"Mmm. Aaah! Oh yes! Adam!" … "What's wrong? Why did you pull away?" "I'm done. I have things to do. Once you get dressed, leave." "Adam." "Why do you treat me like this? I'm your girlfriend, not your whore." "What's the difference? They both serve the same purpose." "You're such a jerk." "And yet you never leave, because you know exactly what's best for you." "I'm going to take a shower. When I come out, you won't be here anymore." "Idiot." Adam's POV My name was Adam Keller. I was thirty years old, and I owned half the buildings in this city. How did I get here? Through sacrifice, and by never letting myself fall in love with a skirt. Women were dangerous, and the man who fell in love always lost. I was attractive. Very attractive. A full-blown Adonis. My ego matched my success. I had a girlfriend named Helena. Sexy, curvy, beautiful, and empty-headed. She was good for one thing only, satisfying my most basic needs. She thought we were going to get married so

Adam's POV Around six in the evening, I returned to my luxurious mansion to get ready for dinner. According to my mother, our partners had a daughter two years younger than me. She was very beautiful as a child, but after being sick for a couple of years, she gained weight and was now slightly above her ideal size. I thought they had the ridiculous idea of trying to pair us up, which was strange considering they also invited Helena. That only confirmed my suspicion. My mother had invited Helena for one reason only: to humiliate her. I had warned her. If my mother would rather see me with an overweight woman than with Helena, then Helena never stood a chance of becoming my wife. That didn't make me sad. But marrying a fat woman? That was absolutely not happening. When it was time for dinner, we headed out to the garden of my mansion. My mother adored that garden because she had designed it herself. There was a space set up for business dinners beneath a bamboo-and-jasmine canopy.

Emma's POV To my great surprise, the Kellers' son extended his large, smooth hand to greet me. I hadn't expected that. I thought he would ignore me all night. His girlfriend didn't even acknowledge me. She just looked at me with indifference, and that was it. I was seated next to my father, and young Mr. Keller sat between his mother and his girlfriend. Dinner went by quietly. They served delicious dishes, but the portions were ridiculously small for my taste. You couldn’t even call them starters. Completely inconsiderate. We ate in silence, and when dessert was served, the conversation finally began. "Tell me, Emma, what do you do? What did you study?" Adam's mother seemed genuinely interested in me, and I was more than willing to answer her questions. Unfortunately, my mother jumped in before I could even open my mouth. "My Emma studied gastronomy at the best university in the country, and she wants to create her own catering company." Catering? Me? Absolutely not. I

Emma's POV After I finally said what I thought, I walked away. Obviously, I didn't want to get married right now. I was still young, and when I did get married someday, it would be to someone I actually liked, someone who didn't care about my appearance. Still, when I said I wasn't interested in the Keller sons, part of it was pride. I wasn't going to allow that woman to insult me any more than she already had. And deep down, I knew none of them would ever truly look at a fat woman like me. At least Adam had been respectful, even if his look alone made me feel humiliated. To him, all of this had seemed entertaining. To me, it had been degrading. This time, everyone crossed the line. Even my father, who stood there in silence and let them humiliate me without saying a word. As I headed for the exit, my mother grabbed my wrist and spun me around. She slapped me. The pain in my heart cut deep. How could she do that there? The fact that she hit me didn't surprise me. She had done i

Emma's POV This week had been hard. My mother called me several times to tell me I had to attend a breakfast with the Kellers over the weekend. How annoying. So they could humiliate me again? No, thank you. I had to buy a mattress and set it up in the storage area of the shop. I bought some appliances and supplies, designed my menus, and started doing test runs. Doing everything alone was exhausting, not to mention I barely had time to eat. For the past three days, I had only eaten one instant soup a day. It didn't fill me up, but it was what I had. I needed to be careful with money. If everything went well, I planned to open next week. I also did some research and, unfortunately, Adam Keller really was the owner of the place I was renting. I doubted he had any idea that I was the one leasing it, and that at least gave me some peace of mind. I hadn't planned on going to breakfast with the Kellers. I was sure they would humiliate me again. But I was a little curious about what