Chapter 2

Inside the livestream, the gorgeous explosion effect from the ten rockets instantly wiped the mocking comments clean off the screen.

Zack had been lounging back in a sofa chair and playing with his hair, but when he saw the effect, he straightened up at once. He leaned toward the screen and saw my donation message and the profile picture I was using.

That avatar was a candid shot from last month, when I had done a fashion shoot for a niche magazine.

My side profile looked cool and stunning, my jawline sharp, and my deep eyes hidden in the dim lighting with a strong, aggressive edge.

Zack let out a whistle into the microphone.

"Wow, thanks to the mysterious rich beauty named S for the ten rockets. Gorgeous, looks like you really support me getting back to single life?"

The chat exploded again.

"Zack, the rich girl has a crush on you!"

"If that avatar is the real person, I’ll eat my keyboard right now. That chin is sharper than Zack’s future."

Zack smiled as he brushed his carefully styled bangs, his tone dripping with the arrogance he couldn’t hide.

"Guys, it’s not that I’m cruel. I’ve been in an online relationship with this Selena for a year, and she still doesn’t even dare to turn on video. Every day it’s either those clingy little messages or snacks she sends me."

"My girlfriend, Zack’s girlfriend, at the very least has to be someone I can take out in public, right?"

He pointed at the old photo of me from when I weighed 250 pounds in the upper-right corner of the screen.

"Look at that build. If I really took her out for burgers today, I’d be worried she’d treat me like a side dish and swallow me whole."

The chat immediately filled with laughing reaction stickers.

I stared at the handsome but disgusting face on the screen, calmly picked up my phone, and opened his private messages.

Just a few minutes earlier, he had still been messaging me there, sweet-talking me.

"Baby, I’m already at the restaurant. I’ve prepared a huge surprise for you today."

"Don’t be scared. No matter what anyone thinks of you, you’ll always be the cutest in my eyes."

This was his so-called surprise, using a gentle, considerate lie to keep me in place and make sure I would show up on time.

All while, in front of a hundred thousand people in his livestream, he was shredding my dignity and stomping it into the ground for those ridiculous views and donations.

Once upon a time, I really thought he was different.

When I first came to the U.S., I gained a ton of weight because I couldn’t adjust to the food and the pressure from school.

When I walked across campus, some guys would even deliberately go around me.

I met Zack when he added me after we got matched in an online game.

He was a huge esports streamer with tens of millions of followers, and he said he liked my voice and my attention to detail.

He also said that looks were the most boring shell, and that soul compatibility was the rarest thing of all.

For that vague thing called compatibility, over the past six months, not only did I help him edit his gaming videos, I also used the money I earned from part-time jobs to buy him expensive gaming gear.

Even after I started that hellish fat-loss phase and was so exhausted every day I could barely lift my arms, I still stayed up late to keep him company through those so-called "low points."

I had once thought that was mutual healing, but now it was just a joke.

After the nail tech finished my nails, she led me over to the mirror and interrupted my thoughts. "Honey, take a look. Do you like them?"

I looked up at myself in the full-length mirror.

The burgundy silk slip dress hugged my waist tightly, my collarbones were defined, and my wavy hair fell over my pale shoulders.

That fat girl, wrapped in fat and insecurity, had long since died in countless late nights drenched in sweat.

I stood up, picked up the sunglasses on the table, and casually sent Zack a message.

"I’m almost there. I hope your surprise won’t disappoint me."