The Chubby Bride's Glow Up

With a soft beep, the lock clicked open.

Darkness filled the room, and the smell of fir washed over Ashley Spencer.

A shiver ran through her, and an inexplicable sense of dread settled in her stomach.

"Mr. Mitchell? I've brought the documents you asked for."

Ashley desperately needed the remaining payment to pay for her mother's surgery. At her stepmother Vera Spencer's insistence, she had ventured out into the rain late at night and come to the hotel to deliver the documents to one of their business partners.

No response came from the darkness.

She had barely had time to register the silence when a scorching hand suddenly seized her wrist.

In the next instant, she was dragged forward and crashed against a chest that felt as solid as steel.

The man was tall, broad, and immensely strong. Heat poured from his muscular body, sending an uncontrollable tremor through Ashley.

"Who gave you permission to come in?" The man's voice was deep and captivating, but it held a chilling edge.

Ashley's mind went blank.

Wasn't David Mitchell supposed to be sixty years old?

But the body standing before her, along with the voice coming from it, clearly belonged to a man in the prime of his life.

"I... I'm here to collect the final payment of five hundred thousand dollars," Ashley managed to say, her voice so faint it was barely audible.

She had barely finished speaking when he seized both her hands and forced them above her head, trapping her against the cold wall.

"Five hundred thousand dollars?" He let out a cold laugh as his hot breath brushed against her neck. "That's the going price for a corporate spy now?"

"I'm not a corporate spy..." Ashley tried to explain, but he suddenly forced his body against her, and the rest of her words caught in her throat.

Connor Wallace had been drugged by his business partners. After resisting the effects for so long, his ability to think rationally was hanging by a thread.

The moment Ashley ended up in his arms, the last trace of his self-control gave way.

And this woman... her cool, rain-soaked skin seemed to be the only thing that could offer him relief.

He could no longer restrain himself. He released Ashley's hands, abruptly turned her around, and began ripping at her clothes. He pressed his face into the curve of her neck, breathing heavily as he sought relief against her skin.

"What are you doing?" Ashley cried, panic surging through her.

The truth became clear to her in an instant. The late-night errand had been part of a trap arranged by Vera.

"Let me go!" Ashley pushed against the man with every bit of strength she had, but a sudden wave of weakness swept over her, leaving her dizzy and light-headed.

She had been drugged. Terror gripped her as the realization sank in.

"Too late." Connor raised his head and forced his mouth onto hers in a punishing, possessive kiss.

Ashley no longer had the strength to resist. As his lips remained against hers, an unwelcome spark of heat stirred deep inside her.

Maybe the drug was affecting her, but Ashley began to crave his touch despite herself. Her arms even slid around his waist, drawing him closer.

He moved over her skin with desperate urgency. His hot breath brushed against her face before his lips found hers once again.

The kiss grew more intense, leaving her struggling for breath as a tremor ran through her body.

Somehow, they made their way unsteadily toward the bed. Their clothes fell off one after another until they were stark naked.

Connor pushed her down onto the mattress. In the darkness, every sensation seemed heightened, while the room filled only with the sound of their uneven breathing.

He held her close, taking her again and again until she was driven to a blinding peak of pleasure.

It was not until the first light of dawn that they finally surrendered to exhaustion and fell into sleep.

...

It was finally morning.

A shrill phone ringtone pierced the quiet, dragging Ashley out of her restless sleep.

"Ms. Spencer, your mother's condition has turned critical. Please get to the hospital immediately!"

Ashley went pale. Despite the deep soreness weighing on her entire body, she quickly climbed out of bed and stumbled out of the room, not sparing the man beside her a single look.

The door slammed shut behind her.

The noise pulled Connor out of his deep sleep.

His eyes opened instantly. The spot beside him was empty. All that remained of the woman was a faint, sweet fragrance lingering in the room and some strands of silky hair scattered across the pillow.

Memories of the previous night rushed back into his mind.

That woman... Although he had never seen her face in the darkness, being with her had felt strangely right.

Connor pushed himself upright and ran his long fingers over the rumpled sheets. His eyes turned dark and a dangerous light appeared in them.

