He Said I Was Too Ugly... Now I'm His Fiancée

Ever since that dinner, every day felt like a silent punishment. I walked through the halls like a ghost—only now, people had decided I was worth noticing. Not kindly.

Before, they bumped into me without seeing me. Now, they stepped aside… just to stare and laugh.

— "That's Kaelan's fiancée."

— "This must be some cosmic joke."

— "He must've lost a bet. Or gone blind."

I just want to disappear. Sink into the floor. Make my legs stop shaking. Make them stop talking. Please… just stop.

Even my locker wasn't safe anymore. Someone had taped a photoshopped image of me—turned into a witch—holding Kaelan on a leash.

They're not ignoring me anymore. They want to crush me. To make me pay for existing. Like I stole something. Like being engaged to him is a crime.

But the worst part… is that I caught myself looking for him. Like an idiot. Hoping for a sign. A glance. A word. Anything. But Kaelan stayed exactly the same—cold, distant, unreadable.

Until that day.

A notice went up all around school. A party organized by the student committee. Everyone was going. Everyone except… me, obviously. And yet, I received an invite. Not officially. No. An anonymous note slipped into my locker.

"We're expecting you. Kaelan will be there. Dress like a real fiancée."

Why did I want to go? Maybe part of me wanted to believe I was being accepted. That someone was reaching out. Or maybe… maybe I just wanted to see him. Be seen by him. Really seen.

That night, I put on my blue dress—the one Mom used to love. I redid my hair three times. Even added a bit of lip gloss. Staring at myself in the mirror, I tried to believe it.

You can do this. You're not ugly. You're not stupid. You're Liora. You deserve to exist.

But the moment I stepped into the hall, I knew. It was a trap.

Spotlights hit me. All eyes turned my way. A strange hush settled over the room. Then the giant screen lit up. My heart stopped.

A video. Of me. Tripping in the school courtyard. My books scattered, tights ripped, a piece of gum stuck to my shoe. Slowed down, zoomed in, edited to humiliate. And the caption in glowing letters:

"Liora Bennett, the luckiest girl alive. She got Kaelan… and this is what she brings to the table. Hah hah"

Laughter. Applause. Phones recording. And me—frozen.

I'm an insect. A joke. A mistake. Why am I still breathing?

— "Turn that off. Now."

A deep voice. Hard. Icy. Kaelan.

He walked through the crowd like a storm. Everyone backed away instinctively. His eyes were blazing.

— "I said TURN IT OFF. Who did this? WHO?"

Silence. Heavier than the laughter before.

I wanted to thank him. Or scream. Or collapse. But I did nothing. Said nothing. My legs moved before my brain could. I ran. Out of that place, suffocating.

I sprinted home, heels in hand, face soaked with tears. And when I reached the front door, I broke down. Like a dam that had been cracking for too long.

Dad rushed out, panic in his voice.

— "Liora? Sweetheart, what happened?"

I couldn't speak. Just clung to him like a child. I collapsed into his arms, trembling.

— "Why me, Dad? Why me? What am I doing wrong, huh? Am I not pretty enough? Not good enough?"

He held me tighter. His voice shook.

— "You are more than enough, Liora. It's the world that's blind. Not you."

But no matter how kind his words were, they couldn't fix what I was feeling.

Later that night, as I lay in bed, I found myself thinking about Kaelan.

Why did he defend me? Was it pity? Guilt? And why… why did some part of me feel moved by it?

I didn't sleep. I stared at the ceiling. In silence. And somewhere in that silence, something shifted.

Not around me.

Inside me.