My Online Boyfriend Bet Me Away, I Dumped Him

I stared at the announcement on the screen.

"Luca De Santis has won a 200-pound girlfriend."

It was followed by a string of champagne emojis.

"Nice one, Adrian. You got rid of that pig easy."

"Luca, you have to do the couples' challenges with her tomorrow. Aren't you going to say something?"

Luca never replied. Instead, an old photo popped up in the chat.

It was a picture of me at a family dinner party in high school.

The oversized gown was stretched out of shape, and I looked like a brown bear.

And the one who'd posted it was Adrian.

He'd been on the phone explaining himself to me only seconds earlier.

"Babe, it's just a bet.

"Don't worry. Luca's not interested in you. There's no way he'll make you do the couples' challenges with him."

Once the photo appeared, the mockery got worse.

"Will there be a medical team on site? Just in case Luca breaks a bone."

"Why not just send her to the butcher? Might even turn a profit."

Adrian sent a laughing emoji, then wrote, "Okay, okay. She's sensitive. Don't actually scare her off."

His fake show of defending me was more humiliating than if he'd just insulted me outright.

My heart ached.

We'd known each other online for 12 months.

When he couldn't sleep at night, I'd stay up chatting with him until dawn.

When he failed his family's succession assessment, I helped him analyze his rivals' weaknesses.

He told me that when we finally met in person, he'd introduce me to his family, and I'd be his girl.

And the gift he gave me before we'd even met? He used me as a chip at the betting table and tossed me to another man like it was nothing.

The group still wasn't satisfied.

An underground betting site posted odds on whether I'd show up at the families' charity gala the next night.

The bets climbed fast, and most people bet that I wouldn't show.

Adrian went even further and put down a hundred thousand dollars.

"Someone who cries all night over what strangers say about her? No way she'd dare face me."

The words almost made me laugh.

So he did remember that strangers' comments could hurt me.

Yet he was the one who'd put me on display for everyone to mock.

Then Vivian, the Bellini family's darling, appeared in the chat.

"A girl's worth isn't all about her figure. As long as she has a good personality, being a little chubby is totally fine."

She even made a point of tagging me, writing, "Sweetie, you're coming to the party tomorrow night, right?"

Then she added, "Please don't get the wrong idea. Everyone's just joking. No one's really making fun of how you look."

She managed to sound sweet while steering everyone's attention right back to my looks.

I didn't call her out. Not yet. I just opened the betting page.

Bet: one hundred thousand dollars.

Pick: shows up on time.

The moment it went through, Adrian texted me, "What are you doing? You actually want to go over there and let them laugh at you?"

I didn't reply. I looked at myself in the mirror.

Red lips, a bright white smile. I looked striking.

Over the past year, I'd lost 100 pounds.

These past few days, strangers had hit on me more times than I could count.

A modeling agent had even stopped me on the street to ask if I'd be interested in becoming a supermodel.

I hadn't told Adrian any of it.

I'd wanted to save the surprise for the day we finally met. But now, none of that mattered.

Then I typed, "A bet's a bet."