In all of Aresding, no one had ever dared take advantage of him and then leave without a word.

He reached for his phone and called his executive assistant, Devin Foster. His voice was cold and cutting.

"Find the woman who was in my room last night. Search every corner of the city if necessary. I want her found. Bring her to me."

Ashley staggered from the hotel and stepped into the heavy rain.

Without an umbrella, she was drenched within seconds by the freezing downpour. She hardly noticed the cold because her mother was all she could think about.

"Mom, please hold on... I got the money. I can save you now!"

Ashley raced to the hospital room of her mother, Julia Miller, and slammed into the door, but it refused to open.

The lock had been secured from inside.

"Mom? Can you hear me?" Panic seized Ashley as she desperately fought with the doorknob.

One glance through the small window in the door destroyed everything she knew.

Her stepmother, Vera, and her stepsister, Chloe Spencer, were beside the hospital bed.

Vera calmly straightened the bottom of her fitted dress. Chloe stood next to her and recorded the scene on her phone. She shook with delighted laughter while Julia convulsed on the bed.

Both of them laughed as Julia fought for every breath. They watched her die with cruel smiles on their faces.

"Unlock this door! Vera, you fucking monster! Let me in!"

Ashley rammed her shoulder against the door repeatedly and paid no attention to the pain spreading through it.

After several failed attempts, the lock finally broke with a loud crack, and the door flew open.

She rushed toward the bed, but no sound came from her throat.

Julia was no longer breathing.

Her wide eyes stared at the ceiling. Even in death, they held a fierce unwillingness to surrender.

"Mom... Please, Mom!"

The sight of her mother's lifeless body filled Ashley with unbearable hatred.

"Vera Spencer!" Grief and fury drove Ashley toward her stepmother. "You promised to pay for my mom's treatment if I took those documents to David! You tricked me! You murdered her, and I'll kill you!"

Two bodyguards tackled Ashley before she could lay a hand on Vera.

"Get off me! You animals! You're all murderers!"

The sound of a slap rang through the room.

Vera had slapped Ashley across the face. Then she pressed the narrow heel of her stiletto into Ashley's hand and ground it down.

Splintering pain tore through Ashley's arm and forced a scream from her.

Vera grabbed Ashley by the hair and yanked her head back. "You're just like your mother. Both of you are so stupid."

"Look at her, Mom. Does she look anything like a lady from the Spencer family?" Chloe raised her phone and took a picture of Ashley's humiliation. "She's a fat pig who weighs over two hundred pounds, and she's begging on the floor. If I posted this, who'd believe she was a Spencer?"

"She weighs over two hundred pounds. Indeed, she's like a pig now," Vera sneered. "I suppose all that medication worked exactly as planned."

Ashley stiffened as shock widened her eyes. "What medication are you talking about? What did you give me?"

Her weight had risen without explanation for three years, despite every diet and workout she'd tried.

She'd taken only the antidepressants prescribed by Richard Bennett, their personal doctor.

"Richard was working with you?"

"You finally figured it out." Chloe bent down and patted Ashley's cheek with an evil grin. "Richard is my mother's half-brother, which makes him my uncle. Those pills weren't medicine. He gave you a banned hormone in high doses. You and your mother thought he was saving you. How pathetic."

The truth struck Ashley so hard that pain seemed to tear through her chest.

"Here's something else you should know. Your mom died because she heard the truth." Chloe bent closer to Ashley and whispered cruelly into her ear, "Once she knew what happened to her precious daughter, the heartbreak was so bad that she could barely breathe."

"I'll kill you!" Ashley fought with all her strength, but the bodyguards kept her pinned. Her forehead struck the cold tile floor with a sickening thud.

Vera kicked Ashley aside with disgust. "Come on, Chloe. She can stay here and cry over her dead mother. Someone this pathetic could never threaten us."

"Mom, the old hag is finally dead, and Dad won't even admit this fat pig is his daughter. Everything the Spencers own belongs to us now..."

