His Plus-Size Substitute Bride

Lilian Sanchez 

The sound of my blaring alarm pulls me out of my deep slumber, and I force my eyes open as the blurry ceiling welcomes me. Again, I have woken up to deal with the miseries of my life and choose whether to stay alive or get thrown into depression and probably end up committing suicide. I know that I will eventually have to choose between the two. What do you expect from a young innocent lady that got nothing all her life, but bullies and rejection from the world? 

My name is Lilian Sanchez, twenty-one years old chubby, short and ugly young lady. The only child of my sick father and my mom who was said to have divorced my father and abandoned me when I was just six months old. I have no idea about the reason she had to make that decision. What would've pushed her to abandon her six months old baby? That is the question that has been disturbing me for years now, but I never got an answer to it. What do I even expect? Maybe I was so fat that she couldn't stand my presence and had to reject me too. Guess I was born for that. 

Realizing that I have an interview at Bradford's empire in two hours, I hurry down the bed and scurry into my bathroom to have my bath before I finally get dressed. Staring at my plump reflection in the mirror, I try so hard not to cry. I don't have good feelings about this. They may reject and bully me, just the way I have always been bullied all my life. 

"Believe in yourself, Lilian," I assure myself although I know it's not going to help me. I need this job so badly so I can pay for our house rent later. My strict stepmother will eventually kill me with frustration if I don't get the job. Speaking of my stepmother, my father got married to the witch when I was just ten, and since then she hasn't had a single child for my father, not even a miscarriage. All she does in the house is bully me and call me all sorts of names. I guess being extremely fat is a curse. 'Lose weight already, you pig', 'you're too chubby and not smart enough in moving your body. Are you scared of falling to the ground?' My stepmother would always mock me. For goodness sake, I don't weigh up to three hundred pounds, and I'm 5'2 for crying out loud, I'm not that worse. 

Taking a deep breath, I finally pick up my file from the bed and amble out of the room. Stepping into the living room a few minutes later, the annoying glare of my stepmother welcomes me. 

"Good morning, ma'am Felicia," I greet her politely, but she only glares hard at me. Don't blame me for calling her that, it's what she prefers. In all the years she has spent with my dad, she has never for once allowed me to call her 'mom', and not that I want to anyway. 

"You know the landlord would throw us out later if we don't provide the money, so don't fail us," She says to me like I'm the one that's going to employ myself there. Why does my life have to be this awful? 

"I'll take note of that," I reply to her before I finally stride out of the house and take a cab to the company. 

Arriving at the company a few minutes later, I stare at the building in front of me as I hold my file tightly. They called me for the interview, but I'm not sure if I should go in there, or if I should just turn back from here to save myself the bully I'll surely get from there. 

"You can do this, Lilian. Just believe in yourself that you can," I assure myself one more time before I finally amble to the big iron gate and walk in since it's opened. Stepping into the company minutes later, the stares that welcome me give me a bad feeling and make me regret showing up here in the first place. If I could, I would stay indoors all my life just so I can save myself from insults and embarrassment. 

"Why is she so fat?"

"The sight of her is irritates me," 

"It would've been good if she lose some weight," Hearing those whispers as I wait in the lobby for the said interviewer, I can't help the sadness and pain that fills my heart. Do they think that I didn't want to lose weight? Do they think that this is what I wish for myself? I also want to be slim and be called a beautiful young lady. I also want to walk in those elegant clothes and heels, but what was I supposed to do when I was already cursed with this ugly look? 

"Lilian Sanchez, it's your turn," I'm finally going to leave these bitches. Standing up to my feet, I follow the lady that just came to call me as she leads me to God knows where. 

Arriving at the office of a young man, the interview kicks start immediately. 

"Congratulations, Miss Sanchez. You passed the first stage of the interview. You'll be directed to the manager for the second stage, before the CEO would interview you himself," The man says to me with a genuine smile on his face. It's the first time someone is ever going to smile at me genuinely. 

Leaving his office to the manager's office as per his description, I arrive at the office after searching for it for some minutes. 

A few minutes later 

Standing in front of the said CEO's office, my heart beats rapidly against my chest as I clench my sweaty hands. I passed the first and second stages, but I'm so worried about the final stage. What if I don't end up passing it? 

Taking a deep breath, I muster courage and push the door open after I knocked and he ushered me in. Stepping into the office, my heartbeat stops abruptly as I behold the most charming young man I have ever seen in my whole years of existence. His raven hair is clinging to his head with some strands curled on his forehead, he has thick eyebrows, small heart-shaped pink lips, long eyelashes, and his skin. I guess his cream must cost so much money to be able to afford this smooth skin. Gosh! He's so handsome. 

"You are the new assistant my manager talked about, right?" Still having his gaze on the screen of the desktop, he speaks up in his deep baritone voice, and my heart melts slowly. 

"Yes, Sir," I finally find my voice. My breath seizes for seconds when he finally raises his gaze to look at me, as his brown charming eyes pierce into mine. Is he a human or a magic creature? 

"What are you doing here?" His voice sounds angry this time, snapping me out of my world of fantasy, and the disgusted look on his face scares me. 

"Sir, I..."

"Who let you into my office?" He snaps at me angrily. 

"I was sent here by the manager for the final stage of the interview as..."

"You're not qualified. Get out," He cuts me off with pure disgust written on his face and sounds in his voice. 

"But Sir... You have not interviewed me yet," My heart beats rapidly as I pray silently that it's not what I'm thinking. I hope it's not my bad luck again. 

"I can't work with you. I can't let a pig work in my company. Do you want to see yourself out, or do you need the security to help you out?" He spits at me, and my heart sinks into my stomach. My fear has finally come true. I shouldn't have expected less, this was bound to happen anyway. 

"You could've asked me to leave without calling me a pig, right?" The tears I have been fighting back finally find their way out of my eyes as I turn and walk out of his office, slamming the door behind me... 

Lilian Sanchez

The past three days have been the worst days of my life. I am used to people bullying me for my look, but the only person that ever referred to me as a 'pig' is my stepmother, but hearing it from a stranger for the first time hurts so much. If anyone ever told me that an innocent-looking man would be so mean, I would never have believed the person. 

Trying to get myself distracted with the novel I bought recently, the sound of the knock on my door pulls my attention, and I groan angrily. Not that I need anyone to tell me that it's my annoying stepmother. What does she want now? 

"Lilian..." Her voice sounds from outside, confirming my curiosity. 

"Yes, ma'am Felicia," Standing up from the bed, I stride to the door and pull it open, revealing her ugly-looking face. 

"Good morning, ma'am," 

"This is why you're not losing weight. What time is it, and you're still sle