Wedding Day Revenge: The Girl They Bullied Is Back
Language: en
When the wedding invitation from my high school classmate Ella Reese arrived, a video of her and her friends shoving the two-hundred-pound girl I used to be into a mud pit was already going viral. Her caption read, "Those were the days. Sophie Aubert, you absolutely have to be my bridesmaid." Our former classmates flooded the comments with jeers. "Ella's so generous. She'd actually invite a plagiarist? Will Sophie even fit into a bridesmaid dress? Making one for her would take enough fabric for three people." "It's been seven years. By now, they'd probably need a crane just to get her into…
Available chapters
Chapter 1
When the wedding invitation from my high school classmate Ella Reese arrived, a video of her and her friends shoving the two-hundred-pound girl I used to be into a mud pit was already going viral.
Her caption read, "Those were the days. Sophie Aubert, you absolutely have to be my bridesmaid."
Our former classmates flooded the comments with jeers.
"Ella's so generous. She'd actually invite a plagiarist? Will Sophie even fit into a bridesmaid dress? Making one for her would take enough fabric for three people."
"It's been seven years. By now, they'd probably need a crane just to get her into the venue!"
"Didn't she write Jack a love letter back then? He'll probably be so scared he'll cry."
The groom, Jack Smith, replied in the comments, "If she actually has the nerve to show up, I'll dance with her in front of everyone. Call it an apology for throwing her into the fountain back then."
The comment section exploded with people cheering him on.
I calmly took a sip of unsweetened black coffee. They thought I was still the fat girl with no choice but to hide in a corner and cry.
They had no idea I was now a fitness influencer with millions of followers, much less that the luxury estate they had rented for the wedding belonged to me.
I replied in the comments, "No need for a bridesmaid dress. I'll be there on time."
This time, I would tear down her perfect facade myself and give Ella a wedding she would never forget.
Chapter 1
Seconds after I posted my reply, our high school group chat filled with people tagging me.
"That plagiarist actually has the nerve to show up? Isn't she afraid she'll fall through the floor?"
"That's Blue Rose Manor! It costs $300,000 a day to rent. Has she ever even seen a place that luxurious?"
"No bridesmaid dress? Ha! She probably can't squeeze into one and is just making excuses!"
"God, what vehicle could even carry you now? Try calling a tank!"
Jack posted a posed gym photo. "Fellas, just wait until the wedding. I'm going to lift two hundred pounds in front of everyone. Better start training my lower back now so I don't break it on the big day."
The chat howled. "Hold on tight during the first dance, Jack. Don't let her send you flying."
No matter how many years went by, their cruelty never changed.
Ella stepped in to smooth things over. "They're just teasing, Sophie. Don't be nervous. I already had your bridesmaid dress made five sizes larger, so it'll be nice and roomy."
And then she slid the knife in.
"If going up five sizes still isn't enough, there's really nothing I can do. That's as large as the bridal shop goes."
This was what Ella did best. She played the good girl while driving the knife as deep into my heart as she could.
Back then, I pulled three all-nighters creating my competition entry, only for Ella to see it and steal it for herself.
Using my work, she won a gold medal in the statewide competition and secured a recommendation letter for admission to an elite university.
Stolen work always comes back to haunt you. Afraid she would be exposed, Ella went on the offensive, spreading rumors to smear me and accusing me of plagiarizing her work.
I was shy and terrible at defending myself, and Ella was one of the most popular girls in school, so no one believed me.
In public, she made a show of standing up for me, cementing her image as the school's beautiful, kindhearted golden girl. In private, she watched coldly and let the entire school bully me.
The stigma of being called a plagiarist clung to me. For all four years of high school, I couldn't escape the cruelty Ella had unleashed.
I scrolled and screenshotted every sneering comment.
The page refreshed, revealing another phony show of concern from Ella in the comments.
"Don't be so harsh, everyone. Sophie was actually very kind back then. She brought Jack breakfast every day, even though he threw it straight in the trash every time."
Jack replied instantly, "Oh my God, shut up! If I hadn't lost that bet to you guys, do you really think I would've said a single word to someone like her?"
