Chapter 1

Gabby

God, I’m so tired of people seeing my size before they ever see me. And I’m especially deeply tired of men.

I sat tucked into the farthest, darkest corner of The Bean & Leaf cafe, my elbows pinned to the small wooden table, my forehead pressed so hard into my palm that my fingers left red indents against my skin.

Cold, quiet tears leaked past my knuckles anyway, dripping uselessly onto the scuffed varnish. People were staring—not with sympathy, but with that subtle, narrow-eyed judgment I knew all too well. They weren't staring because a woman was weeping in public; they were staring because my body spilled over the edges of the tiny wrought-iron café chair, taking up space they clearly thought I had no business occupying.

My skin still burned from what had happened ten minutes ago on the busy sidewalk of 5th Avenue. A little boy, maybe five years old, holding a bright pink lollipop in one hand while his mother held the other, had stopped dead in his tracks. He’d raised a sticky finger, pointed straight at my stomach, and shouted for half the block to hear:

“Mom, look… it’s a fatzo!”

The boy’s voice had been loud, clear, and ringing with innocence. But the mother’s reaction was what shattered me. She hadn't scolded him. She hadn't gently lowered his hand or told him it was rude to comment on strangers. She had simply glanced at me, covered her mouth with a manicured hand, and chuckled under her breath. Two women standing outside a clothing boutique next to them had laughed, too.

My blood had gone ice-cold in an instant. My hands had curled into tight fists at my sides, nails biting into my palms until the sharp pain grounded me. I didn't say a word. I didn't scream. I just kept my eyes fixed straight ahead, blinked hard against the sting in my eyes until the tears stayed put, and walked on shaky legs into the very first door I saw.

And here I was. Crashing in a corner booth, drowning in my own embarrassment.

Dragging the back of my sleeve across my cheeks, I forced a ragged breath into my lungs.

“Gabby,” I whispered to myself, staring down at the dark, untouched surface of my cooling cappuccino. “This is it. This is the absolute last time you let complete strangers make you feel like you need to apologize for existing.”

Then my phone buzzed against the wood. The heavy vibration made the ceramic mug rattle against its saucer.

I wiped my eyes once more and picked up the device, unlocking the screen. A single push notification hovered on the display, and the moment I read the name, my stomach dropped into a bottomless pit.

Joel: Hi Gab, been a while yeah. I want to invite you to my wedding this Saturday. Come celebrate with me.

‘Gab.’

He’d typed my name the exact same way he used to—casual, effortless, familiar—as if eight solid months of total, ice-cold silence had never happened.

We had dated for two months last year. Back then, I thought I’d found the one. Even when I told him I wasn't ready to give up my virginity, he had held my hands, looked into my eyes, and insisted I could trust him.

He swore he adored every inch of my body, that my curves were gorgeous, and that I was just being overly cautious. I eventually surrendered because I truly, deeply loved him with everything I had. Not a day went by where he didn't text, call, or praise my figure.

For one heartbreaking moment, I had mistaken his tactical patience for genuine love.

The morning after we finally had sex, the truth unraveling was brutal. I remembered waking up to the smell of fresh coffee, feeling a quiet sense of assurance. But then Joel walked out of the bathroom, looked at my bare skin tangled in his white sheets, and his handsome face twisted into something resembling deep disgust.

“Your size is just too big to handle,” he had said, tossing his towel onto a chair without even looking at me. “To be honest, I could barely enjoy anything we did last night.”

He left twenty minutes later. Then he stopped replying to my texts. He stopped taking my calls. He vanished into thin air, leaving me with a blood-stained sheet and a shattered soul. He’d taken my virginity as if it were nothing more than a final box to check off a bucket list.

I fell into a dark, suffocating depression for two solid months after that. I blamed my own body. I hated my reflection. I starved myself on liquid diets, bought expensive weight-loss teas, and pushed myself at the gym until my lungs burned and my legs buckled. Nothing worked. My body stayed soft, curvy, and full.

And now? A casual text. An invitation to watch him promise his life to someone else. Was he just trying to push in the knife?

The hollow ache in my chest didn't produce any more tears. Something inside me snapped—clean, sharp, and final. The despair melted away, replaced instantly by a scorching wave of pure, unadulterated rage. He didn't just move on; he had the nerve to assume I was so thoroughly defeated, so pathetic, that I’d just sit back, smile, and take the insult.

He thinks I'm still hiding in the dark, crying over him.

My thumb hovered over the screen. A slow, bitter smile cut through the tear stains on my face. I unlocked my contact list and dialed khloe.

She answered on the second ring. “Hi babes, what’s up?”

“I’m fine,” I said, my voice dangerously steady, vibrating with high-voltage fury. “I just got a message from Joel.”

Dead silence stretched across the line for two full seconds.

“That piece of human garbage?” Khloe’s voice came back sharp enough to slice glass. “What could that coward possibly want after eight months of total radio silence?”

“He’s inviting me to his wedding. This Saturday.”

“The fuck?” A loud clutter sounded over the receiver—the sound of Khloe dropping whatever she was holding. “Is he actually insane? After he lied his way into your bed, took your virginity, and spent the next morning insulting your body before ghosting you? What kind of unhinged audacity is that?!”

I closed my eyes, listening to her outrage. It felt like gasoline poured over the spark in my chest.

“He thinks I’m still the fragile girl he left crying on his bedspread, Khloe,” I said softly. “He thinks I’m sitting around grieving him.”

“You are not going,” Khloe stated firmly, her tone leaving no room for argument. “Block his number right now. Don't give him the satisfaction of knowing you even received it.”

“No,” I said, my index finger tracing the rim of my coffee cup. “Blocking him is what a hurt girl does. Ignoring him lets him off the hook. He sent that invite to rub his happiness in my face.”

“Gabby, wait—what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking he wants a guest?” I let out a low, breathless laugh that surprised even me. “I’m going to give him a show. I’m going to walk into that church looking so breathtakingly hot that he chokes on his own vows. I want him to look at his bride, look at me, and spend the rest of his life regretting every single word he ever said about my body.”

Khloe went completely quiet. “Okay... wow. I mean, I love the petty energy, but girl—the wedding is in forty-eight hours! How are you going to pull off a jaw-dropping revenge transformation by Saturday afternoon?”

“Starting right now,” I said, sliding out of the booth and throwing my handbag over my shoulder. Heads turned as I stood, but for the first time today, I didn't shrink under their gazes. I held my chin up. “I’m heading straight to the high-end boutiques in Soho. We have forty-eight hours to make a disaster out of Joel’s big day.”

“Oh, God help that man,” Khloe muttered, a wicked laugh finally creeping into her voice. “Call me the second you find a dress.”