The world went black. I woke in the school infirmary, antiseptic stinging my nose. Cause? Collapsed during a jog from exhaustion. Reason? My weight. Ralph arrived first, his handsome face feigning concern. Just as I felt a flicker of warmth, a glitchy pop-up only I could see appeared: 【Sweet, clueless girl. Your brother bound a weight-loss system to you for that scholarship girl.】 【The more you diet, the thinner she gets. Her binge-eating? All transfers to you.】 My hand trembled. The door burst open—Ethan rushed in with my study tablet. The ghostly text flickered again: 【He linked a study system to you too. Every ounce of effort you put in boosts her grades.】 【You went from top of your class to this… because of them.】 The words blurred. I nearly fainted from rage. So, I was their golden goose, and they were plucking me bare? I turned the tablet away, fingers flying across a mindless match-three game. Fine. If this was the game they wanted to play, nobody would enjoy it. 1. “Can’t even jog without passing out? How pathetic are you?” Ralph’s voice was cold as ice, his brows knitted in a severe frown as he looked down at me on the infirmary bed. I used to think he was just tough on the outside, a classic case of a harsh tongue hiding a soft heart. Now, thanks to the phantom pop-ups, I knew the truth. Ralph’s disdain was as real on the inside as it was on the out. “I’ve thought it over,” I said, my voice flat. “I’m done trying to lose weight. It’s useless anyway, so I’m not doing it anymore.” I didn't look at him, focusing on clearing a new level of the game. He slammed his hand on the table beside my bed, making me jump. “Don’t you dare defy me! Who said you could stop? You think I’m supporting you for nothing?” he snarled. “You’re fat enough as it is, and you’re lazing around here? I bet you’re just faking it. Tonight, no dinner. You’re running laps, as usual!” When I didn’t respond, his temper flared, and he raised a hand as if to strike me. The ever-gentle Ethan stepped between us. “The city-wide finals are coming up, Ralph. Everyone’s cramming. It makes sense for Lisa to shift her focus to studying for a bit,” he said smoothly. “Come on, let’s not distract her. She needs to get back to her practice questions.” I stared at them, using every ounce of my willpower to crush the bitterness and hatred clawing at my throat. These two men. One was my adopted brother, whom my parents treated like their own son, elevating him to the status of a high-society heir. The other was my childhood friend, whose family I’d begged my parents to save from bankruptcy years ago. And yet, for some girl who had appeared out of nowhere, they had joined forces to ruin me. “I never realized,” I said, my voice barely more than a whisper, squeezed from between gritted teeth, “how much you two truly care about me.” My voice was dripping with venom. “Since you’ve been so good to me, I’ll be sure to repay you properly.” Ralph frowned, but Ethan, oblivious, just smiled his gentle smile. “Of course, Lisa. It’s what we should do. But if you really feel you owe us… you could always invest in my family’s latest venture. My parents are a little short on capital right now.” Invest in your ass. I kicked the thin blanket off, grabbed my tablet, and stormed out of the room. 2. Back in the classroom, my eyes immediately found her: Serena Miller. The scholarship student I’d been sponsoring for six years. Today, she was flawless, her face a perfect oval, her skin so pale she practically glowed. She was the center of attention wherever she went. But I remembered the old Serena. The girl with dull skin, short and pudgy, who used to write me letters calling me her role model. When she followed me to this elite high school, I felt sorry for her, all alone in a new city. I invited her to my home, introduced her to my friends. Including Ethan. Slowly, everything changed. I got fatter. My grades plummeted. The people who once surrounded me drifted away, flocking to her side instead. Now, Serena rushed over, her face a mask of concern, though the corners of her lips twitched upward. “Lisa, you’re back! We heard you fainted while dieting. We were all so worried.” She squeezed my hand. “It’s okay to be a little chubby, really. You shouldn’t worry so much about your looks. It’s what’s on the inside that counts.” Before I could even respond, someone else chimed in with a cold laugh. “The inside? As if she has any inner beauty. Her personality is as ugly as her grades. It’s true what they say—your face reflects your soul.” “Serena, you’re just too