As I read those words, Jack's face flashed through my mind.
The day I walked out of the school gates covered in mud, with the laughter coming from every direction, Jack was the only one who pushed through the crowd and shouted at them to stop.
He handed me a pack of tissues, his voice gentle. "Here, wipe yourself off. You'll catch a cold."
That was the first kindness I'd known in all the darkness of that school.
From that moment on, I fell for him completely.
When he sprained his ankle playing ball, I ran three blocks through a downpour to buy him anti-inflammatory cream. When he complained that his math homework was tedious, I stayed up all night imitating his handwriting and filled an entire workbook for him.
He never showed the disgust everyone else did. He would say, "Sophie, you're really sweet."
Then, just before graduation, I gathered every scrap of courage I had and handed him my love letter.
He accepted it with a smile. Then he went straight to the broadcast booth and read my love letter theatrically over the PA to thousands of students. At the end, he scoffed, "From now on, stay the hell away from me. I'm allergic to pigs."
The moment the broadcast cut off, the entire school building erupted in laughter.
Only when I heard my classmates laughing did I realize the whole thing had been a vicious bet.
I had been fooling myself. To him, I was only a twisted trophy he could use to impress Ella.
Chapter 2
Several humiliating intimate photos appeared in the chat one after another.
The photos showed me huddled in the corner of a dim girls' restroom stall after Jack's fangirls had forcibly stripped off my top. I was covering my chest and sobbing helplessly.
Blood rushed to my head. My fingers shook with rage as I typed, "Jack! Delete those photos right now!"
Jack sent a voice message. "Sophie, delete them? Why? Let everyone take a good look. How are you still this insecure after all these years?
"To be fair, there was one good thing about you back then. You had one hell of a rack.
"We were young. We were just messing around. It was so long ago. You're not petty enough to still hold it against us, are you?"
Did he really think "we were young" could erase the inhuman torment they had put me through?
A few people in the chat piled on. "All that flab spilling out, and it doesn't gross you out, Jack?"
Behind me, my assistant Anna caught sight of the screen and turned livid with rage.
"What is this? This is outright cyber harassment and bullying! They've lost their minds!
"I'm having Legal send cease-and-desist letters right now. They'll take everything down and apologize immediately!"
I raised a hand and held Anna's trembling wrist. "It's all right. The harder they laugh now, the more humiliated they'll be when the time comes."
Anna looked at me, her eyes reddening.
She had been at my side for five years and knew better than anyone the hell I had endured.
High-intensity fasted cardio at five every morning.
Oil-free meals weighed to the gram.
Countless times, I collapsed from exhaustion in the weight room, got back up, and kept deadlifting.
It took me seven full years to take off ninety pounds.
I went from a self-conscious two-hundred-pound girl to a professional fitness influencer with fifteen percent body fat.
On social media, my fitness account had six million genuine followers.
The screen went dark, and my reflection stared back at me.
A defined jawline. A sharp gaze. Not a trace of my former timidity remained.
Ella. Jack.
At your wedding at the manor in two days, I would give you both a gift you'd remember for the rest of your lives.
That morning, just after my workout, my social media notifications showed 99+.
When I unlocked my phone, the old video Ella had posted the night before had become the top trending topic in the city.
Ella had perfected the art of turning the truth on its head. Posing as the righteous victim, she wrote in the most-liked comment, "She copied my work back then and refused to admit it. She even tried to come between Jack and me!
"Our classmates were just angry on my behalf. Maybe they went a little too far, but please don't attack them. They're good people."
Her followers erupted. Within seconds, vicious abuse flooded the comment section:
"A disgusting plagiarist who's fat, nasty, and trying to steal another woman's man? She deserved to be shoved into that mud pit!"
The hateful comments kept pouring in, broken only by a few tentative questions.
"Wait, the girl they shoved into the mud is named Sophie? Doesn't she look a little like Sophie Aubert, the fitness influencer with six million followers?"
Ella replied with a string of smirking emojis.
"Don't be ridiculous. She's a fat girl from a farm in the middle of nowhere. How could she be a top influencer living in a New York penthouse?"
