Vivian Thorne, the new coach at my gym, claimed she could offer painless body sculpting. Just lie down, and the weight would melt off.
She blew up overnight. Countless celebrities and influencers flocked to the gym, her private sessions skyrocketing to hundreds of thousands of dollars each.
But with every one of her private lessons, my own weight inexplicably ballooned. My friends mocked me. My boyfriend dumped me.
Even worse, the insatiable cravings many of her clients experienced began to plague me too.
Id wake up in the middle of the night, desperate for high-calorie foods. A day without a sugary boba tea felt like torture.
I stormed into the gym, demanding answers.
Everyone just brushed me off, assuming Id failed at my diet and was just lashing out at the celebrity coach.
Facing my furious accusations, Vivian simply continued guiding a famous actress through some stretches.
“Ma’am, please don’t interrupt my work. I’m about to take my VIP client to the Victoria’s Secret model casting. There’s no room for error.”
As her team stunned the crowd at the casting, I suddenly collapsed. Overweight and suffering from heart and lung failure, I died on the spot.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back. Back to Vivian Thorne’s first day at the gym.
“Cassie, look! The new coach, her body is absolutely insane!”
My best friend, Chloe Miller, tugged my arm, her eyes gleaming as she stared at the entrance.
I followed her gaze, and my heart plummeted.
It was her!
Vivian Thorne.
She wore a perfectly tailored, blush-pink activewear set that hugged her flawless curves, not an ounce of fat in sight.
Her high ponytail swayed gently with her movements, and a confident, approachable smile played on her lips as she chatted with Mr. Jenkins, the gym owner.
She was a magnet, instantly drawing every eye in the gym.
But all I saw was a demon cloaked in beauty.
Of course, I remembered her.
I remembered her smiling as she told me, “Obesity is simply a sign of weak willpower.”
I remembered how shed emerged from Derek Stones car, coolly handing me a flyer with her picture on it, just after hed dumped me.
And most vividly, I remembered seeing her on TV, basking in the spotlight of an interview, through the blurry window of the ambulance, right before I died.
Now, that monster was back
No, *I* was back. I had been reborn.
“Cassie, what are you staring at? Your eyes are practically bugging out.”
Chloe nudged me.
“I heard she’s a celebrity coach from overseas, specializing in painless body sculpting. You just lie there and get slim! I need to book a trial session, fast!”
“Don’t!” I grabbed her arm, my voice trembling.
“Listen to me, stay away from her. She’s not right!”
Chloe paused, then yanked her hand away, a frown creasing her brow.
“What’s gotten into you today? She just got here, and you’re already saying she’s ‘not right’? Are you just jealous because she’s so beautiful?”
Jealous?
A chill snaked up my spine.
In my previous life, Chloe had been one of Vivian’s most loyal clients.
Vivian had turned Chloe into her walking advertisement, while I had become her personal fat dumping ground, a sacrificial lamb.
“I’m not!”
I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down.
“Her methods are definitely flawed. They’re bad for your body!”
“Bad? All I see is her perfect body and a stack of success stories!”
Chloe was clearly annoyed.
“If I can’t book her class, are you going to make me thin?”
She didn’t believe me. Not a word.
I spun around and marched toward the owner’s office.
Mr. Jenkins was all smiles, pouring tea for Vivian Thorne.
“Mr. Jenkins!” I burst in.
“That new coach, you can’t use her! She’s a problem!”
Mr. Jenkins’s smile froze. He looked at me, then at Vivian, his expression a mix of embarrassment and displeasure.
“Cassie, don’t be ridiculous. Coach Thorne is my star hire, I paid a fortune for her. Her resume and expertise are top-notch.”
Vivian picked up her teacup, gently blowing on it, not even glancing my way, as if I were thin air.
That feeling of being utterly ignored was identical to my past life.
“Her training methods aren’t scientific!” I insisted, my voice urgent.
“It’s not fitness; it’s dangerous!”
“Dangerous?” Mr. Jenkins scoffed as if I’d told the funniest joke. He gestured at Vivian.
“Cassie, just look at Coach Thorne. She’s her own best advertisement. Are you just stressed from your diet? Have you lost your mind?”
Vivian finally lifted her head, her gaze landing on me, a faint, unsettling smile playing on her lips.
“Have we met before, miss? Your hostility it seems rather sudden.”
My blood ran cold.
“Your good times are numbered.”
I said no more, leaving that chilling remark as I turned and walked out.
Behind me, I heard Mr. Jenkins’s profuse apologies and Vivian’s calm, soft laughter.
Vivian Thorne’s trial classes were fully booked.
The gym’s main studio was packed. Chloe, having secured a spot in the front row, waved at me excitedly.
I stood at the back of the crowd, watching everything with a cold stare.
Vivian didn’t have anyone doing strenuous exercises. She simply guided them through some gentle stretches, coupled with what she called “specialized breathwork.”
“Relax. Imagine all the excess, bothersome fat in your body, being expelled with every exhale.”
Her voice was gentle yet hypnotic, carrying a seductive power.
The clients closed their eyes, looking utterly blissful.
What a ridiculous scene.
If I hadn’t experienced it firsthand, I too might have fallen for her deceptive spiel.
I fixated on Vivian Thorne.
I could feel an unseen, viscous energy spreading from her, enveloping the entire studio.
That web began to tighten, drawing something from each client. Finally, all the threads converged in my direction.
It was here.
That invasive, unnatural feeling, like something foreign being forced into me, returned.
My body grew heavy. Breathing became difficult, as if invisible cement was being poured into my veins, weighing down my every limb.
I couldn’t just stand there and let it happen.
“Don’t believe her, everyone!” I burst forward, pointing at Vivian.
