After I Lost Weight They Knelt And Begged For Forgiveness Chapter 05
Twenty pairs of eyes locked onto me all at once.
The guy closest to the door blanked out for a few seconds, then jumped to his feet.
“Hey, gorgeous. Who are you looking for?”
Another one hurried to push a chair aside.
“You in the wrong room?”
“Whatever, come in. Join us.”
The same crowd that had been whining about not having enough chairs a minute ago couldn’t have been friendlier now.
Someone even cleared the seat right next to Jenna.
“Sit here, beautiful.”
I didn’t move. I looked at the center of the room.
The two chairs pushed together.
The digital scale.
That oversized old shirt still hanging on the wall.
【RESERVED FOR SIENNA REED · EXTRA WIDE.】
Someone followed my gaze. Their face went stiff.
“Oh, that… old friends messing around.”
“The person we’re waiting for hasn’t shown up yet.”
“Don’t get the wrong idea, gorgeous.”
I nearly laughed out loud.
So they knew. They knew this kind of joke didn’t belong in the light.
At the center of the couch, Ryan had already straightened up.
From the moment I walked in, his eyes hadn’t left me.
Ashley noticed. Her grip on his arm tightened.
“You know her?”
“No.”
Ryan denied it, but stood up on his own anyway. His tone had softened noticeably.
“This is a high school reunion.”
“Are you sure you’re in the right place?”
I looked at him. Said nothing.
Back in high school, I used to stand outside his classroom every morning, waiting for him.
He’d thought I was an embarrassment. Never once looked me in the eye.
Now I was standing right in front of him.
And he couldn’t even recognize me.
Jenna was sizing me up too.
The smile on her face had faded.
Especially once the guys started murmuring to each other under their breath.
“Who is she? She’s gorgeous.”
“Better looking than Jenna.”
“Not even close. Different league entirely.”
Jenna’s fingers tightened around her wine glass.
She forced a smile.
“You in our graduating class too?”
“Because I don’t remember you.”
“You’re not, like, part of the hotel staff, are you?”
She hit the word “staff” hard, trying to claw back some ground.
I still didn’t answer. I walked straight into the room.
Every eye in the place followed me.
A couple of guys pulled out their phones and quietly fixed their hair.
The one who’d led the “service elevator” jokes earlier stepped up with a drink in hand.
“Beautiful, let me introduce myself.”
“I’m Zach. Class next door.”
I didn’t take the drink.
I stopped right in front of the two chairs that had been shoved together.
Jenna saw it and smiled instantly.
“That seat’s taken.”
“It’s reserved for an old classmate of ours.”
“She’s a little… unique in build. One chair might not hold her.”
A couple of laughs went around the room.
Ashley gave me a slow once-over. Then she opened her mouth, her voice dripping with mock sympathy.
“Someone as thin as you wouldn’t get it.”
“Some people can eat in one sitting what would last others three days.”
Ryan frowned at her.
“Ease up.”
Ashley’s face flushed instantly.
“Ryan, why do you care?”
Ryan scrambled to explain.
“I don’t care about her.”
“I just don’t see the point of saying stuff like that in front of a stranger.”
Stranger.
I slowly slipped the coat off my shoulders and draped it over the back of a chair.
The black velvet gown was fully visible now.
Waist cinched to perfection.
The room went silent again.
Ryan was staring at me, his gaze suddenly hot.
“What’s your name?”
He even took two steps forward.
I glanced over at that old shirt on the wall, then swept my eyes across the room.
“You really don’t recognize me.”
“Let me introduce myself properly.”
I looked up. Every word deliberate.
“I’m Sienna Reed.”