Chapter 84 [Bonus ] 84 - Mom''s channel?!

    ??As the evening wore on, I just continued my show, politely treating even the artists who tried to approach me with interest.

    Why? Because Jason was recording and this could be good content for my next vlog.

    My next vlog was only going to focus on the wedding scenes, but this weekend''s recordings could be used for next week''s vlog. The good thing about this would be that I would always have enough footage to have a video in advance, so if I didn''t make it to a weekend show, I would still have enough content to keep the videos coming.

    As my videos have grown well over the past week, my rank has also changed.

    [BlackVelvet - 11,736 - 7,376th Rank E]Fi?ndd new updates at novelhall.com

    I was getting closer and closer to Rank D, even though I was already performing among the Rank D artists in the bars, which didn''t make me a real Rank D artist, but Selena was trying to get more benefits for me.

    Since I was only getting $300 per show and the bar owners were putting me among the Rank D artists, Selena was trying to increase how much I was getting per show.

    From what she said, Rank D artists were getting $500 per show in bars, so she started negotiating a raise for me that resulted in the value of my shows going up to $400.

    Although this still wasn''t as much as the Rank D artists, it was good value and increased my weekly income from $1,200 to $1,600!

    After fees, I would now be making $1,280 per weekend instead of the $960 I was making before, which made me even happier that I agreed to sign the AJP contract with Selena.

    If it was up to me to handle this part of the job, it would be a lot of stress and I probably wouldn''t even be taken very seriously because I didn''t have an agent, but since Selena was putting so much effort into it, I just had to smile, do my show, and watch my monthly salary go up!

    When I got back home I had an extra $490 in my bank account, since I had to pay the 20% to Selena and $150 for Jason''s per diem, plus the $100 I got from the two pieces of art I did today, this brought my bank account up to $2,990!

    Smiling contentedly when I got home, everyone was asleep, I just took my shower to wipe the sweat off my body and went to bed.

    The next day I looked at my vlog stats to see how it was doing and the video already had 136k views, which made me realize how lucrative this vlogging market was.

    Now I could understand how all the vlogging YouTubers in my old world drove Lamborghinis or Mclarens.

    Although the reality of such luxury cars was far away, I was still close to my driving test, which would take place tomorrow!

    My father also had a big smile on his face, not because of the extra money that would come into the family, but because I could see how proud he was of her for being able to find something she liked to do that made her feel useful.

    - Jonathan''s POV -

    Seeing the smile on Lauren''s face made me very happy.

    For years now, I''ve noticed that she''s been acting sadder and sadder, to the point that when I''ve asked her if she''s depressed, she''s just denied it and started pretending even more that she''s happy, but having lived with her for almost 20 years, I know that she''s not really happy.

    Even when I saw her happy at times, I knew it was very brief and that she would soon return to the sad world she was entering.

    When I offered to pay for a psychologist for her, she got angry with me and said I shouldn''t waste money on her, and as much as I tried to insist, she kept denying it and telling me to just save the money for the children.

    But as Noah has matured over the past few months, I''ve noticed Lauren getting happier and happier, especially after Noah started learning to cook with her.

    I would catch her smiling by herself a few times while I was home, which was great.

    But the smile she opened up with the opportunity to work and help around the house was a smile I hadn''t seen in over 10 years, a smile of genuine happiness, as if she had truly found herself.

    Watching her excitedly ask Noah about video editing reminded me of that beautiful girl from college who loved to study and learn new things.

    Before I knew it, Olivia and Ethan were looking at me with smiles on their faces as they giggled at the passionate expression on my face.

    It was like seeing the girl I fell in love with when we were young come home, thinking about everything we''ve been through together, thinking about what we''ll be able to live together from now on, it all makes me think that these years have been worth it.

    Even though I''ve been very tired, and sometimes I''ve had to go to work with my body in shreds from exhaustion, looking at my children and my wife smiling at that moment made me feel that it was all worth it.

    And when I looked at Noah, I knew he was responsible for it all. The boy who, with the little he had at his disposal, managed to change completely from an isolated person to the new pillar of this house, a man with a successful career as a singer, as a MeTuber, as a painter, everything he did worked.

    Although I regretted not having helped this talent develop earlier, I was already very happy with how things were going.

    "I love you all..." I thought in a voice so low that no one else at the table seemed to hear it, but when I saw the smile on Noah''s face widen and he stared at me, I felt ashamed and put my head down to go back to eating my breakfast.