The Love Between the Eyebrows

My wife gave a college kid a hundred million dollars.
Then she personally produced a 24/7 reality series about him.
The series, titled A Hundred Million Dollar Life, went viral.
And the comments were flooded with people shipping them as a couple.
This is so sweet! Is the 0-000 million giveaway still on? Where do I sign up?
How could you not fall for her? She gave him a fortune and then personally molded him into a superstar influencer. This is literally the definition of nurturing someone you love.
When is this series ending so you two can start filming your life as a couple? I can't wait!
I warned her not to take it too far.
Her response?
Liam, its art. Dont tarnish it with your petty jealousy.
Fine.
Art, is it?
The next day, I found a college girl of my own.
And I gave her a hundred million dollars.
1
"You're the one."
From a long list of candidates, I chose a young woman who was the polar opposite of my wife, Claire.
The girl, unable to contain herself, practically jumped out of her chair.
"Mr. Wood, are you for real? A hundred million dollars?"
"And you want me to mirror his channel, right? Performing is my major. I can do this."
"But... won't we get sued for copyright infringement? What if they report us?"
Infringement?
My voice was flat, calm.
"The creator of that channel is my wife."
She stared at me, completely baffled.
"Sir are you two some kind of philanthropic power couple?"
A fair question. Id asked Claire the same thing a year ago.
When she first pitched the "Hundred Million Dollar Life" concept, I was confused. Not by the idea itself, but by her choice of star.
"Why does it have to be a guy?" I'd asked.
She said I didn't understand, that a male lead would generate more buzz.
"Isn't a hundred million a bit much?" I'd pressed.
She reminded me that it was our joint marital property. She was free to do as she pleased with her half, and I had no right to question it.
To this day, I still don't know.
Was this whole grand project just an elaborate excuse to get close to him?
2
The day after we signed the contract, the college girl was buzzing with excitement.
I decided to copy Claires method and film her myself.
Claires channel was called "Snowfall on Bamboo."
She claimed she chose the name because it contained the character for wooda nod to my last name, a symbol of our shared creation.
But I knew the college kid she was filming was named Ethan Cole. Close enough. A private joke at my expense.
I wasnt in the mood for clever wordplay. I named the new channel after the girl.
"Maya Song."
Claires first video was about how Ethan spent his first day with a hundred million dollars.
It exploded online the moment she posted it.
Because the very first thing Ethan bought was a scarf for Claire.
He was handed a life-changing fortune, and he didnt buy a car, or a house.
He bought a ridiculously expensive scarf.
He looked straight into the camera, his eyes shining.
"I know you're incredibly wealthy and you don't need me to buy you a scarf," he'd said, "but you're always wearing that lopsided, hideous thing. I wanted to get you a new one."
That "hideous thing" was a scarf I had knitted for Claire myself.
It had turned out so ugly that Id thrown it in the trash in frustration.
Claire had fished it out, treating it like a treasure.
"Liam made this for me," she'd said, wrapping it around her neck. "It's not ugly at all. I'll wear it forever."
The memory brought a sting to my eyes.
In the video, when Ethan presented her with the new scarf, she just smiled softly.
Then, she unwound the one I had made.
And dropped it into a nearby trash can.
Without a moment's hesitation.
I didn't sleep that night. I replayed the video over and over, dissecting every frame. I confronted her, demanded to know why shed thrown away my gift.
She came home later that night with the scarf. The once-cherished item was now shoved carelessly into a cheap plastic bag.
"I told you, it's for the show. It's just work. Can you stop overthinking everything?"
She glanced at her watch. "If there's nothing else, I have to go. Ethan needs me on set. I've probably missed a dozen great shots just by coming here for an hour."
3
"Mr. Wood, what do you think I should buy for you?"
Mayas voice snapped me out of my thoughts. Her gaze fell on the simple, plain band on my finger.
"You're so rich. Why are you still wearing this?"
"A diamond-encrusted ring would suit you so much better."
This was the first ring Claire had ever given me, back when we were just starting our company. As we became more successful, she bought me countless expensive, beautiful rings.
But I always wore this one.
It represented our beginning. Our promise to never forget where we came from.
But now
Maybe forgetting was the only way forward.
"Alright," I said with a smile.
"Let's shoot it just like that."
4
A female-led channel, a direct answer to "Snowfall on Bamboo," appeared overnight and immediately sparked a firestorm online.
Wait, theres another one? Why do they keep these giveaways a secret from us?
Another chance to get rich, missed. The opportunities are dwindling, people.
So youre the one who got the hundred million? Congrats, I guess.
Both channels are based in the same city. Is this just some big production company stunt? All scripted?
I was scrolling through the comments when Claires call came through.
"Liam, have you lost your mind?"
"My project has commercial value. Yours? This is just a pathetic, jealous tantrum."
I laughed. "Commercial value? Is he going to make back a hundred million for you in ad revenue?"
She started to speak, but a young mans whining voice cut through from her end.
"Claire, my leg hurts"
She hung up immediately, terrified I might hear another word.
After my channel blew up, many of Claires friends tried to talk me down.
"Don't compete with her, Liam. Her content is getting stale. She'll get bored in another six months and come back home."
"Yeah, man, she was always going to come back when she was done playing. By fighting back, you're just making her dig her heels in."
"They've been together 24/7 for a year, but you have no actual proof she's cheating. Just let it go."
"We all know Claire loves you more than anything. We watched you two build everything from nothing. If she ever truly betrayed you, we'd be the first to call her out. Its just a professional relationship with Ethan, we promise."
