Chapter 2

I didn't know what was happening lately. No matter what I ate, I just kept blowing up. My weight was climbing like crazy.

Going from 100 pounds to 200 pounds took only a single month.

And somehow, Vivian had managed to lose exactly that much weight in the same month, dropping from 200 to 100 pounds.

It was pure insanity—the kind of ridiculous plot you'd only see in a trashy fantasy drama. Yet, it was happening to me in real life.

But I refused to believe it at first. The moment I realized I was gaining weight, I started starving myself and working out, pushing my body to the absolute limit.

I woke up before dawn to run, with only the streetlights cast stretching shadows on the track.

At the cafeteria, I only dared to order plain celery and boiled kale. By midnight, my stomach would burn with agonizing hunger.

Every single time I stepped on the scale, my heart lodged in my throat.

But that cursed number remained welded to the display, refusing to budge.

Occasionally, I’d lose half a pound, only to gain back double the next day.

Despair slowly crawled up like cold ocean water, submerging me.

The beliefs I had lived by for over a decade almost crumbled in that moment.

Was Vivian really some kind of chosen one?

And was I just her miserable foil?

I stared at the bloated, swollen stranger in the mirror. The fat had swallowed my facial features, leaving no trace of the sharp, pretty girl I used to be.

But what about Vivian?

She spun around in an XS-sized dress she had stolen from my closet, practically floating.

She basked in the attention of the boys who swarmed around her like flies, soaking up titles like "goddess" and "untouchable," while they used me as a doormat to make her look better.

"Don't waste your breath, Chloe," she whispered in my ear, her voice dripping with venom. "Some people are just born to be fat pigs."

The final string in my head snapped.

To hell with dieting!

I marched into the cafeteria. I loaded my tray with everything I had been terrified to touch before—cheeseburgers, pizzas, loaded fries.

The rich aroma of grease and carbs hit my nose, bringing a sense of pure, vengeful euphoria.

I buried my face in the food, eating like a starving wolf.

Strangely, after a few days of total indulgence, no matter how much trash food I shoved down my throat, my weight stayed completely stagnant.

That was bizarre. Losing weight was hard, but gaining weight shouldn't be this difficult either.

Just then, Vivian’s hysterical shriek echoed from across the room:

"Where is my jawline?! Why do I have a double chin?! What happened to my face?!"

She was clawing at her cheeks, which had visibly rounded, and at the sudden roll of fat spilling over her waistband.

She looked like she was losing her mind.

A bizarre, wild thought suddenly crept into my head.

Something was seriously wrong here.

I was eating like a pig, so why was she gaining weight?

And back when I was killing myself at the gym, my weight wouldn't budge, but she was getting lighter by the day!