nice,” another girl added. “She doesn’t even treat you like a friend, and you still waste your kindness on her.” “Lisa’s only trying so hard to lose weight to steal Ethan from you. Too bad Ethan’s not blind. Anyone with eyes can see who the better choice is.” Before, I would have shrunk under their relentless, casual cruelty, too ashamed of my weight and my failing grades to speak up. Not this time. I slammed my hand on a desk. “Who the hell is spreading rumors that I’m doing this for a guy?” I roared, my voice shaking with fury. “I’m the one who’s been bullied this whole time! Don’t push me too far!” “Okay, okay, everyone calm down,” Serena said, stepping forward with her fake magnanimity. “Lisa has the right to pursue who she likes. Every girl in the world is lovely in her own way.” She then turned to me, her tone chiding. “But Lisa, they didn’t mean any harm. Lashing out like that is not the way. It’s not good for class unity.” “Unity?” I felt a vein throb in my forehead. “You didn’t give a damn about unity when you were all ganging up on me, but now that I’m fighting back, you lecture me about it?” Just then, the bell for class rang. I clenched my fists and stalked back to my seat. “What a psycho. What’s her problem today?” As a student passed my desk, they “accidentally” knocked my textbook to the floor. As I bent to pick it up, the person behind them deliberately stomped on it. I flinched back, and a sharp, searing pain shot through my head as it connected with the corner of a desk. The pain was dizzying, followed by a wave of malicious laughter. A boy’s voice cut through the noise, loud enough for me to hear clearly. “That fat pig actually thinks she can fight back. She’s just a joke to us.” 3. This period was Math, typically my weakest subject and one I always poured extra effort into. But after seeing the pop-ups, my perspective had shifted. I refused to pave the way for my own saboteurs. I swiped a novel from my desk mate and, head down, dove into the story. Serena, who had been admiring her reflection in a compact mirror, noticed my uncharacteristic behavior. She grew visibly anxious. “Lisa!” she hissed, waiting for the teacher to turn to the blackboard. “What do you think you’re doing? You’ve always been so diligent. The finals are just around the corner, don’t you want a shot at the guaranteed admission spots?” “One, my grades are in the toilet, so I don’t have a chance. Two, my family’s rich, so I have plenty of backup options. Why should I torture myself?” I shot back with a smirk, flipping the page of my novel with a flourish. Rebelling in plain sight was exhilarating, especially since the teachers had long given up on me, implicitly accepting that I was a lost cause. By the end of the class, I’d devoured nearly a hundred chapters, my eyes welling up from the story’s drama. After school, I marched straight to the commercial street outside campus, settled into a high-end restaurant, and treated myself to a magnificent solo dinner while binging a TV show. When I finally returned to the classroom, full and content, I found a towering stack of Math workbooks on my desk. “Lisa, I know you’ve been under a lot of pressure lately,” Serena said with a smile. “It’s okay. I went and bought you the most comprehensive set of Math practice books on the market.” She patted the stack. “It was only about three hundred and eighty bucks. Don’t forget to add the delivery fee and send it to me, okay?” She turned to go back to her seat and her makeup, but I picked up the entire stack and deposited it right back on her desk. Her jaw dropped. I met her shocked gaze with an icy stare. “I didn’t ask you to buy them. Take them back.” Serena had never seen me like this, defiant and unpredictable. Her hands started to shake. “They cost over three hundred and eighty dollars! I bought them to help you, and you know I don’t have money! You’re just going to refuse them?” “Don’t try to guilt-trip me,” I said, my face a blank mask. “You’re the one who insisted on buying them. It has nothing to do with me.” Serena was speechless for a moment, then she switched tactics, her voice rising in a theatrical, grief-stricken cry. “I did this for you! Look at your grades! I used all the money I had to help you, and this is how you treat me? How am I supposed to live? How can you be so cruel…” The more she spoke, the more she seemed to convince herself of her own victimhood. She collapsed onto her desk, sobbing loudly and clutching her chest as if she couldn't breathe. The classroom erupted. One of the boys, seeing