me the way he always did. "There's no point obsessing over the number. Sleep in the guest room tonight. Tomorrow I'll show you every file. I won't hide anything."

"Fine."

He blinked. "You agree?"

"I'm tired."

Relief was obvious on his face. He reached out and touched my forehead.

"You look terrible. Don't go anywhere. I'll run you a hot bath."

The bathroom door closed.

I picked up the tablet synced to his cloud storage. The platform account was still logged in.

There were records of 13 video calls spanning 11 months. Six had been recorded and edited.

I photographed each timestamp, then opened the platform dashboard.

The anonymous account had already published six episodes.

The title of the first was Why Does the Wife Never Respond to Her Husband?

The cover image of the sixth showed the lamp beside our bed and my hand resting outside the blanket.

Below it, the platform showed that 217 people had paid to unlock the episode.

After going through everything, I didn't go to the guest room.

I finished dressing, left the apartment that now made me sick at 2 a.m., and took a cab to a hotel.