On the premiere day of a hit new children’s reality show, I, a six-year-old girl, skyrocketed to the top of the trending topics just from my self-introduction. The host asked all the kids what our biggest dream was. Wearing an ill-fitting, bright red dress and thick, heavy foundation, I shot my little hand into the air. With my chest puffed out in total pride, I shouted into the mic: “I want to be a Sugar Baby!” The live stream chat instantly exploded.[WTF?! She’s 6 and wants to be a kept woman?! What kind of sick values are these?][Look at that heavy makeup! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. You can only imagine what kind of trash her mother is!] But the production team’s eyes lit up. Sensing viral gold, they arranged a surprise home visit for the very next day, fully expecting to dig up some juicy, scandalous family drama. But the moment the front door was pushed open… The one million viewers in the live stream went dead silent. A second later, the screen was completely swallowed by a new wave of comments.[Oh my god… I think I understand why she wants to be a Sugar Baby now…] Chapter 1 On the day we started filming Little Stars, I was the most jarring kid in the studio. While the other children wore cute, pastel graphic tees and looked fresh-faced and innocent, I was suffocating in an oversized red dress, my face plastered with thick, cakey makeup. When the makeup artist first saw me, she froze in her tracks. “Sweetheart, you’re so young, why are you wearing all this makeup?” She crouched down and pulled out a makeup wipe. “Let me wipe a little bit off, okay? It can’t be comfortable for your skin.” I immediately slapped my hands over my face. “No!” “Why not, honey?” “Because this makes people like me, miss.” She wanted to keep trying, but the director yelled from the back of the set: “Cameras rolling in five!” She gave me a deeply worried look and hurried away. The cameras turned on. The host, Mr. Ryan, had a really warm smile. He raised his microphone. “Welcome to Little Stars, everyone! For our first question today, I want each of you to introduce yourselves and tell us: What is your biggest dream?” As soon as he finished, a girl named Emily threw her hand up. She wore a pristine pink bow in her hair and her voice was crisp and bright. “When I grow up, I want to be a doctor! Because doctors save lives and help a lot of sick people feel better.” The audience immediately broke into applause. “Great job, Emily!” The live stream chat flew by in a blur of praise.[She’s literally an angel!][So young but already wants to save lives. Her parents raised her so well.][She’s so precious, I want to adopt her.] Seeing everyone shower Emily with praise made my chest feel warm. I wanted to be liked, too. So I raised my hand as high as I could, puffed out my chest, and announced proudly: “I want to be a Sugar Baby!” The entire studio went dead silent. Even Mr. Ryan, who had been smiling non-stop, froze in place. He crouched down a little lower, desperately trying to do damage control. “Sweetheart, do you know what a Sugar Baby is?” I nodded vigorously. “Yep, I know!” “Then… why do you want to be one?” I didn’t even have to think about it. I counted on my fingers and blurted out: “Because Sugar Babies just have to look pretty, and someone else will take care of them. You get lots of good stuff without having to do any chores, and whatever you say, the man has to listen!” I smiled, waiting for everyone to clap for me like they did for Emily. Instead, a collective gasp swept through the studio. The live stream chat completely melted down.[What did she just say?! Did I hear that right?][This is absolutely sickening. What kind of morals is she being taught?!][No wonder she’s dressed like a cheap escort at six years old. Someone call CPS on her parents!] Seeing that nobody was clapping, I sat up even straighter. Did I not explain it well enough? I quickly added, “And if you’re a Sugar Baby, you get lots and lots of money!” Mr. Ryan looked at me, his eyes full of complex emotions. The nice makeup artist from earlier lost her smile, staring at me with a look of disgust. I didn’t understand why they suddenly hated me. I was just sharing my dream. When the other kids said they wanted to be astronauts, doctors, or teachers, everyone smiled. Why did they stop smiling when I said Sugar Baby? Desperate to move on, Mr. Ryan shoved the microphone back toward Emily. “Emily, after hearing Lily’s dream, do you have anything you want to say?” Emily looked at me, then back at the camera, her voice dripping with righteous innocence. “You’re wrong, Lily! Girls shouldn’t just think about relying on other people. We have to use our own skills and become someone people respect!” Mr. Ryan visibly let out a sigh of relief. “Well said, Emily.” [Listen to that! That’s a normal child with normal values.][That little Sugar Baby is already ruined. Her parents should just try again with a second kid.][Try again? Please, you know her mother is probably exactly the same.] I opened my mouth to argue with Emily, but I stammered and didn’t know what to say. Emily instantly became the star of the show. Everyone wanted to talk to her, while I was left sitting alone in the corner. Occasionally, a kid would run by, yell “Little Sugar Baby!” at me, and run away giggling. My heart stung, but at the same time, I felt a little happy. I was finally a Sugar Baby! That meant I wouldn’t be bullied at home anymore! The second segment of the afternoon was picking our bedrooms for the show. The biggest room had a pink canopy bed, an entire wall of toys, and massive floor-to-ceiling windows. The smallest room only had a rickety bunk bed, a tiny window, and peeling paint in the corner. Emily raised her hand first. “I’ll take the small room. I have a really pretty bedroom at home, so I want to give the big room to the other kids.” Mr. Ryan immediately praised her. “Emily is so considerate and mature.” The other kids swarmed around to hug her. But by the time the camera panned to me, I had already run straight into the biggest room and claimed it. Emily stood at the door, stunned. “Lily, we haven’t finished deciding yet. Why did you run in here?” I crossed my arms. “Because Sugar Babies always get the biggest rooms! I’m the Sugar Baby, you guys aren’t, so you can’t sleep in here!” Emily’s eyes went red with frustration. Mr. Ryan walked in, frowning. “Lily, we are living together. You have to learn how to share.” I looked at the giant, plush bed and shook my head violently. The big bedroom at my house was already stolen away. I had to protect this one! The viewers in the chat were heartbroken for Emily.