Chapter 1

"What are you talking about? Be fucking for real." I said, trying to hold back the tears burning my eyes.

Felix looked me dead in the face. Cold. Unmoved. His arm was wrapped around his new girlfriend's waist, and she wore the ugliest smirk I'd ever seen, like she was enjoying the show.

He tilted his head, his lips curling into a mocking smile.

"The relationship we had is because of the deal me and your mother made. How can you think that someone like me will want to spend my life with a fat pig like you? I mean, I have a good reputation. I'm the leader of a well-known mafia group. 

Do you want me to bring you as my arm to show the world that you're the woman I want to be with?"

He gave a cruel little laugh and shook his head.

"You're not that stupid to think that I really love someone like you."

My heart dropped. Literally dropped. Like it just left my chest and hit the floor.

I stood there, frozen, unable to breathe. His words hit me like a slap across the face, again and again. I wanted to stand tall. I wanted to be strong. But I couldn't hold it in anymore. My tears pushed through my lashes and fell. Slowly. Painfully.

"Please don't do this to me," | whispered, my voice cracking. "I will try to lose weight, I will go to the gym every day, please don't leave me, Felix. I love you."

I hated myself for saying it. I hated how desperate I sounded. But it was the truth. I loved him so much, and I didn't even know where to start if he left.

Today was supposed to be our second anniversary. I planned this day. I made the reservation a whole month ago. And yet... Here I was, watching my fiancé walk in with a woman who looked like she had come straight out of a movie.

She was slim. Elegant. Perfect.

And I, well, I was just me. Even though Felix had always kept me away from his friends and business partners, I didn't care. I loved him. I thought I had enough. I knew I wasn't perfect. I knew I was fat. Most men wanted slim women. Or at least slim-thick.

Not someone like me.

But I always told myself this is who I am. And if someone can't love me for it, then maybe they're not meant for me. But in this moment, I was ready to change everything about myself just for him to stay.

"Even if it means starving myself, I will do it. Please just don't leave me."

I could feel the weight of stares around the room.

Murmurs. Gasps. The shifting silence of judgment. I wanted to crawl under the table.

Then Felix stepped forward and raised his voice.

"Hello, everyone!"

"What are you doing?" I whispered, panicked, eyes wide.

He ignored me.

"For the guys," he continued loudly, turning to the crowd with a smirk. "Would you want to be with a fat pig like this girl right here—mind you, she's just 25 years old-or would you choose this beautiful slim damsel instead?" He pointed to the woman by his side.

I blinked in shock. Did he just say that?

Laughter exploded around the room. One man even shouted, "Who in their right mind would choose a fat woman when there's a slim fit girl?"

The whole place erupted. People chuckled behind napkins. Others didn't even bother hiding it. I scanned the faces around the room, desperate for someone, anyone to stand up for me.

No one did.

Even the women were laughing.

Where was all the "women supporting women" talk?

Were they all just pretending all along? Or were they all pick-me's too?

I clenched my purse and tried to walk away with what little pride I had left. But just as I stepped forward, someone deliberately stretched out a leg in my path.

I fell. Hard. Flat on my front.

I heard the fabric of my dress tear near the slit. Heat rushed to my cheeks. My hands trembled against the cold marble floor.

Then came the cruelest blow.

A female voice yelled out, "Whoa, an elephant has fallen! We almost had an earthquake!"

And that was it. The room was loud. The kind of laughter that stabs. I didn't dare lift my head. I turned slowly, hoping, begging it wasn't her.

It was.

The woman who tripped me was now snuggled under Felix's arm while he stroked her shoulder, laughing like this was the best comedy show of the year.

God, this was hell.

Tears blurred my vision. I forced myself up and ran, head down, trying not to hear the insults that followed me out. But they echoed anyway.

I reached my car, hands shaking as I fumbled through my bag for the keys. My entire body trembled. I was hot with shame and cold with fear all at once. My skin prickled. My chest hurts. I'd never felt like this before.

I thought back to the first day I met Felix. 

It was at a gala. A drunk man was trying to harass me, called me a "fat cow," and before I could react, Felix punched the guy straight in the face and beat him to the ground.

He turned to me after, his eyes dark but soft, and asked, "Are you okay?"

I couldn't even answer. He looked so good, like a movie star-his jawline sharp, his wave cut clean. I thought he was my hero.

But I didn't know he had approached me on purpose. I didn't know he was only there because of my mother.

That same day, he became her business partner... and she signed me off on the deal like I was some side clause.

And now that the partnership had ended, I was no longer useful. He threw me away like trash.

My mother always does this. l've never mattered to her. Only power, control, and image matter.

She's told me every horrible thing a mother could say.

That I was too fat, too weak, too soft. That l'd never bag a rich man looking the way I did.

I finally got into the car and broke down completely.

Ugly crying. Nose running. Mouth open. Shoulders shaking. I hated myself. Hated this moment. Hated the world.

Was it a crime to be fat?

I wasn't even that fat. I was just chubby. But maybe they were right.

Maybe I wouldn't want to be with myself either.

My phone rang.

I wiped my face with the back of my hand and glanced at the screen. Ruby.

My best friend. The only person who truly cared.

I answered but didn't even get a word in before her voice came through the speaker.

"Girl code, baby! Please, you know I love you and you love me too. I'm having bad cramps right now and I just received a call from the hospital to attend to a VIP at his house immediately. I can't stand up right now.  I feel like if I move, I might collapse. Please, can you go instead? I know you'll help me. Thank you! I'll send you the address. Your medical kits are in your car, right?

Yes. I'll send it now. I love you. And I'll marry you."

She ended the call before I even said a word. I sat there, blinking. Wow. I was literally falling apart and she didn't even know.

She didn't even ask. But she needed me.

So I wiped my tears again, tried to fix my makeup, and started the engine.

The location Ruby sent was somewhere deep in the hills. And when I got there, my jaw dropped.

It wasn't a house. It was a fortress.

Huge black gates. Armed men in suits. Cameras everywhere. Like a presidential residence.

What kind of person lives here?

The gates opened slowly, and I drove in.

Two tall men approached as I stepped out of the car.

"Are you the doctor?" the taller one asked. His eyes scanned me from head to toe.

"Yes," I said, straightening up. "Please, where's the patient?"

"This way," he said, and gestured to me to follow. We entered the mansion. The hallway was huge, the floors polished like glass.

Expensive art lined the dark gray walls. Chandeliers hung low, casting golden glows over sleek black furniture. The place felt powerful. Cold. Like it belonged to someone who didn't need to raise their voice to kill.

We climbed the stairs, our footsteps echoing.

One of the guards opened a heavy door, and I stepped into a dark room that smelled faintly of blood and cologne.