Chapter 7: Blazing Glory 🍁🎃
The Lanter Killer
Blazing Glory
Do you know why Brooke and Marco irritate me? It is the reality that they can do whatever they want and haven’t worked hard to achieve anything.
Marco and Brooke have no idea what it’s like to be true parents. The youngster spends most of his time with his grandmother, Dorothy, while they travel lavishly and go out every night.
Marco’s mother spoils him, and he has never had to work for anything; instead, he simply attends a boxing club daily as though it were his full-time job.
Seriously, this guy gives off the impression that he is a professional boxer with a celebrity wife by his side!
RIDICULOUS!!!!
Brooke really thinks she and Marco are something special. The perfect couple. It’s laughable, honestly. She walks around with her nose in the air like she’s better than everyone else, looking down on other couples as if their love is cheap and disposable.
But I’ve done my homework. Before Marco, Brooke was just another forgettable girl from Park Village, posting basic selfies and living a very average life. Then he came along, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Full of Himself, and suddenly she starts chasing this fantasy of fame and filters.
Now she parades around like some Insta queen, all polished and artificial. Glossy hair, frozen smile, pumped lips. Money can buy a lot, Botox, injections, designer outfits, but it can’t hide what she really is. Just another plastic dreamer, clinging to her illusion of perfection just like my last lantern.
And illusions? They’re easy to break.
Brooke used to work as a part-time DJ at a seafood restaurant in a run-down neighborhood, but now she spins at clubs in the city for spectacular social media posts.
Spins? What am I saying? She does not spin anything except the truth!
Brooke milks every last drop out of those little luxury getaways Marco’s mommy pays for. Sunsets, cocktails, designer dresses, perfect for her curated little fantasy world. She knows exactly how to pose, how to tilt her head just right, like she belongs in those places. Like she earned any of it.
And the brands? They eat it up. Free clothes, skincare, accessories, all just handed to her so she can drape them across her body and pretend she’s something more than a spoiled girl who is unhappy.
But I see through it. All of it. Strip away the scenery, the freebies, the fakery, and what’s left? Just Brooke. And trust me, that’s not nearly as pretty.
Just a miserable girl, sun-stained and speckled with freckles.
Her Insta account is exclusively filled with pictures of her in opulent resorts wearing small bikinis and glamorous dresses that show her nipples, while her Facebook page highlights her family life.
But there is no family life!
They put on this act for the world, portraying themselves as the ideal couple, perfect parents, and living the life of a star, but that is not the case.
I ALWAYS SEE THE TRUTH!
They are hardly ever around their son Travis because the grandma has set up this ideal existence for them so she can pretend to be the boys’ mother.
Then we have Brooke and Marco’s marriage, which is complete bullshit.
Marco doesn’t love Brooke. He loves the idea of her, the polished version he can show off, the accessory that makes him look like he has it all. The only woman Marco has ever truly loved is his mother. That part? Maybe I understand. There’s something sacred about that bond. But Marco? He clings to her while parading around with Brooke like a doll, staging his little fantasy life for strangers to applaud. Brooke’s just part of the costume. Together, they make a convincing image, and that’s all they care about now. Whatever real feelings they might’ve had died long ago, buried under hashtags and perfectly filtered photos.
I’ve seen the loathing in Brooke’s eyes when she looks at him. She thinks no one notices, but I do. They come to the club where I work more often than they should, and almost every time, they leave with someone else. A new girl, a different thrill. Marco likes variety. He likes control. He likes to feed his addiction to both women and drugs. And when it all starts to unravel, mommy swoops in with rehab and hush money.
He’s a junkie. In and out of treatment for heroin, spiraling while his parents mop up the mess. But scroll through their feeds and you’d think they were royalty. Smiling. Traveling. Living the dream.
It’s all a lie. And I’ve been watching it rot from the inside.
I believe Brooke is aware that their marriage will not endure forever, but if she succeeds in building a huge following on social media, staying with him a little longer may be worthwhile. And who knows? Brooke might decide to stay with him indefinitely since she enjoys being that picture-perfect couple.
Of course, I will never give her the opportunity to exercise her options, but that is how I see it.
As I’ve been exploring social media, I’ve found that people like to follow individuals that have crisp, expert photographs taken in vibrant places, such as Hawaii, Jamaica, Fiji, Dubai, Mexico, California, and Mexico.
The ordinary selfie you take in your living room won’t cut it for online fame...
My poor mother wanted nothing more than to take a single vacation, but taking care of me was not always simple. My mother didn’t have a network of friends, and she didn’t have a “Dorothy” to sit and watch me while she went out to clubs and beautiful places.
The isolation and public humiliation caused by my behavior made my mother’s life more difficult than the average parent.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be normal so desperately...
But now I’m content with who I am!
It truly burns my blood to see Marco and Brooke behave in a way that says they are superior to everyone else when they are enmeshed in this bubble of deception.
I’ll let them burn in their own colors, raw and unfiltered. Let the flames of their true story ignite, consuming every lie and mask.
The truth will be revealed in all its blazing glory...