his goddess in such distress, stormed over, rolling up his sleeves. “Lisa, you’re a heartless bitch! You made Serena this upset, you have to compensate her for emotional damages! You’re covering her living expenses for the rest of the month!” The sheer absurdity of his logic almost made me laugh. “Did I ask her to buy the books? How is it my problem if she can’t afford to eat?” Just then, a voice cut through the chaos. “Serena!” Ethan was standing at the classroom door. He took in the scene, his expression hardening into something terrifying. He rushed past me, shoving me aside, and swept Serena into his arms before striding out of the room. 4. “You’re done for, Lisa! If anything happens to Serena, it’s all on you! We all saw it!” a student shouted after them. The threat was a good reminder. Worried about being framed, I hurried after them to the infirmary. Inside, Serena was lying on a bed with her eyes closed. When she saw me pull out my tablet, she must have assumed I was finally going to study. But instead, I started a new round of my match-three game, my fingers flying across the screen. She couldn’t stand it. “Lisa, will you die if you don’t play that for five minutes? Study! I forbid you from playing anymore!” I just grinned and scooted my chair a little farther away. Serena looked like she was about to explode. “What is wrong with you today? Did you hit your head when you fainted and get a personality transplant? Are you insane?! Ethan! Ethan, what are you doing just standing there?” Ethan was leaning against the wall, his face flushed and breathing heavily, his arms hanging limp at his sides. It took him a moment to recover before he walked over. “Serena,” he said, panting slightly. “You feel… heavier.” Now that he said it, I noticed it too. It wasn’t my imagination. Serena’s face was definitely puffier. Her expression soured instantly. Ethan scrambled to correct himself. “No, no, that’s not what I meant! It’s me. I’ve been slacking off at the gym, too many business dinners with my parents.” The school nurse came in just then, announcing that Serena was fine, likely just a bit of low blood sugar. Seizing the opportunity, Ethan quickly ordered two milk teas and a slice of cake on his phone, saying it was to make up for the scare. I had been silent until then. “Ethan,” I said, my voice dangerously calm. “You shoved me back there. Don’t you think you owe me an apology?” I looked him dead in the eye. “And to think I had my parents looking out for your family’s business. I guess loyalty means nothing to you.” Ethan forced a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “It was an emergency, Lisa. I didn’t mean to knock into you. We’ve been friends for so long, I’m sure you can forgive me, right?” Yes, for years, I had considered him my best friend. There had even been a time when the lines of our friendship blurred with something more, a tender, unspoken affection he was well aware of. “Ethan, you truly have lived up to our long years of friendship.” Just then, the delivery arrived. I snatched one of the milk teas, stabbed a straw into it, and took a long, satisfying gulp. Serena looked like she was about to leap out of bed, desperately trying to get Ethan to stop me. I licked the sweet foam from my lips with a smile and took a large bite of the cake. “Ethan,” I said, my voice deceptively sweet. “We’re such good friends. You don’t mind if I have some of your food, do you?” You two destroyed me. I will make sure neither of you gets a happy ending. As I turned to leave, my smile vanished, replaced by a mask of cold fury. Once outside, I dialed my father’s number. “Dad,” I said, my voice firm. “The Miller family isn’t capable of handling those projects. We shouldn’t be giving them handouts anymore.” I took a deep breath. “I’ve thought it over. You were right. Ethan and I were never meant to be. I don’t want anything to do with him or his family ever again.” My parents were thrilled, their relief palpable even over the phone. A moment later, a notification popped up on my phone: a five-million-dollar transfer into my account. “Buy yourself whatever you want, sweetheart,” my dad said. “Our darling girl,” my mom added, her voice thick with love. “Everything we have is yours. We’d do anything for you, all you have to do is ask. All we want is for you to be happy.” My eyes stung, and I had to fight back tears. I tipped my head back, forcing them to recede. As I did, I caught my reflection in the glass and was stunned— I looked… thinner.
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