After I Lost Weight They Knelt And Begged For Forgiveness Chapter 04
At seven-ten, the car pulled up outside The Sterling Hotel.
The driver opened the door for me.
The moment I stepped out, the lobby manager was already hurrying over.
“Ms. Reed. Stellar’s reception is all ready.”
“Ms. Vance and Mr. Sterling are waiting for you on the rooftop.”
I checked the time.
Fifty minutes until the announcement went live at eight.
“I’m stopping by the third floor first. Old classmates.”
The manager paused for a beat before catching up.
“Would you like someone to accompany you?”
“No, thank you.”
I stepped into the elevator alone.
Just before the doors closed, a few young guys kept turning to look at me.
One of them even took two steps forward.
“Hey, gorgeous. Can I get your Instagram?”
I gave a polite shake of my head.
The elevator doors closed all the way.
My phone was still going off.
Someone in the group chat had just uploaded a live clip.
Twenty-something people were packed into the banquet room.
My old varsity T-shirt hung on the wall. The digital scale sat front and center. Two chairs had been pushed together with a sign taped to the back:
【RESERVED FOR SIENNA REED.】
Someone panned the camera toward the door.
“Seven-ten. Where the hell is she?”
“She’s not seriously giving up ten grand, is she?”
“At her size, she’s probably still making her way from the front door to the lobby.”
Jenna was at the head of the table, all sweet smiles.
“Everyone, be patient.”
“Sienna’s got pride. She probably made it downstairs and lost the nerve to come up.”
Then, deliberately, she swung the camera toward Ryan.
“Ryan, want to go down and escort her?”
Ashley, right next to him, immediately tightened her grip on his arm.
“Why does my boyfriend have to go down there?”
“She has legs.”
The room broke into laughter.
Ryan frowned.
“I already gave her a way out. She’s the one who insisted on coming.”
“If she’s crying in the lobby, that’s not my problem.”
Cold as ice.
He had no idea I’d already made it to the third floor.
The elevator doors slid open. I stepped out in my heels.
A hotel attendant in the hallway spotted me and rushed over.
“Miss, which private room are you looking for?”
I gave him the room number.
He blinked, visibly caught off guard.
“You’re here for the high school reunion tonight?”
“Yes.”
Something flickered across his face.
He’d clearly seen the shirt and the scale inside.
He pointed me in the right direction, but couldn’t stop himself from adding one more thing.
“There’s a woman inside who keeps asking if Ms. Reed has arrived in the lobby.”
I looked down the hallway.
“That would be me.”
The attendant just stood there, taking a long moment to snap out of it.
I kept walking.
My heels made almost no sound on the carpet.
In the chat, Jenna was already pushing to close out the bets.
【Time’s about up.】
【If she was actually coming, she’d be here by now.】
Someone jumped in immediately.
【Lock it in. No point waiting.】
【Sienna’s ten grand is about to be ours.】
【And Ryan. Free money, and he doesn’t even have to hug her.】
Ashley spoke up.
“Honestly, a hug wouldn’t have been that big of a deal.”
She leaned into Ryan’s shoulder, her laugh dripping with condescension.
“I’m not going to be jealous of a 220-pound woman.”
The laughter got louder.
Ryan laughed along.
“Yeah, better this way.”
“I’ve got work tomorrow. Wasn’t looking to spend tonight in the ER.”
I stopped just outside the door.
Through the wall, their voices came through even more clearly.
Someone had a suggestion.
“If Sienna isn’t showing, what a waste of the shirt and the scale.”
Jenna gave a soft laugh.
“How is it a waste?”
“After the bets close, I’ll recut her video and post it on TikTok.”
“Caption goes something like: 220-pound classmate too scared to show up to her own high school reunion.”
“Might even go viral.”
Ryan hesitated for a moment.
“Isn’t that a lot?”
Jenna didn’t miss a beat.
“So what? She’s been fat her whole life. A few nasty comments won’t kill her.”
“And if she actually tries to make something of it, we just say the old friends were joking around.”
That one throwaway line dragged me straight back to those three years of high school.
They dumped my lunch. Just a joke.
They forced me onto the scale. Just a joke.
They locked me in a bathroom stall. Just a joke.
As long as they could finish with “Why are you so sensitive?”, every act of cruelty came with its own built-in excuse.
I opened the voice recorder on my phone.
Inside, Jenna was already leading the countdown.
“Final ten seconds.”
“If she doesn’t show, that ten grand is ours.”
The room started chanting along.
“Ten!”
“Nine!”
“Eight!”
Ryan’s voice cut through the noise.
“I’ve been saying it. She was never going to show.”
“She brought me breakfast for three years in high school. Couldn’t even manage a sentence to my face.”
Ashley laughed.
“So she’s going to show up tonight and confess her love again?”
“Wouldn’t do her any good.”
Ryan gave a scornful little snort.
“I’m not a recycling bin for other people’s trash.”
Outside the door, I calmly raised my hand.
“Three!”
“Two!”
Jenna’s voice rang out, gleeful.
“One!”
One second before the countdown ended, I turned the handle.
The instant the door swung open, the laughter died.