I Made My Sister-in-Law lose weight,Then She Blackmailed Me

My sister-in-law, Hester James, weighed 198 pounds when she signed that High-Stakes Performance Contract with the Weight-Loss Reality Show.

Lose 88 pounds in ten weeks, and she'd win a million-dollar prize. Fail, and she'd owe them half a million in penalties.

For seventy days straight, I trained her. No days off. No breaks. I'm a certified fitness coach, and I poured everything I had into getting her across that finish line.

The night before the deadline, she finally hit her goal: 101 pounds.

That same night, she shoved a payment QR code in my face.

"Hannah Gilbert, you've been eating my food and living under my roof for over a month now. That wasn't cheap, you know."

"The shrimp I ate during my diet? The olive oil? All top-shelf imported stuff. Seven thousand dollars seems more than fair, don't you think?"

The smile froze on my face.

I'd spent seventy days training her for free. I'd turned down multiple private clientssessions that paid 0-0,800 eachto focus on her transformation.

And now she wanted me to pay for meals?

I laughed. Not because it was funny.

I scanned the code and transferred the money without a word.

Two months later, I opened my front door to find Hester standing thereblown back up like a balloon, bigger than before.

"Hannah! Great news!" She beamed at me, rolls of flesh jiggling with excitement. "The show's doing a second season! I've been eating my way up to 220 pounds, and I signed an even better contract this time!"

"If I lose 110 pounds, I get two million." She clapped her hands together. "So! When do we start?"

Rewind to seventy days earlier.

I had just finished our final training session. My legs were rubber. My whole body felt hollowed out, like someone had scooped out my insides and left only exhaustion behind.

But when I looked at the scalewhen I saw Hester had actually hit 101 poundsa wave of pure triumph crashed over me.

Before I could even congratulate her, Hester whipped out her phone and thrust the screen toward my face.

A payment request. QR code glowing.

For a split second, I thought she wanted to tip me. Maybe her finger slipped. Maybe she'd pulled up the wrong screen.

I smiled, ready to wave it off politely.

Hester spoke first.

"Hannah, you've been eating my food and drinking my drinks every single day for over a month. Do you have any idea how much that cost me?"

"The shrimp? The salmon? The olive oil?" She ticked them off on her fingers. "All high-end imports. Foreign brands. Premium quality."

"A hundred bucks a day for meals is a steal. Honestly, asking for seven thousand means I'm the one losing money here!"

The smile died on my lips.

Meals?

When I didn't respond, Hester's expression hardened.

"Oh, don't tell me you're going to play dumb and stiff me."

"When you married into this family, we paid a $300,000 bride price. Three hundred thousand. And now you're going to nickel-and-dime your own sister-in-law?" Her voice dripped with contempt. "Have you no shame?"

I stared at this woman I'd spent seventy days withdawn to dusk, sweat and tears, every single rep.

A laugh escaped me. I couldn't help it.

If I'd wanted to take advantage of anyone, would I have turned down multiple 0-0,800 private training sessions? Would I have bought exercise equipment out of my own pocket just to help her succeed?

To keep her motivated, I'd worked out right alongside her. Whatever she did, I did. I'd lost twenty pounds myself just from pushing her through it.

I swallowed my anger and triedtriedto stay calm.

"Hester. Yes, your family paid a bride price. But I also brought a storefront worth half a million dollars as my dowry."

"As for 'taking advantage'I'm a professional fitness coach. I charge for one-on-one sessions. And you think you should be charging me?"

Her face flushedLoss red, then white, then red again.

But she recovered fast, chin lifting right back into that smug tilt.

"I never asked you to help me lose weight. You're the one who volunteered. Inserted yourself into my business like I couldn't do it without you."

"Besides, I never said the meals were free, did I? Seventy days, and I'm only asking for seven thousand?" She scoffed. "I'm being generous."

She was right about one thing: she hadn't asked me directly.

But her brothermy husbandhad begged me. Multiple times. And in her twisted version of events, that became me "inserting myself."

And let's be real: without mea certified gold-level trainercould Hester James have dropped ninety pounds on her own?

Not a chance in hell.

I looked at Hester standing in front of me and let out a scornful laugh. Not worth my breath. I turned to leave.

"You're not going anywhere without paying me!"