Jack quickly replied, "Exactly. A fat pig who does nothing but plagiarize is probably still on some run-down farm!"
Chapter 3
Those humiliating memories flooded back, leaving my chest tight with panic.
I was only a little chubby when I transferred in. Just because I got a perfect score on a test and stole Ella's spotlight, she singled me out for ridicule.
At lunch, she would pretend to slip and knock the tray from my hands. Then she would gloat, "Maybe eat less, or you'll break the cafeteria chairs!"
Laughter erupted around us.
After that, I heard oinking behind me wherever I went. It became a nightmare I could never shake.
The cruelty snowballed. My insecurity became so crushing that binge eating became my only outlet for the pain, and I eventually ballooned to two hundred pounds.
My phone buzzed.
It was our high school class president, the only person in our class who had never oinked at me.
"Sophie, are you really going to the wedding in two days? Ella and the others have planned a whole prank to humiliate you. Please don't go and let them humiliate you again."
That rare kindness warmed me a little, and I answered honestly, "Thank you. But I have to go."
My estate manager, Harrison Spencer, sent me several screenshots. "Ms. Aubert, Ms. Reese is asking for a discount."
I opened them. Ella was relentlessly using her status as an influencer with several hundred thousand followers to pressure him.
She was shamelessly demanding that he waive the $300,000 venue fee.
When Harrison refused, Ella changed tactics completely. Several extremely explicit photos popped up in the chat.
The photos showed Ella posing suggestively. "Mr. Spencer, the $300,000 venue fee is way over our budget.
"Couldn't you make an exception? If you're willing, I could give you something you'd enjoy tonight. Just the two of us."
She had taken my estate manager for the wealthy owner.
I scoffed and saved the entire sordid exchange.
"Harrison, tell her no.
"And let it slip that if she doesn't pay, the date goes to the next client."
Ella had been vain since childhood, always putting on airs and telling anyone who would listen that her parents belonged to Manhattan's elite.
The truth?
Her parents cleaned rooms at a run-down motel in Brooklyn for barely more than minimum wage.
Even now, as a minor influencer making a little money from low-end sponsorships, how could she ever satisfy that bottomless vanity?
The real fool in all this was Jack.
He was still smug about being on the verge of marrying a glamorous, accomplished, perfect bride.
The phone buzzed again.
Harrison sent another update. "Ms. Aubert, Ms. Reese just maxed out five credit cards to finish paying the $100,000 deposit."
I raised an eyebrow. To keep up appearances, she was willing to bury herself in credit-card debt and see the wedding through.
"Harrison, bring our top-of-the-line equipment package out of storage.
"Since Ms. Reese is willing to spend this much, we should give her the finest service the estate can offer.
"On behalf of the estate, provide her with a massive 4K LED wall free of charge. Set it up behind the main stage."
They clearly enjoyed posting my old videos online for everyone to laugh at.
So it was time I returned the favor. A wedding this grand deserved a special show to liven things up.
Chapter 4
I switched chats and hinted to a few influencer friends with eight-figure followings that they might want to attend Ella's wedding because there would be something worth seeing.
The moment I sent the message, my phone started lighting up nonstop.
None of my friends could resist a spectacle. They immediately swarmed Ella's account, all declaring that they wanted to "witness this dream wedding."
Their attention sent Ella's ego soaring.
Within three minutes, more than ten screenshots popped up in the high school group chat, all showing Ella bragging about the influencers' comments.
The sycophants in the chat immediately began fawning all over her.
Tom Brooks, Ella's number-one lackey in high school, started taking bets. "A hundred bucks says Sophie chickens out and doesn't show up in two days!"
"I'll match that hundred! If she actually shows her face, I'll eat this marble table whole!"
Ella immediately replied with a smirking sticker.
"Don't be so mean. I've already had the bridesmaid dress put on display at the entrance. I even ordered an extra-wide chair just for her. If she doesn't come, all that effort will go to waste."
A wave of praise followed.
"Ella's beautiful inside and out. If it were me, I'd have security throw her out!"
I tapped out a reply. "I'll bet $10,000. I'll be there on time two days from now, and I'll make sure none of you ever forget it."
The chat went wild.
