My Mom’s Low-Cal Meals Killed Me In My Past Life Chapter 03

My Mom’s Low-Cal Meals Killed Me In My Past Life Chapter 03

On the way home, my breathing grew faster and more ragged.

My body felt as though it was expanding endlessly. I could almost sense changes beneath my skin, placing growing strain on my internal organs.

Just like in my last life, I had entered the stage of rapid weight gain.

If I could not find a solution soon, I would end up the same way as before, succumbing to organ deterioration, wasting away alone in bed.

When I got home, Mom looked at me with deep disappointment , a carefully manufactured tear glistening at the corner of her eye.

Serena stood beside her and snapped, “Coach Bennett called Mom. He said you were sneaking food at the boot camp. You really never learn, do you?”

“When you hit 550 pounds, Mom will have to help you bathe and use the bathroom every single day. Are you planning to trap her as your full-time caregiver forever?”

Mom shot Serena a warning look, telling her to shut up.

Then she turned to me, her voice trembling with what sounded like pure, agonizing heartbreak.

“Lainey, if you still can’t control what you eat, you’re really going to die. Robert died from obesity-related complications back then. I can’t lose you too.”

Mom cried as if her heart were breaking.

A deep sense of helplessness spread through my body.

I did not know how to explain that I had not eaten anything. I did not want Mom to worry, and I did not want to die.

My mind was a chaotic whirlpool of unanswered questions.

Desperate, I started trying anything I could find and posted my story online, begging strangers for help.

But the replies were either jokes or accusations.

People told me that if I wanted to lose weight, I should start by quitting the lies.

They said I must be secretly binge-eating behind everyone’s back.

Only one reply caught my attention.

[Have you ever thought about looking at your sister? Why is she the one losing weight instead of you?]

My mind snapped awake.

That was right.

All this time, Serena and I had eaten the same meals. I had even exercised harder than she did. So why was she the one getting thinner?

What had she done that I did not know about?

I started secretly watching Serena every day.

Her routine was starkly monotonous.

Other than eating and using the bathroom, she spent almost all her time shut inside her room. She never went out with friends.

There was only one thing she did differently from me.

Every night when I showered, I finished in ten or fifteen minutes at most, but Serena stayed in the bathroom for two full hours.

I used to think she was just obsessive about being clean.

Now, it seemed obvious that she was harboring a dark secret behind that locked door.

That night, I deliberately waited until she finished before going into the bathroom.

Nothing in there looked unusual. Then I turned my head and noticed a small, odd-shaped body bar tucked into the corner.

I picked it up. Its surface felt waxy and still warm, which meant Serena had just used it.

I brought it close to my nose and smelled a strange fragrance, exactly the same cloying, herbal scent that radiated off Serena.

Could this be what made her lose weight?

Suppressing my excitement, I turned on the shower, rinsed myself quickly, and then impatiently rubbed that medicated body bar all over my body.

Soon, my skin flushed an eerie shade of pink. I could even feel the fat cells under my skin pulsing wildly.

Just like that, I stayed in the shower for two full hours too.

When I came out, Mom had already gone to sleep, but the light in Serena’s room was still on.

Through the crack in the door, I saw Serena holding an unmarked green prescription bottle. She shook one pill into her palm and swallowed it.

Doubt rose inside me.

What was that?

I went back to my room and waited in bed for a long time. Finally, I heard the soft, rhythmic snoring from Serena’s room.

I quietly pushed open her door and moved through the shadows to her desk. I picked up the bottle and examined it, but there was not a single word on the label.

I opened the cap and was about to take out one pill.

Suddenly, a chill crawled up my back.

“What are you doing?”

The voice behind me came so suddenly that my blood ran ice-cold.