Chapter 1

It all starts three years ago with a mystery illness. The pounds pile on out of nowhere, my memory turns to mush, and I feel like I'm moving through a fog.

The last straw is when I trip over nothing and face-plant on the sidewalk. That's when my parents ship me off for overseas treatment.

The day I board the plane, just as the door is about to close, a string of text messages materializes in the air right in front of me, like comments in a livestream.

[LOL, the side chick has no idea her fate's been hijacked by the main character's 'system.' No doctor on earth can fix this.]

[Her IQ and wits are being siphoned off to the male lead, and her looks and killer bod are going to the female lead. She's literally a human battery pack!]

[And the main couple sending her away? LMAO, they're totally celebrating behind her back!]

I glance over at the "main characters," the perfect couple seeing me off, and a chilling calm washes over me. This isn't some incurable disease. It is a heist. And they are the thieves.

In that case, the gloves are off.

*****

On the plane, I ordered a low-calorie meal, and the familiar stream of floating text exploded across my vision again.

[Girl, just stop. You can't fight the system. No matter how hard you diet, it won't make a difference!]

[She doesn't realize that every bit of progress she makes just gets siphoned straight to the female lead.]

[Honestly, is it just me, or does she actually look really good? Her outfit is gorgeous! Since when do curvy girls glow like that?]

I ignored every single one. Finishing my meal, I flipped open a financial magazine, my gaze locking onto the man on the cover.

[She's memorizing again! Watch the male lead's finance IQ go up another ten points!]

[Remember that live-streaming venture she spotted first? The male lead swooped in and stole it. His top three streamers alone are raking in millions!]

[She's trying so hard though, and honestly, I feel bad for her.]

Thanks to these little pop-up commentaries, I kept tabs on everything Emily White and Ryan Chandler had been up to over the past three years.

Ever since I left, their little drain on me seemed to have stalled.

I was Claire Sterling, the crown jewel of the elite social circle.

My looks and talent were merely perks. What people really talked about was how I was born under a lucky star. They said I had been graced with every blessing imaginable.

Apparently, that was reason enough for fate to come knocking.

Three years ago, the inexplicable happened.

I went from having a perfect hourglass figure to weighing 180 pounds, and it only took three months.

For three grueling months, I threw everything I had at it, but nothing could stop the weight from piling on.

But the physical change wasn't even the worst part. What truly terrified me were the side effects that followed.

I blanked on basic vocabulary. During my speech at the company's annual gala, I froze mid-sentence, just standing there with my mouth open like a broken mannequin. To the online trolls, I was just a rich airhead.

At a business dinner, a button popped off my blazer so hard that it nailed a client right in the eye. It swelled up like a golf ball. Needless to say, the deal was dead on arrival.

I couldn't even cross the street without nearly getting flattened by a car. My reflexes were shot.

In their desperation, my parents spared no expense. They brought in a parade of medical specialists, followed by holistic healers and spiritual advisors, but nothing changed.

That was the darkest chapter of my life.

Investments went south. Projects got pulled. My fiancé laughed in my face. Friends I had had since childhood suddenly couldn't look me in the eye without smirking. Every single blow landed, and I felt each one crack something inside me.

I went from being the polished Claire Sterling to the punchline of every joke in Southport, the chubby heiress who couldn't string a sentence together.

I couldn't wrap my head around it. What had I done to deserve this? It felt like the universe was playing a twisted joke on me.

As my star dimmed, Emily and Ryan eclipsed me, having the time of their lives.

Emily became the poster child for the rags-to-riches narrative. Cameras loved her, brands fought over her, and suddenly she was everywhere.

Ryan transformed overnight into the hottest dark-horse investor on the scene, making money hand over fist.

People were calling them a match made in heaven. A massive fandom even cropped up around them, with stans creating dedicated hashtags to track their every move.

I would've enjoyed the drama too if Emily hadn't been the scholarship student I personally sponsored and Ryan hadn't been my first love.

After I collapsed from yet another crash diet, my parents put me on a plane and sent me abroad.

It was only then that I found out the truth. Every single thing that had happened to me was all part of a scheme engineered by those two parasites.

Now, they were my lab rats.

"Ms. Sterling, we've landed," my assistant, Lesley Higgins, said, snapping me back to the present. "Professor Grant's lecture is tonight. Dinner reservation's confirmed.

I nodded slowly, tucked the magazine away, and stood up.

The floating comments thought I had been cramming financial terms this whole flight. Indeed, I was just admiring the man on the cover.

Fate brought me to Leonard Grant three years ago. Back then, I funneled a staggering 300 million dollars into his physics department at Anderson University, all for the sake of one specific breakthrough.

Tonight, he was reporting his results.

I smoothed down my dress and headed for the exit. I couldn't wait to see the look on their faces.