[Emily literally offered to give it up, and this brat just steals it and acts entitled.][Can someone PLEASE do a background check on this kid’s mom? Who raises a monster like this?][Poor Emily, having to deal with this toxic little trash bag.] In the end, for the sake of drama and ratings, the producers let me keep the room. I stayed in the biggest room. Emily took the smallest one. She looked into the camera and said bravely, “It’s okay. I don’t mind sleeping on a small bed.” Mr. Ryan patted her head. “You’re such a good girl, Emily. Anyone would be lucky to have you.” I ignored them all and just patted the mattress. A Sugar Baby’s bed was so soft! The next task was helping the staff prepare for dinner by doing chores. Washing fruit, wiping tables, setting out plates, organizing toys. Emily was the first to volunteer. She rolled up her sleeves and carefully washed the apples in a basin of water. The other kids joined her. I looked down at my cheap press-on nails and took a huge step back. “Sugar Babies don’t do chores. They just have to be pretty.” Emily, holding a wet apple, couldn’t hold back anymore. “But we’re all helping! Hard work is something to be proud of.” I gave her a look. “Then you go be proud. I’m going to be pretty.” The Director, Greg, had clearly noticed that I was a walking lightning rod for controversy. He ordered the cameramen to shove their lenses right in my face. The final task of the day was a charm contest. The theme was: “Who is the most lovable child?” We had to cheer up the staff members or perform a talent. Whoever got the most red flower stickers won. Emily drew a beautiful little card and handed it to a female staff member. “Thank you for working so hard, miss!” The staff member smiled brightly, hugged Emily, and gave her a giant red flower. When it was my turn, I walked right up to Mr. Ryan. I pinched the edges of my oversized skirt and lifted it slightly. I leaned forward, batting my eyelashes, and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Mr. Ryan, you look so handsome today.” Mr. Ryan froze. Thinking I wasn’t doing enough, I stepped closer, grabbed his sleeve, and whined in a sickeningly sweet voice: “Do you like me? If you like me, you have to buy me presents~” The moment the words left my mouth, the air in the room died. Mr. Ryan awkwardly stepped away from me. The live stream chat went absolutely nuclear.[OMG. Out of all the female staff members, she targets the only adult man to flirt with?!][Who the hell is her mother?! If no one exposes her, I’m literally calling the cops.][I am physically nauseous. If this little homewrecker acts like this at six, imagine what she’ll be at twenty.] Mr. Ryan looked deeply uncomfortable. He pulled the microphone away, his voice losing all its previous warmth. “Lily, it is very inappropriate for a little girl to speak like that.” I stared at him, confused. “Is my smile not pretty enough?” Mr. Ryan’s face turned rigid. “That is not the point.” But this trick worked perfectly at home! Whenever Miss Harper tilted her head and spoke to my dad in that soft, whiny voice, Dad always smiled. If she said she wanted a designer bag, Dad bought it. If she said Mom’s cooking was gross, Dad would yell at Mom. I thought all adults liked this. I took another step forward. “Just give me one red flower, please?” Emily stood nearby and whispered, “Lily, this is wrong. Kids shouldn’t act like this. We have to be sincere.” I thought about it really hard, but I still didn’t know what “sincere” meant. The comments were a waterfall of hate.[She has zero awareness that she’s doing anything wrong. It’s terrifying.][This is literally grooming. Her family is raising her to be some rich old man’s mistress.][Shameless trash.] Director Greg had been standing just out of frame. He stared at the real-time analytics monitor, his eyes practically glowing. The live viewer count was skyrocketing. The entire chat was cursing my name. The more they hated me, the more people tuned in. He suddenly stepped onto the set and crouched in front of me. “Lily, do you try to please people like this at home, too? Who taught you the word ‘Sugar Baby’?” I pressed my lips tightly together and ignored him. Mom always said there were some things I couldn’t talk about outside the house. If I did, Dad would get mad. Miss Harper would cry. And in the end, Mom would be the one getting beaten. Greg wasn’t mad that I didn’t answer. He stood up and looked straight into the camera. “It seems our little Lily is hiding a lot of secrets. Since this show is all about observing family dynamics… I’m sure our audience is dying to know where her ‘dreams’ come from.” The chat went feral.[HOME VISIT! WE DEMAND A HOME VISIT!][Stop asking her, just take the cameras to her house!][Her mom is 100% the problem.][Kids don’t lie. Her home life must be a total circus.] Seeing the comments, Greg’s smile widened. Controversy was good. Controversy was cash. This small-budget show was going to be the hit of the year, entirely thanks to this little “Sugar Baby.” Half an hour later, I was strapped into a production van. Emily came along, too. She sat next to me, sneaking nervous glances my way. I pressed my face against the cold glass of the window. The sky was turning dark. The city streetlights flickered on one by one. The live stream numbers were surging. Eight hundred thousand. Nine hundred thousand. One million viewers. The chat was foaming at the mouth, ready for a witch hunt.[Let’s gooo! Expose her trash mom tonight!][I want to see exactly what kind of dumpster fire raised this kid.][The little homewrecker definitely has a master homewrecker at home.][Props to the crew for pulling a surprise ambush. Don’t give them time to hide!] When the van pulled up outside my house, my palms were sweating. I didn’t want to go home. But the thought of seeing my mom made my heart flutter with a tiny bit of joy. Greg pressed the doorbell himself. Once. Twice. Footsteps echoed from inside. I held my breath. The door clicked open. I threw myself forward and yelled out one sentence. And the one million viewers in the live stream collectively dropped their jaws.
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