Chapter 1

My words carry across the empty lecture hall.

For one second, the room falls silent. Then everyone bursts out laughing.

“You’re almost two hundred pounds. Seriously, look in a mirror. What makes you think you can compete with Sophie?”

“Sophie is trying to help you, and you’re still ungrateful? Your heart is just as ugly as your face.”

Not a single person believes what I said.

Sophie glances at the old photo I pulled up, and her face settles into an expression that says she knew this was coming.

“Emily, are you really going to send him a photo that’s been edited this much?”

She lets out a soft sigh.

“I’m not trying to put you down.”

“But you look nothing like this anymore. You’re going to disappoint him even more when you finally meet.”

Someone beside us leans over for a better look. They immediately laugh even harder.

“How could that possibly be her? Her features don’t even look the same.”

“If that’s really her, I’ll eat this seminar table right now.”

“Using a photo like that to date someone online? No wonder he’ll be pissed when he finds out what you actually look like.”

They don’t know.

Three years ago, I used to be the girl everyone noticed.

My grandmother raised me. When she died, I lost the only person in the world who had ever truly felt like mine.

I felt hollowed out.

During the worst part of it, food became the only comfort I could hold on to. Then came college applications, exams, moving away from the only place I had ever known.

One thing after another piled on top of me until I simply gave up on myself.

But that darkness is behind me now.

I’ve moved on. I’m at a new university.

Maybe it’s time I found the old version of myself again.

I ignore the laughter and keep scrolling through my photos, looking for one to send to Richard, my online boyfriend.

That’s when the professor walks in carrying a stack of papers and taps the podium.

“Emily, could you come over for a moment? I want to go over the revised outline for your essay from last week.”

I instinctively put my phone down and get to my feet.

The professor asks me a few questions about the structure of my paper, then reminds me about next week’s office hours.

By the time I return to my seat, Sophie is already pushing my phone back toward me.

She looks as if everyone around her has forced her into doing something she doesn’t want to do.

“There. I sent one for you.”

“You kept refusing to send a picture. He was definitely going to get suspicious. Just use mine for now and get through this, okay? At least it won’t be too embarrassing.”

I grab my phone.

Sophie’s selfie has already been sent.

The transparent messages immediately start flooding my vision.

【Nicely done. Sophie finally sent him the photo.】

【Richard is definitely going to remember that face.】

【He’s a wealthy heir who keeps a low profile. He’s usually cold and distant, but he has a weakness for girls with that clean, pretty look.】

My fingers turn cold.

I immediately try to unsend the photo. But Richard has already replied.

【Is that you in the photo?】

A few seconds later, another message appears.

【I like this face. She’s beautiful.】

A flicker of triumph crosses Sophie’s eyes before she quickly replaces it with an apologetic smile.

“He’s already seen it.”

“Maybe don’t explain yet. When the time comes to meet him, if you don’t know how to handle it, I can go in your place.”