5
I wasnt in a good state for the second video shoot.
What should have taken an afternoon dragged on into the evening.
My empty stomach began to protest.
On the ride home, Maya seemed to notice something was wrong.
"You're not feeling well?"
"Stomachache. It's an old problem."
She had the driver pull over. She came back with several different brands of stomach medicine.
"Thanks."
"You shouldn't eat greasy food when your stomach hurts. Do you cook?"
I shook my head. "I'll just order something."
"Order takeout?" she said, a little too brightly. "Liam, as long as I'm here, you won't have to."
It had been a long time since Id had a home-cooked meal.
I made an exception and let her come to my apartment.
I never expected Claire to come home that night.
She walked in just as my hands were circling Mayas waist, tying the strings of her apron.
The heavy slam of the door was followed by Claires cold, mocking laugh.
"Zhou Mu. Did you know I was coming back? Did you stage this little scene for me?"
"You think this will get to me? This pathetic performance is a disgrace to art!"
I didnt want to fight in front of Maya. I untied the apron Id just fastened and gestured for her to leave.
Maya didn't move. "I'm worried she might hit you."
I gave her a faint smile. "Don't worry. She wouldn't dare."
After I saw Maya out, I found Claire rummaging through our bedroom.
"What are you looking for?"
She straightened up. "That plain ring I gave you. You used to wear it every day. I didn't see it on you today. Where did you put it?"
So she did remember our first ring.
But I had already thrown it away. A pang of guilt hit me.
It was quickly extinguished by her next words.
"Find it, quickly. I need it for a new video series with Ethan."
I stood there for a long moment, the words not registering.
"You're going to use our ring to shoot a video with Ethan?"
"Yes," she said, her eyes alight with a creative spark. "Everyone's getting tired of the 'life-changing' angle. They want romance! I'm planning one final, killer video to wrap up the series."
"We'll transition from the plain band to a diamond one. I'll splice in some old photos of you and me, and frame the narrative as if he was the one who was with me when I earned that hundred million, and now I'm giving it back to him. It brings the whole story full circle."
"Liam, it's going to be a masterpiece! It'll go viral!"
"But that's our story," I asked, my voice hollow.
She threw her arms around me. "Liam, you're so smart! That's exactly it. It's our story. I was even hoping you'd write the script for this episode."
I pushed her away.
"If it's our story, why am I not the one in it?"
6
Claire finally sensed that something was seriously wrong. She cupped my face in her hands.
"Liam, you're overthinking again, aren't you?"
"You're not a professional actor. What if your performance was awkward? Besides, Ethan and I have been working together for so long, we have a natural chemistry."
But Ethan wasn't a professional actor either.
Id looked into him. He was an alumnus of our university, just three years behind us.
The year Claire and I graduated and started our company, he was just a freshman.
I dont know if they were in contact during those three years.
All I know is that after three years, the very first thing Claire did after achieving success was pull out a hundred million dollars to build a media empire for him.
Was her choice really a coincidence?
I didnt know. Those three years of building our company were a blur of exhaustion. I never noticed a thing.
I pushed her hands away, too tired to argue anymore.
"I threw the ring away. And I'm not writing your script."
For the first time, a flicker of genuine emotion crossed her face.
"Liam, that was the first ring I ever gave you. How could you throw it away?"
If she had actually watched my first video, she would have known that I'd tossed the ring into a trash can on camera.
A look of dawning realization crossed her face.
"Is this because I threw away your scarf?"
"So you copied my video and threw away the ring?"
"Yes," I admitted.
Claire let out a bitter laugh. "I went back and got that scarf the same night. Why are you still so hung up on this one little thing?"
She got the scarf back. But she never wore it again.
It wasn't the scarf she'd thrown away. It was us.
"There's nothing going on between me and Ethan. If you don't want to write the script, fine. I won't force you."
"I admit, I've been completely focused on work this past year. I haven't been there for you."
"Just give me a little more time. After I finish this last series, I'll take you on that vacation we talked about, okay?"
She hugged me, placing a light kiss on my forehead.
"Be good. And that channel of yours just shut it down."
"Don't make things difficult for me."
It had been so long since wed been this close. For a split second, my body instinctively wanted to lean into her embrace.
But she pushed me away just as quickly.
"Okay, I only got two hours off from the set with Ethan."
As she was leaving, she noticed the stomach medicine on the table.
"Your stomach is weak," she said coolly. "Remember to eat on time."
7
After Claire left, a tidal wave of emotions washed over me.
I tried to hold it back, but it was no use.
The bitter sting in my throat spread to my sinuses.
Of all the things she had done, the one thing I couldn't forgive was her taking our story, our struggle, our love and broadcasting it to the world as hers and Ethan's.
All those years of supporting each other through the hardest times what did they mean now?
A knock on the door startled me.
I didn't want anyone to see me like this. I waited a long time, composing myself before I opened it.
It was Maya.
"You're still here," I said, clearing my throat, trying to keep my voice steady.
She must have seen that I'd been crying. She looked flustered.
"Um, I haven't finished cooking dinner yet."
"Can I come in and finish?"
"I waited outside for a while. I didn't see you order any takeout."
She was offering a simple, honest kindness.
I couldnt refuse. I let her in.
Maya was respectful of my space. She really did just cook me a meal. She didnt ask a single question.
The food was delicious. And my mood, surprisingly, began to lift.

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