Their satisfied voices gradually disappeared down the hallway, leaving Ashley sprawled on the floor. She stayed beside her mother's cooling body.

A young nurse eventually stepped forward. Her hands trembled as she gave Ashley a letter and a bank card. "Your mother left these with me. She wanted you to have them if she didn't make it."

Ashley unfolded the letter with shaking hands, but her tears soon made the words difficult to read.

"My dearest Ashley, please forgive me for lying to you. I still had some money saved, but I couldn't spend it on treatment that had no chance of working. Use it to leave Aresding and create a better life for yourself. No matter what happens, I'll always love you."

"Mom!" Ashley wrapped her arms around her mother's body and wept until every breath became painful.

Vera, Chloe, and Richard would pay. So would Michael Spencer, her own father, who'd allowed his ex-wife and daughter to suffer.

She swore that each of them would repay their debt with blood.

From that day forward, Ashley Spencer no longer existed.

Ashley Miller took her place.

She adopted her mother's surname and vanished into the countryside. Martha Cooper had worked as a servant for years and had helped Ashley before, so she offered her shelter. Once there, Ashley began the painful work of changing herself.

Desperate to lose the weight caused by the hormones, she pushed her body far beyond its limits.

During her worst attempt, Ashley survived on water alone for an entire week and starved herself until she collapsed.

Martha cried and begged her to stop. Yet every time Ashley shut her eyes, she saw her mother's lifeless gaze again.

One year passed.

Ashley barely recognized the woman reflected in the mirror.

She stood five foot five and weighed roughly one hundred sixteen pounds. Her figure had become naturally balanced.

Every trace of swelling had disappeared from her face. Beneath it were the same beautiful features that had once made Julia famous throughout Aresding.

Her deep-set eyes and high-bridged nose gave her a cool beauty, while her long, slightly upturned eyes added an alluring edge.

Her phone screen suddenly lit up with a message from Martha. "Chloe has a blind date with Connor Wallace today. He's from the wealthiest family in Aresding. They're meeting in the Wisteria Room at Epoch Restaurant. I'll hold her up, but the rest is up to you, Ashley!"

Ashley typed a brief response. "I've got this."

Everyone in Aresding knew Connor held more power than anyone else.

Ashley refused to let Chloe get her hands on him.

She slipped into a bold red dress and headed for Epoch Restaurant.

...

Inside Wisteria Room at Epoch Restaurant, irritation showed on Connor's face as he rested against the leather sofa. His family had already forced him to meet eight women that day, which made the next woman the ninth.

Only his grandmother's critical illness had convinced him to come.

These businesslike arrangements disgusted him. The fake women who participated in them bothered him even more.

Still, his mind often returned to one woman from a year ago.

Darkness had hidden her face on the night they spent together.

He'd spent the past year searching for her, but every attempt had failed.

"Mr. Wallace, your date has arrived," his secretary said softly.

The private room's door opened.

Bright red immediately caught Connor's attention and made him go still.

Ashley appeared before him in a red dress. Her lips parted slightly, and the quiet beauty in her eyes caught him off guard.

Connor couldn't stop staring as his breath caught.

Why did she seem so familiar?

Connor examined the woman in front of him with a sharp stare.

For one brief moment, he wondered whether the woman from that night had finally shown up.

"Mr. Wallace, I've been standing for a while." Ashley looked away from his intense gaze and dug her nails into her palm. Then she managed a polite smile. "Can I sit down so we can talk?"

Connor remained silent and glanced toward the sofa on his left.

The moment Ashley sat down, he began studying her again.

Darkness had hidden the woman's face that night, but Connor still remembered how her entire body had felt beneath his hands.

That woman had possessed a fuller face and a soft, warm body. Even her sweet scent remained in his memory.

The woman in front of him, however, had finer features and a delicate face. She couldn't be the same woman.

Her figure also bore no resemblance to the one he remembered.

The Spencer woman's waist was remarkably slim, while the fuller curves of her body gave her a captivating beauty.

The mysterious woman from that night had felt softer, and her waist had been broader.

The Spencer daughter wasn't the woman he had been searching for.

