Chapter 4

Early the next morning, my family began getting me ready for the party.

It was just a gathering for young people.

But my father still assigned over a dozen bodyguards to escort me.

My mother had my gown brought in, and a top makeup artist did my makeup.

Only after that did I have time to look at my phone.

The group chat had 99+ unread messages.

Everyone was hashing out the plan for tonight.

Someone had deliberately posted a photo of an extra-wide chair.

"Hank swapped it in. Said a normal chair might not hold her."

"So thoughtful. The family's better off with him in it."

Eric wrote, "She's not coming. Don't bother."

Jasmine wrote, "Noble families take their commitments seriously. The Perrin family would never break their word.

"Promise me you won't make fun of her anymore, okay?"

The chat immediately erupted with praise for Jasmine, calling her beautiful inside and out.

I turned off my phone and put on the long white dress my mother had made for me.

The simple cut emphasized my waist and the slender lines of my shoulders and neck.

When I came out, even my father stood frozen for a good half minute.

My mother's eyes went red.

She circled me a few times and decided the little donut earrings didn't go with the dress at all.

She raised a hand to send someone for her pearl earrings.

But I turned her down.

My father snorted. "Some street junk a homeless man gave you.

"You're an embarrassment to the Perrin family!"

My mother hurried him out of the room.

Before she left, she looked back and smiled at me. "I know. It's a precious gift from a friend.

"It's your good-luck charm."

When I was studying abroad, my classmates shunned me and laughed at me for weighing 220 pounds.

During my loneliest, hardest days, I met a homeless man.

Besides my mother, he was probably the only person in the world who had been kind to me.

But he died on Christmas, right before I came home.

These earrings were his gift to me.

Losing him hurt so much that I hadn't worn any other earrings in the two years since.

I put my memories of him away, and before I knew it, it was five in the afternoon.

Someone in the group posted a video of the party venue.

It was a suite in the most luxurious hotel in town.

A four-tiered cream cake stood in the middle of the main room.

Hank yelled into the camera, "Emma, come on over. We've got your favorite sweets here."

Harsh laughter rang out around him.

Eric was sitting on the sofa. He glanced at the camera and scoffed.

"Told you. She's not coming.

"She wouldn't even show her face on camera. What makes you think she'll show up in person?"

Jasmine, sitting beside him, gave him a playful little shove.

"Don't you talk about my good friend like that."

I turned off the video and rode to the hotel with my security detail.

At the same moment, a friend request popped up on my phone.

The request contained just one name: Tristan.

When I accepted, he messaged me right away, "You don't have to go. I'll make Eric shut his mouth."

I stared at his message. He had already shown me genuine kindness.

I'd been betrayed too many times, and the wounds still hadn't healed.

Right now, I didn't want to trust anyone except my mother.

"I'll be there.

"I'm doing this for my family. Whether I want to go or not doesn't matter."

I was going to make everyone who'd mocked me pay for it.

The screen showed him typing for a long time.

In the end, he didn't say anything.

I didn't think much of it. Half an hour later, I stood outside the party's private room.

I took out my invitation and handed it to the guard at the door.

I could feel the guards sneaking stunned looks at me from behind their sunglasses.

Laughter came from inside.

"It's almost six. Looks like the pig's too scared to show up."

"Told you. She'd need a truck just to haul herself here."

They didn't dare say things like that in the group chat.

But behind my back, they didn't hold back.

I heard Eric say casually, "I already tried to talk her out of coming.

"Don't come, and don't marry into the Blade family.

"Someone like her can hide behind a screen and pretend she's something she's not.

"Besides, we've already made a fortune off her mom's plantations.

"Let's just get this over with."

Jasmine laughed and chimed in.

"I don't think Emma was trying to deceive you.

"Maybe she just wanted someone to love her."

Another round of laughter went up.

I listened, clenching my fists so tightly that my knuckles turned white.

Just then, a voice came from behind me.

"And you are?"

I turned around. A tall man was standing there.

He had sharp, almost intimidating features and a pair of stunning gray eyes.

In an instant, I was back on that Christmas night.

That night was so much like today.

People laughed all around me after someone dumped a bucket of ice water over my head.

They kept calling me a slab of frozen pork, laughing and jeering the whole time.

My friend appeared out of nowhere, grabbed one of the guys, and laid into him.

As he moved, his messy hair flew back, and I saw a pair of beautiful gray eyes.

My heart skipped a beat.

"Ia..."

In a daze, I almost said my friend's name. Ian.

Luckily, he cut me off.

"Emma?"

I snapped out of it and looked away. It took me a moment to steady myself before I nodded.

He didn't get a chance to say anything else.

Eric's smug voice came from inside again.

"Ten seconds left. I told you the pig wouldn't dare come.

"Ten!

"Nine!

"Eight!"

Tristan heard it too. "I'll go in with you."

I said nothing, but my grip on the door handle tightened.

All these years, I'd been bullied for my weight more times than I could count.

Now it was time to turn their laughter into something else.

Gasps of disbelief.

The countdown was one second from zero.

I pushed open the doors to the party.