Chapter 1

Ana's Pov.

I sat on one of the wooden pews in this church. My hands tightly gripped the edge of my dress until the fabric wrinkled. My boyfriend, Max, stood there in his neat black suit. Beside him was Sasha, my best friend since the first day I arrived in this city two years ago. Sasha's stomach was already swollen beneath her white wedding dress.

Two months ago, Sasha came to my apartment, kneeling on the floor while sobbing.

"Ana, I'm pregnant, and this baby is Max's. Please don't be mad."

I didn't cry back then. I just stayed silent.

I didn't know who I should be angry at. At Max, who said he was busy with work? Or at Sasha, who drank coffee with me every morning while talking about the guys who flirted with her?

Now they were getting married, and they kissed at the altar. Everyone applauded. Max's family, Sasha's family, friends who knew me only as "Sasha's good friend." No one even looked at me.

I slowly stood up and walked out through the side door.

Outside, my phone vibrated hard inside my pocket.

"Hey fatty! Come to the mall right now!"

I immediately hurried to the mall, and it took me twenty minutes. I was out of breath because of my excessive weight. By the time I arrived, Clara was already waiting.

"Oh my God, you took forever," Clara complained while shoving three large shopping bags into my hands. "Carry these."

I lifted all the bags. Their weight dragged my shoulders down. She walked in front of me with the relaxed steps of her expensive heels while talking about last night's party at a nightclub I had never stepped into because one entrance f*e there could pay for my meals for an entire week.

I simply followed her, occasionally adjusting the bags that kept slipping from my shoulders, occasionally lowering my head to avoid the stares of people watching a curly-haired girl carrying piles of luxury shopping bags in broad daylight.

When we reached the front of the mall, Clara stopped at the drop-off area. I placed the bags on the stone pavement while catching my breath. My arms felt like they were about to fall off.

A few moments later, three luxury cars stopped right in front of us. Bodyguards stepped out from the cars in the front and back. They opened the doors swiftly, and middle-aged men stepped out wearing neat suits, polished shoes, and wrinkle-free faces. One of them was Clara's father.

"Oh, I almost forgot, Ana," Clara turned around and pulled out several euro bills, twenties, fifties, and tens, before throwing them at me. The money hit my left cheek before falling to the ground.

She had repeated this humiliation hundreds of times over the past two years. Back then, it used to hurt me, but now nothing could hurt more than what I'd already experienced this morning when I saw my boyfriend marrying my best friend.

I lowered my head. I picked up the euro bills one by one and slipped them into my jacket pocket without counting them.

When I stood up again and brushed the dust off my knees, Clara was already inside the car. But before the car door closed, I saw something that made my breath stop for a second.

From the back seats of each car, those men were staring at me.

I couldn't move, then the car doors closed one by one. The three cars drove away together, leaving me standing alone on the sidewalk with dirty money in my pocket and the smell of exhaust smoke filling my nose.

Then I returned to the mansion. Of course, it wasn't my mansion. I worked there, at Clara's father's house.

When I got there, I unlocked the door to my room with a rusty key, then I cried for the first time that day.

I had just calmed myself down when my phone vibrated again. I thought it was another message from Clara, but it was actually from Max.

"I know you were at the church earlier. You saw it yourself, right? Sasha is beautiful, but you? Try looking at yourself for once. Your boyfriend chose another girl, and you still don't realize why? You can't even take care of yourself properly. You're just an ugly fat girl! After this, no man will ever want a fat girl like you!"

I read it once, then twice.

Not an apology, not regret. Just insults from the man who used to be my boyfriend.

I wanted to reply. I wanted to pour out all the pain that had built up over the last two months, but my hand stopped.

There was no need because he was no longer my problem.

I pressed on his name and blocked him, but less than a minute later, another message came in from Clara.

"Hey fatty! Come to the swimming pool now!"