Ch. Bounded To My Mate 3 Bounded To My Mate 3

Those humiliating memories flooded back, leaving my chest tight with panic.

I was only a little chubby when I transferred in. Just because I got a perfect score on a test and stole Ella’s spotlight, she singled me out for ridicule.

At lunch, she would pretend to slip and knock the tray from my hands. Then she would gloat, “Maybe eat less, or you’ll break the cafeteria chairs!”

Laughter erupted around us.

After that, I heard oinking behind me wherever I went. It became a nightmare I could never shake.

The cruelty snowballed. My insecurity became so crushing that binge eating became my only outlet for the pain, and I eventually ballooned to two hundred pounds.

My phone buzzed.

It was our high school class president, the only person in our class who had never oinked at me.

“Sophie, are you really going to the wedding in two days? Ella and the others have planned a whole prank to humiliate you. Please don’t go and let them humiliate you again.”

That rare kindness warmed me a little, and I answered honestly, “Thank you. But I have to go.”

My estate manager, Harrison Spencer, sent me several screenshots. “Ms. Aubert, Ms. Reese is asking for a discount.”

I opened them. Ella was relentlessly using her status as an influencer with several hundred thousand followers to pressure him.

She was shamelessly demanding that he waive the $300,000 venue fee.

When Harrison refused, Ella changed tactics completely. Several extremely explicit photos popped up in the chat.

The photos showed Ella posing suggestively. “Mr. Spencer, the $300,000 venue fee is way over our budget.

“Couldn’t you make an exception? If you’re willing, I could give you something you’d enjoy tonight. Just the two of us.”

She had taken my estate manager for the wealthy owner.

I scoffed and saved the entire sordid exchange.

“Harrison, tell her no.

“And let it slip that if she doesn’t pay, the date goes to the next client.”

Ella had been vain since childhood, always putting on airs and telling anyone who would listen that her parents belonged to Manhattan’s elite.

The truth?

Her parents cleaned rooms at a run-down motel in Brooklyn for barely more than minimum wage.

Even now, as a minor influencer making a little money from low-end sponsorships, how could she ever satisfy that bottomless vanity?

The real fool in all this was Jack.

He was still smug about being on the verge of marrying a glamorous, accomplished, perfect bride.

The phone buzzed again.

Harrison sent another update. “Ms. Aubert, Ms. Reese just maxed out five credit cards to finish paying the $100,000 deposit.”

I raised an eyebrow. To keep up appearances, she was willing to bury herself in credit-card debt and see the wedding through.

“Harrison, bring our top-of-the-line equipment package out of storage.

“Since Ms. Reese is willing to spend this much, we should give her the finest service the estate can offer.

“On behalf of the estate, provide her with a massive 4K LED wall free of charge. Set it up behind the main stage.”

They clearly enjoyed posting my old videos online for everyone to laugh at.

So it was time I returned the favor. A wedding this grand deserved a special show to liven things up.