Hester actually chased after me, blocking my path in the apartment hallway.

I smiled coldly and pulled up the calculator on my phone.

"Fine. Let's do the math first. You took seventy days of personal training sessions from me. How much do you owe me in tuition?"

Hester glared at me with pure venomthen lunged forward and shoved me hard.

I wasn't expecting it. My back hit the floor, pain shooting through my spine.

"Cut the crap! You will give me that seven thousand!"

"You had the audacity to squeeze all that bride price out of my brother, and now you have the nerve to ask me for payment? Training me was the least you could do!"

The commotion drew neighbors out of their apartments, heads poking through doorways up and down the hall.

Hester noticed her audience. Her eyes flickeredcalculatingand her expression transformed instantly into wounded devastation. She was one blink away from actual tears.

"Please, Hannah, just give me back my money!"

"You already took three hundred thousand dollars from our family as bride price! Why do you have to take my seven thousand too? That's two whole months of my salary!"

Her voice climbed higher with each word. Then she dropped to the floor, sitting there and wiping at crocodile tears.

The neighbors' gazes turned on me. Fingers pointed. Someone actually spat in my direction.

"What kind of greedy woman are you? Three hundred grand wasn't enough? Now you're stealing from your own sister-in-law? I can't stand gold-diggers like you!"

"Women like her only care about money. She'd probably cheat on her husband for the right price!"

"That poor girl! Look how her own sister-in-law bullies her!"

Hester kept up her tearful act, letting the crowd's abuse rain down on me without lifting a finger to stop it.

I stared at her, trembling with rage.

"Hester, you couldn't find a job after graduation. You've been lounging around at home, eating and drinking on my dime. What salary?"

"And I helped you lose weight! Tomorrow you're collecting a million-dollar prize. Forget paying me for my workhow can you stand there claiming I owe you money?"

Hester's face flushed scarlet. But her arrogance roared back within seconds.

"What do you mean, your money? You married into our family. Your money is our money. I'm spending what's rightfully oursnone of your business!"

"Besides, I earned that prize through my own effort. It was my body that lost the weight. Why should I give you a single cent?"

The neighbors' contemptuous stares bore into me.

My heart sank like a stone. Seventy days of sacrificeand this was what I got for it.

To help Hester lose weight without damaging her health, I had designed every single session. Every meal plan. I cooked her diet-friendly meals with my own hands, every single day.

To keep her from feeling alone during the grueling workouts, I'd done every exercise right alongside her. Every squat. Every rep. Every bead of sweat.

I only ate at their place because going home for meals wasted time. It was convenientnothing more.

And this was my reward.

"Come on, Hannah. Stop dragging this out and embarrassing yourself in front of everyone."

The standoff stretched on. Hester's face glowed with smug satisfaction.

Suddenly, I felt exhausted. Bone-deep tired.

I pulled out my phone, my movements mechanical, and transferred seven thousand dollars to Hester.

Her phone chimed instantly. She accepted the money in a flash, triumph written across every feature.

"Smart choice."

The neighbors joined her chorus of approval.

"Serves her right! Should've just paid up from the start instead of making people drag it out of her. Pathetic."

I pocketed my phone and turned to push past this mob of people who couldn't tell right from wrong.

"Hold it!"

Hester grabbed my wrist, yanking me back.

"Seven thousand was just for the meals. But for the last thirty days, you crashed at my place every single day just so you could sleep in and slack off. You completely invaded my personal space."

Hester paused, a malicious smile spreading across her face.

"I won't ask for muchhotels go for about three hundred a night. Let's call it nine thousand for the room and board."

I stopped mid-step, turning to stare at her in disbelief.

If the seven thousand had been shameless greed, this was pure audacity.

I yanked my arm free and felt something inside me snap.

"Hester, have you lost your mind? You seem to have forgotten that I'm the one who searched this entire city to find you this apartment!"

"I paid your deposit. I paid your property fees. And now you have the nerve to charge me for staying here?"

Hester let out a derisive snort, rolling her eyes so hard they nearly disappeared into her skull.

"Oh, drop the act. You think I don't know what that was about? You were dating my brother back then. If you weren't trying to marry into our family, would you have followed me around like a desperate little puppy?"

"You weren't helping me. You were helping yourself."