Tom was the first to pile on. "Ten grand? Sophie, did working at some fast-food joint fry your brain?"
Ella followed with a voice message, every word dripping with that familiar mock concern. "Sophie, if you don't have the money, don't pretend you do. You got good grades, sure, but that doesn't guarantee a good job. There's no need to show off money you don't have in the group chat. If you lose, Jack isn't going to bail you out."
I ignored their taunts and transferred $10,000 to the escrow account set up for the bet.
System notice: [Sophie Aubert has deposited $10,000.]
The chat exploded again.
"Oh my God, she's serious?"
"Where would she get that kind of money?"
"She probably borrowed it from an online lender. She'll do anything to keep up appearances."
Ella sent another voice message. "Well, if Sophie's that confident, we'll all see for ourselves in two days. Ten a.m. on the lawn at Blue Rose Manor. Be sure not to be late."
I picked up my cold coffee and drained it in one swallow. "Don't worry. I'm not running.
"I'm looking forward to it. My only worry is that your wedding won't be grand enough."
Three seconds later, Ella fired back, "You just wait and see!"
She had wanted to watch me be jealous and humiliated, and had not expected to be challenged in front of everyone.
Minutes later, Ella made a splashy announcement on her profile, unveiling the wedding's ultimate luxury upgrades.
The champagne in the tower was upgraded to Armand de Brignac. Every flower was replaced with Bulgarian roses flown in for the occasion, and she even hired three string ensembles, each charging a six-figure fee.
I couldn't help but find it amusing as the extravagant charges piled up.
Congratulations, Jack.
The morning after next, Jack would finally get his wish and marry a perfect bride carrying over a million dollars in debt.
Chapter 5
At nine that morning, cars packed the area outside Blue Rose Manor.
I sat before the floor-to-ceiling windows in the master bedroom, with a clear view of the entrance below.
Tom had his phone out and was livestreaming.
"Look at this, boys.
"This is Blue Rose Manor, the most luxurious venue in the region.
"We aren't just here for a wedding today. We're here to witness a miracle."
He waggled his eyebrows at the camera. "And Sophie, the girl who used to weigh two hundred pounds, is coming today too."
The livestream chat instantly flooded with comments.
"If she gets inside, she'll stomp straight through the floor."
Ella stood beneath the flower arch in her white wedding gown, greeting guests, while Jack stood smugly beside her.
Behind them hung an absurd dress.
Pink, and as wide as a tent.
A sign hung from it: "CUSTOM BRIDESMAID DRESS FOR SOPHIE."
A few of the women pulled out their phones to snap pictures of the oversized dress.
"Is that thing made out of a parachute?"
"Ella's so thoughtful. She even had it custom-made just for Sophie."
"When Sophie puts that on, she'll be the center of attention."
Tom aimed the camera at the lawn entrance as several people excitedly discussed how they planned to humiliate me when I arrived.
Ella tagged me in the group chat. "Sophie, the ceremony's about to start. You didn't chicken out on the way over, did you? Scared you'll embarrass yourself?"
The others jeered, "Guess that two-hundred-plus-pound hunk of lard can't get moving. What a joke!"
"Jack, if she really rolls up, be gracious. You promised her the first dance."
Jack adjusted his bow tie and sneered. "Relax. I've already got a ridiculous dance track queued up. It's perfect for her."
I replied, "I'm here. About to make my entrance."
Tom stood at center stage with a microphone and called out excitedly, "Now, let's welcome today's most special guest!"
The crowd erupted in rowdy cheers, trading knowing looks as they waited for their prank to land.
"Five!"
"Four!"
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
Barely suppressed snickers threaded through the countdown.
On cue, the ornate white gates at the lawn entrance slowly swung open.
But the next moment, the entire lawn fell dead silent.
A fitted, deep-red mermaid gown hugged a flawless hourglass figure.
The plunging back revealed sharply defined shoulder blades and the clean line of my spine. Long golden waves spilled loosely over one shoulder, and crimson lips completed the cool, glamorous look. My presence was impossible to ignore.
I walked toward the center of the lawn in four-inch heels, one step at a time.
