Lily had always been beautiful. Wherever she went, she was the center of attention, a star. Naturally, she had a bit of a “little princess” attitude. In the past, I had always stood behind her, happy to be at her side. But now that I had stolen some of the spotlight, it was clear she felt unsettled.

I poured her a glass of wine and offered it to her with a smile.

“We haven’t seen each other in a year, Lily and you’re still as beautiful as ever.”

Lily crossed her arms, refusing to take the glass. She glanced at me sideways, her expression sour.

“How could I compare to you? After all, you worked so hard to become beautiful.”

Sophie chimed in, “Exactly! You’ve always been beautiful, ever since we were kids.”

At that moment, Jason Miller tried to diffuse the tension, “Come on, Lily, don’t be so bitter. Just because you can’t outshine her it doesn’t mean you should drag her down.”

Lily’s face turned red, then pale. Her lips trembled as if she were about to snap.

Looking at my friend’s angry face, I hurriedly downplayed the situation.

“Oh, stop it! I’m just a skinny person now, nothing special.”

Then, out of habit, I made a silly face to lighten the mood.

“See? Even pretty girls can still make goofy faces!”

Everyone laughed and teased me like before, but this time, instead of mocking my weight, they awkwardly praised my appearance.

Suddenly, I felt something cold on my face—water dripping down from my hair.

I looked up to see Lily standing with an empty wine glass, her face flushed with rage.

“What are you so smug about? Do you really think that losing weight means people will forget how disgusting you used to look?”

Even though I was used to harsh words, today’s humiliation was on another level. Worse yet, the one who embarrassed me was my best friend, Lily.

I had always thought she was sincere. She was the only one who knew I was on a strict diet. She had even told me not to push myself too hard and often invited me out for big meals, almost tempting me to break my diet.

Later, I made a pact with her that we wouldn’t meet again until I succeeded. Lily had joked, “Don’t be gone forever!”

“To see you, I’ll have to lose some weight too!”

Could it be that she never wanted me to succeed?

Why would she tear me down now, just when I was finally building my confidence?

I covered my face and ran home, collapsed onto my bed in tears.

What was so wrong with being fat? I had already lost the weight—was I doomed to carry this shame forever?

Just then, my phone dinged. I glanced at the screen and my heart sank.

Lily had sent over ten photos to our group chat—all of them were of me at 180 pounds, wearing nothing but underwear.

In the photos, I was drenched in sweat, my fat rolling over itself, greasy beads of perspiration clinging to my body. I could practically smell the sweat through the screen. I looked pitiful and filthy, like melted ice cream pooling in someone’s hand.

One of the photos showed a purple sundress pulled over my head. I remembered that day vividly—Lily had dragged me along to the mall, insisting me to try on dresses. I couldn’t even fit into the largest size. It was August and the heat was unbearable. I struggled to put on the dress, sweat pouring from me. Lily laughed beside me.

“Forget it, Emma West. You’ll rip the seams.”

The clerk handed me the sweat-soaked dress, looking me up and down with disgust.

“If you’re that fat, why even bother trying? You’ll just ruin it for the next person.”

Humiliated, I spent $84 on that dress, which has since gathered dust in my closet.

I had no idea Lily had taken pictures that day.

My humiliating photos were on full display in the group chat.

I knew Lily could be arrogant, but I never imagined she could be this cruel.

I messaged her privately, begging her to take them down. She didn’t reply.

Two agonizing minutes passed and the group chat stayed very quiet—no one spoke, as if they were all silently enjoying my humiliation.

Then Lily sent another message:

“Set Emma West’s photo as your wallpaper. So inspirational!”

She included a screenshot—her chat background was one of those photos of me changing clothes.

My hands shook as I held my phone, a sense of dread washing over me.

I opened her social media feed and saw that the photos had already been posted publicly.

The comments below made my skin crawl:

“Eyesore.”

“This post is criminal.”

“Who’s this? Emma West?”

“Doing all sorts of wild things now, huh?”

I felt a surge of helplessness. I had never wronged them. I had tolerated everything, humbled myself to the point where I barely had any self-respect left.

I thought that if I were submissive enough, they’d accept me.

But I was wrong.

Some people can’t stand to see you doing better. The more you give in, the more they take from you, until all they want to do is crush you.

I wiped away my tears. This year, the biggest change wasn’t on the outside, but within my heart. Day after day of intense training had shown me that my potential was far greater than I ever imagined. I realized that I, Emma West, was no less capable than anyone else.

I decided to report the matter to the Public Security Bureau.

“How is someone sentenced for leaking my private photos in a social circle?”