"Besides, you've benefited plenty from marrying into the James family. What's wrong with me asking for a little room and board?"

The neighbors chimed in, pointing at me with righteous indignation.

"Typical gold-diggershe'd do anything for money! No wonder she dresses so tight all the time. Who knows what other schemes she's cooking up!"

I'd had enough.

My palm connected with Hester's cheek before I even registered moving.

She clutched her face, gaping at me in shock.

"You hit me?"

I regarded her coldly.

"Does your brother know you're saying all this?"

"So what if he does! He's my brotherwe're actual family. You think he'd ever take your side over mine? You're just an outsider!"

I ignored her and pulled out my phone, dialing Wallace James.

After a few rings, his voice came through.

"What's up, honey? Aren't you still at Hester's?"

I switched to speakerphone and recounted every detail of what had just happened, loud enough for everyone present to hear.

Silence stretched from the other end.

Finally, Wallace spoke.

"Hannah Hester's still just a kid."

"Don't stoop to her level. Just transfer the moneyit's only nine thousand. I'll pay you back when you get home."

A bitter laugh escaped me. The ache in my chest twisted deeper, sharp and suffocating.

I lifted my gaze and met Hester's smirk head-on.

"Fine. I'll transfer it."

"But let me make one thing crystal clear: from this moment forward, anything involving the James family has nothing to do with me, Hannah Gilbert."

"Honey, don't be mad"

I didn't let him finish. I blocked his number.

Then I transferred the nine thousand to Hester.

The moment the payment went through, she and the neighbors erupted in cheers.

I couldn't stomach another second of this circus. I grabbed my things and headed straight to April Manning's place.

When April heard what happened, she slammed her palm on the coffee table so hard the glass cracked.

"Hannah, those two are absolutely unhinged!"

"From the day you started dating Wallace to your wedding, you've spent over a hundred thousand on that manclothes, gifts, everything. And this is how he repays you?"

She ranted about Wallace for a solid five minutes before turning her fury on Hester.

"And that overstuffed brat Hestershe actually thinks your marriage was a loss for their family? If she had any idea how much you've set aside for her dowry, she'd choke on her own regret!"

April seized my hands, her grip fierce, her eyes blazing with frustration.

"Hannah, promise me. Promise me you won't give her a single cent of that dowry."

I let out a soft laugh and gave April a reassuring pat.

"Relax. After everything they've put me through, why would I hold back?"

"But tell mewhat do you think Hester will do after she gets that million-dollar prize?"

April stared at me, clearly lost. I let the silence hang for a beat before continuing.

"Hester just made a million dollars practically overnight. That kind of rush? It's addictive."

"And the show's already announced a second season." I tilted my head. "Think she'll be able to resist?"

April's jaw dropped. I just smiled and dialed a number I'd saved weeks ago.

Two months later, I was packing my bags when a frantic pounding erupted at my door.

I opened itand nearly stumbled backward.

The mountain of flesh in front of me was barely recognizable. It took Wallace standing beside her for me to realize this was Hester. She was bigger than before. Bigger than the 180 pounds she'd started at.

"What do you want?"

Wallace tried to reach for my hand with that simpering smile of his. I stepped aside before he could make contact.

"Just say what you came to say."

"Babe, you've been giving me the cold shoulder for two months now. Everyone's talking." He attempted a wounded look. "Just come home. We can work this out."

I scoffed. Two months of blocking every number he owned. Two months in the apartment I'd bought without telling him. And somehow, he'd still tracked me down.

Before I could fire back, Hester cut in, her voice grating with forced sweetness:

"Sister-in-law! Great newsI signed up for Season Two! They've upped the stakes this time. Lose a hundred pounds, win two million!"

Her piggy eyes gleamed with greed.

"But here's the thingI only have one month. If I don't make it, I owe them one-point-two million in penalties."

She waddled closer. "So when do we start? You're going to help me, right?"

Ah. There it was. The real reason these two had crawled out of whatever hole they'd been hiding in.

I sighed dramatically and gestured at the suitcases on the floor.

"What terrible timing, Hester. I've signed up for an American parkour competition show myself. My flight leaves today."

I examined my nails. "Withdrawal penalty is half a million dollars. But heycover that for me, and I'm all yours."