The classmates around me froze with their phones raised, forgetting even to tap the shutter.
Jack's champagne glass wobbled, splashing champagne down his pant leg.
The smile froze on Ella's face and her eyes went wide.
Several of my male classmates in the front row held their breath and stared straight at me.
"Who... who is that?"
"Has some supermodel wandered into the wrong venue?"
"That's the bridesmaid? Did Ella bring in a celebrity?"
Her caption read, "Those were the days. Sophie Aubert, you absolutely have to be my bridesmaid."
Our former classmates flooded the comments with jeers.
"Ella's so generous. She'd actually invite a plagiarist? Will Sophie even fit into a bridesmaid dress? Making one for her would take enough fabric for three people."
"It's been seven years. By now, they'd probably need a crane just to get her into the venue!"
"Didn't she write Jack a love letter back then? He'll probably be so scared he'll cry."
The groom, Jack Smith, replied in the comments, "If she actually has the nerve to show up, I'll dance with her in front of everyone. Call it an apology for throwing her into the fountain back then."
The comment section exploded with people cheering him on.
I calmly took a sip of unsweetened black coffee. They thought I was still the fat girl with no choice but to hide in a corner and cry.
They had no idea I was now a fitness influencer with millions of followers, much less that the luxury estate they had rented for the wedding belonged to me.
I replied in the comments, "No need for a bridesmaid dress. I'll be there on time."
This time, I would tear down her perfect facade myself and give Ella a wedding she would never forget.
Chapter 1
Seconds after I posted my reply, our high school group chat filled with people tagging me.
"That plagiarist actually has the nerve to show up? Isn't she afraid she'll fall through the floor?"
"That's Blue Rose Manor! It costs $300,000 a day to rent. Has she ever even seen a place that luxurious?"
"No bridesmaid dress? Ha! She probably can't squeeze into one and is just making excuses!"
"God, what vehicle could even carry you now? Try calling a tank!"
Jack posted a posed gym photo. "Fellas, just wait until the wedding. I'm going to lift two hundred pounds in front of everyone. Better start training my lower back now so I don't break it on the big day."
The chat howled. "Hold on tight during the first dance, Jack. Don't let her send you flying."
No matter how many years went by, their cruelty never changed.
Ella stepped in to smooth things over. "They're just teasing, Sophie. Don't be nervous. I already had your bridesmaid dress made five sizes larger, so it'll be nice and roomy."
And then she slid the knife in.
"If going up five sizes still isn't enough, there's really nothing I can do. That's as large as the bridal shop goes."
This was what Ella did best. She played the good girl while driving the knife as deep into my heart as she could.
Back then, I pulled three all-nighters creating my competition entry, only for Ella to see it and steal it for herself.
Using my work, she won a gold medal in the statewide competition and secured a recommendation letter for admission to an elite university.
Stolen work always comes back to haunt you. Afraid she would be exposed, Ella went on the offensive, spreading rumors to smear me and accusing me of plagiarizing her work.
I was shy and terrible at defending myself, and Ella was one of the most popular girls in school, so no one believed me.
In public, she made a show of standing up for me, cementing her image as the school's beautiful, kindhearted golden girl. In private, she watched coldly and let the entire school bully me.
The stigma of being called a plagiarist clung to me. For all four years of high school, I couldn't escape the cruelty Ella had unleashed.
I scrolled and screenshotted every sneering comment.
The page refreshed, revealing another phony show of concern from Ella in the comments.
"Don't be so harsh, everyone. Sophie was actually very kind back then. She brought Jack breakfast every day, even though he threw it straight in the trash every time."
Jack replied instantly, "Oh my God, shut up! If I hadn't lost that bet to you guys, do you really think I would've said a single word to someone like her?"
As I read those words, Jack's face flashed through my mind.
The day I walked out of the school gates covered in mud, with the laughter coming from every direction, Jack was the only one who pushed through the crowd and shouted at them to stop.
He handed me a pack of tissues, his voice gentle. "Here, wipe yourself off. You'll catch a cold."
That was the first kindness I'd known in all the darkness of that school.
From that moment on, I fell for him completely.