“This isn’t fitness! She’s harming you! Your fat isn’t disappearing; it’s being transferred!”
My shout startled everyone awake. They stared at me, bewildered.
Chloe’s face flushed crimson. She rushed over, trying to clap her hand over my mouth.
“Cassie, you’re crazy! Stop it!”
Vivian Thorne’s composure cracked for the first time, but only for a fleeting second.
She quickly regained her poise, walking toward me with a hurt, yet understanding, expression.
“Miss, I completely understand that many traditional fitness coaches might question my new methods.”
She turned to the crowd.
“But the results don’t lie. Everyone, please step onto the body fat scales now.”
The clients, still wary, did as she asked.
The next second, gasps of astonishment erupted.
“Oh my god! I lost three pounds! Just from lying here for an hour?”
“My body fat percentage dropped by a full point! How is that even possible?”
“This is insane! Pure magic!”
Chloe also stepped onto a scale. When she saw the numbers on the screen, she shrieked with excitement.
She turned back to me, her eyes filled with disappointment and anger.
“Cassie! Did you see that? Is *this* the scammer you were talking about?”
I felt utterly cold.
Of course, they had gotten thinner. Because their fat was, at this very moment, inside my body.
My hands trembling, I walked to an empty body fat scale.
On the screen, the numbers spun wildly, finally settling on a figure a full five and a half pounds heavier than I had been that morning.
“Everyone, look,” Vivian’s voice rang out above me, laced with a feigned pity.
“This young lady’s weight actually increased. I suppose some people are just like that. If they can’t achieve something themselves, they can’t stand to see others succeed.”
“You” I was shaking with rage.
“How rude, ruining things just because she can’t stick to her own diet.”
“Exactly. Look at her, she probably just overeats all the time.”
“So pathetic, and yet so annoying.”
The whispers and judgments stung me deeply.
I looked at Chloe, hoping she would stand up for me, say something.
But she just turned her head away, pulling her new ‘newly-slimmed friends’ with her, excitedly discussing where they should go to celebrate.
Amidst everyone’s laughter and accusations, Vivian walked over to me. She leaned in close, whispering in my ear:
“Garbage belongs in the garbage can.”
Vivian Thorne became an overnight sensation.
“Painless body sculpting” was the hottest topic in the city’s elite circles.
The gym’s classes were completely booked, and Mr. Jenkins was grinning from ear to ear, though he now looked at me as if I were a persistent nuisance.
Vivian’s private sessions fetched a six-figure price tag, yet securing a spot was still nearly impossible.
I, meanwhile, had become the sole punchline of this grand celebration.
My weight began to skyrocket at an alarming rate.
In just one week, I gained fifteen pounds.
The reflection in the mirror was grotesquely swollen. My face was round, my beautiful collarbones long gone, replaced by a thick double chin.
Even more terrifying were the desires that had appeared out of nowhere.
I developed a frantic obsession with sweets and fried foods. I’d wake up starving in the middle of the night, my mind consumed by a single thought: *eat*.
I couldn’t control myself. I’d open my DoorDash app and order everything at the top of the fried chicken, burger, and milkshake categories.
When the food arrived, I’d ravenously stuff it into my mouth until a sharp, agonizing pain flared in my stomach, only then would I pause slightly.
Afterward, came a deeper wave of self-loathing and panic.
Derek chose that moment to break up with me.
He asked to meet at our usual coffee shop. His gaze was cold, filled with an unsettling blend of unfamiliarity and disdain.
“Cassie, we need to end this.”
He just blurted it out.
My fingers tightened around my water glass. My heart felt as if a giant hand had seized it.
“Why?” Despite having already braced myself for it, I couldn’t help but ask.
“Just look at you.” He didn’t bother to hide his contempt.
“I can’t even take you out in public. My friends would laugh at me for dating someone who let herself go.”
His words sliced through me like knives.
I looked at him, the man Id loved for three years.
I remembered him taking such meticulous care of me when I was sick. I remembered him swearing he’d love me no matter what I became.
Turns out, vows were cheap.
“Derek, what if I told you someone *did* this to me? Would you believe me?”
I made one last, desperate plea.
He scoffed, his eyes full of the contempt one reserves for a lunatic.
“Cassie, stop making excuses. Just admit it, you can’t control yourself.”
Just then, a sleek, fiery red Porsche pulled up outside the coffee shop.
The car door opened, and a woman, exquisitely dressed and stunningly beautiful, stepped out.
It was Vivian Thorne.
She strode directly to our table, casually looping her arm through Derek’s. She flashed me a triumphant smile.
“Cassie, what a coincidence. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Derek’s new girlfriend.”
Derek didn’t pull away. Instead, he gazed at her with a doting expression.
I understood. Everything became clear. Even after a new life, some things were just destined to repeat.
“Cassie,” Vivian pulled a business card from her purse, elegantly sliding it across the table toward me.
“This is my card. For Derek’s sake, I can offer you a twenty percent discount. Though, given your current condition, you’ll probably need double the sessions.”
It was a clear, calculated insult.
I shot to my feet, knocking my coffee cup over, sending a splash of dark liquid cascading down her pristine white dress.
“Ah!” Vivian shrieked. A large, ugly stain bloomed on her expensive gown.
Derek immediately jumped up, frantically dabbing at the stain with a napkin, while glaring at me.
“Cassie, what are you doing! Apologize to Vivian, now!”
Apologize?
I wanted to rip that smug, fake smile off her face.
I snatched the water glass from the table and *splashed* it straight into her face.
Ignoring Derek’s furious roar and Vivian’s outraged shriek, I turned and stormed out of the coffee shop.
I couldn’t wait any longer.
I *had* to uncover her secret, or she’d drain me dry, literally, one way or another.
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