Who Would Want Someone Your Size?

My question didn't elicit much reaction from him. He simply pulled the woman in the white wedding dress near him by the waist and faced me with a sneer on his face. His brows scrunched together as he rigidly spoke.

"She is my bride. I told you not to contact me, we are done." 

His words fell like literal bombs on my head. Everything turned red and my ears rang. 

My whole life with Andy flashed in front of my eyes. Hurt crawled into my heart and, like a vicious beast, shredded it with its sharpened claws. 

This was not what I had anticipated when I woke up this morning. Maybe I was stuck in a nightmare and needed to wake up. 

But no, this was real…. This was happening. 

Irrespective of how it coiled in the pits of my stomach, I kept my spine straight. I wasn't going to crumble in front of a cheater and liar. 

"W–why? Was our whole relationship a joke for you? How can you betray me like that?" I asked, my voice upping a notch. 

My shocked eyes wavered at the slim woman on his arm. Her pristine white dress was expensive, and her figure screamed. She was one of those keto fanatics I always watched on socials and wondered how they did such an extreme diet. 

She seemed unperturbed by the proceeding but stayed quiet. There was a mocking smile on her face. Our families were well known in Angel City, so it was highly unlikely she wasn't aware of the relationship Andy and I shared. 

Andy thrust his free hand into his pants pocket and looked down at me as if staring at a spec of dirt on his impeccably polished pair of Santoni shoes. 

Where did the kind Andy go? The one who always held me as if I was a delicate flower and not a girl. 

He derided. "Let's be real, Arata. I only dated you because of the status symbol and money your father held. Otherwise, who would want someone your size? People only bear you because of your family name." His abhorrent glance swept over my whole body, and for the first time, I felt my skin crawl under his demeaning gaze. 

My size??? 

Didn't he say multiple times that he loved my curves and didn't want a skinny Barbie doll? 

I wasn't fat but had curves in the right places with thick thighs. I wasn't built like a runaway model despite being tall.

Most importantly, I loved my body and was confident in it. 

But his words were like cold buckets of water over me, and for a split second, I felt apprehensive of the way I looked. It gnawed at my soul that the man I loved with such deepness, held such a view. 

I drowned the feeling as soon as it had emerged. No man would put me down on account of my appearance. My parents had raised me better than this. 

Still, a seed of doubt was sown in my heart that day.

"Then you are not the person I fell in love with Andy. You are just like those men who judge women by the way they look. You have disappointed me," I seethed out, trying not to choke on my emotions. 

It wasn't easy to remain strong when someone attacked you where it would hit the worst. And that someone happens to be the person you love. 

"I don't care. Leave and don't show me your face and disgusted fat body again. I have found the woman of my dreams." 

Taking out his hand from his pocket he waved me away—as if I was a beggar trying to disturb his mood. The woman in his arms forcefully snickered as if she inadvertently approved of his behaviour.

What kind of people revelled in someone's misery? 

Psychos and sickos. 

My hands balled into fists, bleaching my knuckles from the surging anger that birthed inside me like a raging beast. I wished to scratch his face as my nostrils flared.

"Says the man who can't last more than ten minutes," I mocked. I wasn't going to stand there and just take it. I was Arata Zyair. 

I then pointed my finger towards the Keto doll in the white dress and continued. 

"Better arrange a vibrator for yourself if you wish to be satisfied." 

Both went red like the tomatoes my grandma loves growing in her garden. 

"How dare you?" Andy took a threatening step towards me with rage dancing in his orbs. I readied to defend myself in case he attacked. 

But someone swirled past me like the late autumn breeze and landed a hefty punch on Andy's face. 

A series of events took place simultaneously at that moment. 

Andy stumbled back as a fountain of ruby-shaded blood erupted from his nose. 

His bride's hands flew to her mouth and she screamed. 

Three reporters came rushing like annoying mosquitoes, their cameras flashing, hungry to take photographs and be the first ones to run this story of disgrace. I wasn't very fond of the media and always tried to keep a low profile but Andy loved the attention. 

"You bastard! You tried to insult Arata and Mr Zyair," Uncle Kail raged and hovered over a shocked fallen Andy—he tried to scramble away from the raging man but was grabbed by his peak lapel and another punch was landed. 

-Thwack!-

A bone-crunching sound was heard and I knew Andy's perfect nose was broken. 

He wailed, placing his hands on his face in a defensive manner, trying to shield himself further from the attack.

Cowering like the coward he turned out to be. 

I felt deep in my bones that he deserved this after what he had done to me. But I shook my head. We couldn't stoop to his level. 

The cameras rapidly flashed as we were surrounded quickly by inquisitive reporters. 

"Uncle Kail, he is not worth it. Let's go." I placed my hand on his broad shoulder and the older man stopped. His face convulsed in such anger and revulsion which I had never seen from him before. 

"What happened, Miss Arata?"

"Did Mr Andy leave you and marry someone else?"

"Is that your revenge plan?"

"Will you press charges, Mr Andy?"

A swarm of questions were hurled our way but Uncle Kail shielded me from them and kept me behind him while he snatched their cameras and shattered them on the ground. 

The reporters scuttled away afraid of the hulk of a man. He screamed danger and they sensed it. 

"Let's go, Miss Arata, we are done with scum like him," Uncle Kail spat, turning his attention towards me. His eyes and voice softened. 

I nodded but there was one thing I needed to do before I left. Twisting the engagement ring he had given me, I took it off and threw it in his face. It stuck his creased forehead and clattered to the hard ground. 

~Twink~

My heart clenched miserably as if I had thrown it too.

No! Arata, this man is not worth it. I reminded myself. 

"I wish I had never met you. May the karma find you," I spat out in disgust, and he just watched me, unmoved, undisturbed. 

Something flashed in his eyes but was gone before I could decipher it. 

Uncle Kail led me away and I turned around to watch Andy and the woman he had chosen over me. She was helping him up while his eyes watched me leave. 

Where did our shared love go?

Was it all an illusion?

How long had he been cheating on me or did my figure disgust him so much that he finally couldn't take it?

Was I only a means to an end?

Was my identity only as Arata Zyair? 

Did no one see me simply as Arata?

My parents were like celebrities in Angel City and were well respected, did it mean I would always have to live in their shadow?

Will every man think like Andy while seeing me?

So many questions bombarded my brain as I mindlessly settled inside my father's car. At this point, my body was moving purely on instinct. 

Andy was my first love, and without a care, he trampled all over my heart. Will it ever be possible for me to trust and love another man?

The more I thought, the angrier I got. 

I will show Andy that I could get any man I wanted. The thought took root in my mind, and I was about to nurture it into a damn tree. 

The car began to move again. 

As if the universe was answering my desperate call. A random message flashed on my screen.

{Are you looking for a job? We have the right one for you over at Marica City. Apply and join Arsten Empire, the leading clothing brand in Marica City. Test your luck, you might be the new face of our company.}

It was just a random message companies sent out for recruiting new faces, but it struck me as an opportunity, an escape, a means to find my true self.