When he sprained his ankle playing ball, I ran three blocks through a downpour to buy him anti-inflammatory cream. When he complained that his math homework was tedious, I stayed up all night imitating his handwriting and filled an entire workbook for him.
He never showed the disgust everyone else did. He would say, "Sophie, you're really sweet."
Then, just before graduation, I gathered every scrap of courage I had and handed him my love letter.
He accepted it with a smile. Then he went straight to the broadcast booth and read my love letter theatrically over the PA to thousands of students. At the end, he scoffed, "From now on, stay the hell away from me. I'm allergic to pigs."
The moment the broadcast cut off, the entire school building erupted in laughter.
Only when I heard my classmates laughing did I realize the whole thing had been a vicious bet.
I had been fooling myself. To him, I was only a twisted trophy he could use to impress Ella.
Chapter 2
Several humiliating intimate photos appeared in the chat one after another.
The photos showed me huddled in the corner of a dim girls' restroom stall after Jack's fangirls had forcibly stripped off my top. I was covering my chest and sobbing helplessly.
Blood rushed to my head. My fingers shook with rage as I typed, "Jack! Delete those photos right now!"
Jack sent a voice message. "Sophie, delete them? Why? Let everyone take a good look. How are you still this insecure after all these years?
"To be fair, there was one good thing about you back then. You had one hell of a rack.
"We were young. We were just messing around. It was so long ago. You're not petty enough to still hold it against us, are you?"
Did he really think "we were young" could erase the inhuman torment they had put me through?
A few people in the chat piled on. "All that flab spilling out, and it doesn't gross you out, Jack?"
Behind me, my assistant Anna caught sight of the screen and turned livid with rage.
"What is this? This is outright cyber harassment and bullying! They've lost their minds!
"I'm having Legal send cease-and-desist letters right now. They'll take everything down and apologize immediately!"
I raised a hand and held Anna's trembling wrist. "It's all right. The harder they laugh now, the more humiliated they'll be when the time comes."
Anna looked at me, her eyes reddening.
She had been at my side for five years and knew better than anyone the hell I had endured.
High-intensity fasted cardio at five every morning.
Oil-free meals weighed to the gram.
Countless times, I collapsed from exhaustion in the weight room, got back up, and kept deadlifting.
It took me seven full years to take off ninety pounds.
I went from a self-conscious two-hundred-pound girl to a professional fitness influencer with fifteen percent body fat.
On social media, my fitness account had six million genuine followers.
The screen went dark, and my reflection stared back at me.
A defined jawline. A sharp gaze. Not a trace of my former timidity remained.
Ella. Jack.
At your wedding at the manor in two days, I would give you both a gift you'd remember for the rest of your lives.
That morning, just after my workout, my social media notifications showed 99+.
When I unlocked my phone, the old video Ella had posted the night before had become the top trending topic in the city.
Ella had perfected the art of turning the truth on its head. Posing as the righteous victim, she wrote in the most-liked comment, "She copied my work back then and refused to admit it. She even tried to come between Jack and me!
"Our classmates were just angry on my behalf. Maybe they went a little too far, but please don't attack them. They're good people."
Her followers erupted. Within seconds, vicious abuse flooded the comment section:
"A disgusting plagiarist who's fat, nasty, and trying to steal another woman's man? She deserved to be shoved into that mud pit!"
The hateful comments kept pouring in, broken only by a few tentative questions.
"Wait, the girl they shoved into the mud is named Sophie? Doesn't she look a little like Sophie Aubert, the fitness influencer with six million followers?"
Ella replied with a string of smirking emojis.
"Don't be ridiculous. She's a fat girl from a farm in the middle of nowhere. How could she be a top influencer living in a New York penthouse?"
Jack quickly replied, "Exactly. A fat pig who does nothing but plagiarize is probably still on some run-down farm!"
Chapter 3
Those humiliating memories flooded back, leaving my chest tight with panic.
I was only a little chubby when I transferred in. Just because I got a perfect score on a test and stole Ella's spotlight, she singled me out for ridicule.
At lunch, she would pretend to slip and knock the tray from my hands. Then she would gloat, "Maybe eat less, or you'll break the cafeteria chairs!"