Any interest Connor had shown quickly faded, and his expression became cold and distant.

"Tell me why I should pick you." He settled against the sofa and crossed his long legs with casual confidence. "Enough women want to become Mrs. Wallace to form a line all the way to the Aresding docks. What makes you different?"

"I'll do as I'm told," Ashley replied as she raised her eyes. Her voice remained gentle, but determination showed in her gaze.

Connor gave a quiet, humorless laugh. He leaned forward and gripped her chin with enough force to hurt. "The Wallace family already has plenty of maids who follow orders."

Pain crossed Ashley's face, but she refused to pull back. "A maid can't pretend to be your wife or give you what you need in bed. I also understand my position, and I'll never reach for anything that doesn't belong to me."

The defiance in her eyes brought back an unwelcome memory of the woman who'd slept with him and disappeared afterward.

Annoyance stirred inside Connor as his gaze grew colder.

"Many women would make good wives, but few men know how to appreciate one." Ashley smiled bitterly before using her greatest advantage. "My father spends all his time running after women and ignores everything else. If anyone understands what it's like to have a family that drags you down, it should be you."

Connor's grip on her chin suddenly tightened.

Everyone in Aresding knew Connor's parents had never loved each other. His father, Arthur Wallace, had also produced countless illegitimate children.

This woman was clearly trying to win his sympathy.

Connor recognized the strategy, yet he found that he didn't hold it against her.

"Sir," Devin chimed in at just the right time. "Your grandmother is losing patience, and we don't have another choice."

For three full minutes, Connor watched Ashley with such focus that she felt he might uncover every secret she carried.

"Put your signature on it."

Connor dropped a prenuptial agreement onto the table.

Ashley took the pen and signed her name at once without reading a single page.

"You're not even checking what you agreed to?" Connor asked with a raised eyebrow.

"All I care about is becoming Mrs. Wallace." She placed the pen aside and smiled brightly at him.

...

The courthouse stood beside the restaurant, and with the Wallace family's influence, they completed everything much faster than Ashley expected.

Once she received the marriage documents, Ashley glanced through the car window and saw Chloe hurrying toward the restaurant.

Ashley's lips curved into a cold smile.

Chloe's nightmare had only begun.

"Stay where you are," Connor instructed in a cold voice before starting the car.

"Where are you taking me?" Ashley's pulse jumped as she gripped the seat belt. "Mr. Wallace, it's the middle of the day..."

Could he already be planning to consummate their marriage?

The man she'd slept with that night had made her experience something incredible. Even so, Ashley wasn't ready to sleep with someone she'd met less than an hour ago.

Connor noticed how tense she'd become. "We're heading to the family estate. My grandmother is very sick, and she wants to see her new granddaughter-in-law."

Ashley relaxed and breathed out, though she couldn't hide a trace of emotion. "You married someone you barely know because of your grandmother. She must mean a lot to you."

"What did you say your name was?" Connor asked without warning.

Tension returned to Ashley's chest as sweat dampened her palms. "It's Ashley."

Connor didn't respond and pressed the accelerator to the floor.

Every part of the Wallace family estate displayed so much wealth that it felt overwhelming.

The crowd in the main living room left Ashley stunned as soon as she entered.

Dozens of Wallace family members waited inside and watched her with undisguised hostility.

Connor suddenly took her hand. His palm was dry and warm as he locked their fingers together.

Without showing any emotion, he brought Ashley directly to his grandmother, Eleanor Wallace, who sat in a wheelchair.

"Grandma, we're officially married."

Eleanor had appeared near death only moments ago, but the news brought her straight out of the wheelchair. "Finally! My grandson has learned some sense!"

Connor's face darkened. "Grandma, were you pretending to be sick?"

"Would you have rushed into marriage if I'd told you the truth?" Eleanor huffed with satisfaction before smiling warmly at Ashley. "Come closer, dear. Let me have a proper look at you, Chloe..."

Her voice stopped as soon as she saw Ashley clearly.

Shock wiped the smile from Eleanor's face, and suspicion sharpened her gaze. "You're not Chloe. Who are you?"