Chapter 1
After I started dating Alexander Grant, the Prince of Capital Circle, online, my weight shot up, from 176 pounds to 204 pounds.
On the day we were supposed to meet in real life, he totally ghosted me.
Feeling completely hopeless and on the verge of ending it all, I scrolled through my phone and stumbled upon a trending anonymous question: [What's the biggest lucky break you've ever had?]
The top-voted answer was: [I swooped in and stole my roommate's online boyfriend before she could meet him. Now he's proposed, and we're getting married soon.
[She probably has no idea that the more she tried to lose weight, the fatter she got, because I swapped her vitamins for weight-gain pills.]
The comments section was full of people calling her scheming and vicious, but she got more smug.
[That fat chick was so ugly, there's no way her meetup would've worked out anyway. Why let some outsider snag the prize when I could keep it for myself?
[Honestly, she should be thanking me. At least now she can be a bridesmaid at her crush's wedding.]
Furious, I confronted Madeline with the post, but she turned the tables on me, making me out to be the villain. The whole school started calling me a fat pig and said I was just jealous of Madeline.
In the end, Madeline landed herself a rich husband, while I dropped dead from a brain hemorrhage. My body couldn't handle how overweight I'd become.
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the night before we were supposed to meet in person.
*****
When I opened my eyes, the suffocating pressure faded away in an instant.
I jolted upright, gulping down air as if I'd escaped drowning.
The familiar bed curtains surrounded me, and the faint scent of laundry detergent hung in the air. It hit me that I was back in my college dorm.
I'd been transported back.
My hands shook as I reached under my pillow for my phone. The screen lit up, and it was June 1, 2025.
Just 24 hours to go before I was set to meet Alexander, the Prince of Capital Circle, face-to-face.
"Well, Sophie, you're finally awake?" A sharp, condescending voice drifted up from the lower bunk.
I pulled back the bed curtains and glanced over.
Madeline was sitting in front of the mirror with a face mask on, holding a sleek white pill bottle. She casually tossed it onto my desk.
She said, "Here, your big-name imported vitamins. Noticed you forgot to take them today, so I made sure to leave them on your desk. Don't slack off.
"Tonight is your last dose. Finish it, and you'll be looking gorgeous for your big meetup with your online boyfriend tomorrow."
My fingers couldn't stop shaking as I looked at that bottle sitting on my desk.
In my previous life, I was 5'5" and weighed 121 pounds. Honestly, I looked pretty cute.
Half a year ago, I met Alexander on a voice acting app.
His voice was deep and magnetic, and he was super charming and witty.
We chatted about everything, poetry, music, philosophy, and fell for each other fast.
He kept saying looks didn't matter, and he was all about my soul.
But I wanted to be perfect for him, so I started dieting like crazy.
The craziest part was that the harder I tried to lose weight, the more I packed on the pounds.
I worked out two hours a day and lived on salads, but my weight skyrocketed. In six months, I went from 121 pounds to 176, and then all the way up to 204.
My whole body was covered in ugly stretch marks, and I'd be gasping for air after a few steps.
I was drowning in self-loathing and misery, but Madeline would hug me every day, her voice soft and soothing. "Soph, it's a bit of bloating, really. Don't stress.
"Keep taking those imported vitamins I got for you. They'll help with your metabolism, and you'll be back to your old self in no time."
I treated her like my closest friend, and honestly, I felt like I owed her everything.
But on the day we were supposed to finally meet, Alexander was a no-show.
I guess he must've seen the real me and decided to bail, choosing to disappear rather than deal with the awkwardness.
Feeling totally crushed, I locked myself in the bathroom, ready to end it all. But right as I was about to do something stupid, I started scrolling and stumbled across a hot anonymous post on Quora.
[Be real. What's the biggest lucky break you've ever had?]
The top-voted answer was: [I swooped in and stole my roommate's online boyfriend before she could meet him. Now he's proposed, and we're getting married soon.
[She probably has no idea that the more she tried to lose weight, the fatter she got, because I swapped her vitamins for weight-gain pills.
[Oh, and by the way, his family is loaded. Like, the Prince of Capital Circle is rich. This was a total win for me.]
The comments section was full of people calling her scheming and vicious, but she got more smug.
[That fat chick was so ugly, there's no way her meetup would've worked out anyway. Why let some outsider snag the prize when I could keep it for myself?
[Honestly, she should be thanking me. At least now she can be a bridesmaid at her crush's wedding.]
That was the moment I realized that Alexander hadn't ditched me.
Madeline had snatched him away before I got my shot.
She'd been prying into every detail of my conversations with Alexander, mimicking my voice, all waiting for her chance.
I'd been popping those heavy-duty hormone pills she secretly swapped for my vitamins, turning into a 204-pound ugly freak right before her eyes.
When I confronted her with the post, she twisted the story and started steering the narrative on the school forum.
[My 204-pound pig of a roommate is jealous that I'm marrying rich, so now she is using a burner account to spread lies and drag me down.]
The whole school started mocking and flaming me online, and that was the last straw that finally broke me.
In the end, my weight spiraled out of control, leading to severe hypertension. I collapsed alone in my rented apartment, struck down by a sudden brain hemorrhage.
The last thing I saw before I died was the TV news: [Alexander hosting a grand wedding on a private island, tying the knot with Madeline, the woman he hailed as his lifesaver and soulmate.]