Laughter erupted around us.
After that, I heard oinking behind me wherever I went. It became a nightmare I could never shake.
The cruelty snowballed. My insecurity became so crushing that binge eating became my only outlet for the pain, and I eventually ballooned to two hundred pounds.
My phone buzzed.
It was our high school class president, the only person in our class who had never oinked at me.
"Sophie, are you really going to the wedding in two days? Ella and the others have planned a whole prank to humiliate you. Please don't go and let them humiliate you again."
That rare kindness warmed me a little, and I answered honestly, "Thank you. But I have to go."
My estate manager, Harrison Spencer, sent me several screenshots. "Ms. Aubert, Ms. Reese is asking for a discount."
I opened them. Ella was relentlessly using her status as an influencer with several hundred thousand followers to pressure him.
She was shamelessly demanding that he waive the $300,000 venue fee.
When Harrison refused, Ella changed tactics completely. Several extremely explicit photos popped up in the chat.
The photos showed Ella posing suggestively. "Mr. Spencer, the $300,000 venue fee is way over our budget.
"Couldn't you make an exception? If you're willing, I could give you something you'd enjoy tonight. Just the two of us."
She had taken my estate manager for the wealthy owner.
I scoffed and saved the entire sordid exchange.
"Harrison, tell her no.
"And let it slip that if she doesn't pay, the date goes to the next client."
Ella had been vain since childhood, always putting on airs and telling anyone who would listen that her parents belonged to Manhattan's elite.
The truth?
Her parents cleaned rooms at a run-down motel in Brooklyn for barely more than minimum wage.
Even now, as a minor influencer making a little money from low-end sponsorships, how could she ever satisfy that bottomless vanity?
The real fool in all this was Jack.
He was still smug about being on the verge of marrying a glamorous, accomplished, perfect bride.
The phone buzzed again.
Harrison sent another update. "Ms. Aubert, Ms. Reese just maxed out five credit cards to finish paying the $100,000 deposit."
I raised an eyebrow. To keep up appearances, she was willing to bury herself in credit-card debt and see the wedding through.
"Harrison, bring our top-of-the-line equipment package out of storage.
"Since Ms. Reese is willing to spend this much, we should give her the finest service the estate can offer.
"On behalf of the estate, provide her with a massive 4K LED wall free of charge. Set it up behind the main stage."
They clearly enjoyed posting my old videos online for everyone to laugh at.
So it was time I returned the favor. A wedding this grand deserved a special show to liven things up.
Chapter 4
I switched chats and hinted to a few influencer friends with eight-figure followings that they might want to attend Ella's wedding because there would be something worth seeing.
The moment I sent the message, my phone started lighting up nonstop.
None of my friends could resist a spectacle. They immediately swarmed Ella's account, all declaring that they wanted to "witness this dream wedding."
Their attention sent Ella's ego soaring.
Within three minutes, more than ten screenshots popped up in the high school group chat, all showing Ella bragging about the influencers' comments.
The sycophants in the chat immediately began fawning all over her.
Tom Brooks, Ella's number-one lackey in high school, started taking bets. "A hundred bucks says Sophie chickens out and doesn't show up in two days!"
"I'll match that hundred! If she actually shows her face, I'll eat this marble table whole!"
Ella immediately replied with a smirking sticker.
"Don't be so mean. I've already had the bridesmaid dress put on display at the entrance. I even ordered an extra-wide chair just for her. If she doesn't come, all that effort will go to waste."
A wave of praise followed.
"Ella's beautiful inside and out. If it were me, I'd have security throw her out!"
I tapped out a reply. "I'll bet $10,000. I'll be there on time two days from now, and I'll make sure none of you ever forget it."
The chat went wild.
Tom was the first to pile on. "Ten grand? Sophie, did working at some fast-food joint fry your brain?"
Ella followed with a voice message, every word dripping with that familiar mock concern. "Sophie, if you don't have the money, don't pretend you do. You got good grades, sure, but that doesn't guarantee a good job. There's no need to show off money you don't have in the group chat. If you lose, Jack isn't going to bail you out."
I ignored their taunts and transferred $10,000 to the escrow account set up for the bet.
System notice: [Sophie Aubert has deposited $10,000.]
The chat exploded again.
"Oh my God, she's serious?"
"Where would she get that kind of money?"
"She probably borrowed it from an online lender. She'll do anything to keep up appearances."
Ella sent another voice message. "Well, if Sophie's that confident, we'll all see for ourselves in two days. Ten a.m. on the lawn at Blue Rose Manor. Be sure not to be late."
I picked up my cold coffee and drained it in one swallow. "Don't worry. I'm not running.
"I'm looking forward to it. My only worry is that your wedding won't be grand enough."
Three seconds later, Ella fired back, "You just wait and see!"
She had wanted to watch me be jealous and humiliated, and had not expected to be challenged in front of everyone.
Minutes later, Ella made a splashy announcement on her profile, unveiling the wedding's ultimate luxury upgrades.
The champagne in the tower was upgraded to Armand de Brignac. Every flower was replaced with Bulgarian roses flown in for the occasion, and she even hired three string ensembles, each charging a six-figure fee.
I couldn't help but find it amusing as the extravagant charges piled up.
Congratulations, Jack.
The morning after next, Jack would finally get his wish and marry a perfect bride carrying over a million dollars in debt.
Chapter 5
At nine that morning, cars packed the area outside Blue Rose Manor.
I sat before the floor-to-ceiling windows in the master bedroom, with a clear view of the entrance below.
Tom had his phone out and was livestreaming.
"Look at this, boys.
"This is Blue Rose Manor, the most luxurious venue in the region.
"We aren't just here for a wedding today. We're here to witness a miracle."
He waggled his eyebrows at the camera. "And Sophie, the girl who used to weigh two hundred pounds, is coming today too."
The livestream chat instantly flooded with comments.
"If she gets inside, she'll stomp straight through the floor."
Ella stood beneath the flower arch in her white wedding gown, greeting guests, while Jack stood smugly beside her.
Behind them hung an absurd dress.
Pink, and as wide as a tent.
A sign hung from it: "CUSTOM BRIDESMAID DRESS FOR SOPHIE."
A few of the women pulled out their phones to snap pictures of the oversized dress.
"Is that thing made out of a parachute?"
"Ella's so thoughtful. She even had it custom-made just for Sophie."
"When Sophie puts that on, she'll be the center of attention."
Tom aimed the camera at the lawn entrance as several people excitedly discussed how they planned to humiliate me when I arrived.
Ella tagged me in the group chat. "Sophie, the ceremony's about to start. You didn't chicken out on the way over, did you? Scared you'll embarrass yourself?"
The others jeered, "Guess that two-hundred-plus-pound hunk of lard can't get moving. What a joke!"
"Jack, if she really rolls up, be gracious. You promised her the first dance."
Jack adjusted his bow tie and sneered. "Relax. I've already got a ridiculous dance track queued up. It's perfect for her."
I replied, "I'm here. About to make my entrance."
Tom stood at center stage with a microphone and called out excitedly, "Now, let's welcome today's most special guest!"
The crowd erupted in rowdy cheers, trading knowing looks as they waited for their prank to land.
"Five!"
"Four!"
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
Barely suppressed snickers threaded through the countdown.
On cue, the ornate white gates at the lawn entrance slowly swung open.
But the next moment, the entire lawn fell dead silent.
A fitted, deep-red mermaid gown hugged a flawless hourglass figure.
The plunging back revealed sharply defined shoulder blades and the clean line of my spine. Long golden waves spilled loosely over one shoulder, and crimson lips completed the cool, glamorous look. My presence was impossible to ignore.
I walked toward the center of the lawn in four-inch heels, one step at a time.
The classmates around me froze with their phones raised, forgetting even to tap the shutter.
Jack's champagne glass wobbled, splashing champagne down his pant leg.
The smile froze on Ella's face and her eyes went wide.
Several of my male classmates in the front row held their breath and stared straight at me.
"Who... who is that?"
"Has some supermodel wandered into the wrong venue?"
"That's the bridesmaid? Did Ella bring in a celebrity?"