1: Scandals and Spotlight.

Chapter 1

The camera lens blinked open. And just like that, Mia Martinez turned it into her stage.

Under the heat of the studio lights, she came alive—flawless skin glowing, raven waves tumbling down her back, hazel eyes sharp as glass and twice as clear. She didn’t just pose—she owned the space. Confidence, poise, and years of experience wrapped around her like silk.

"Let's move, people!" Susan Miller called out, striding across the set in her usual hurricane of efficiency. “The album drops next month, not next year!”

Mia shot her best friend a wink. “Yes, boss.”

Susan grinned, clipboard in hand. She had been by Mia’s side through divorce, depression, rehab rumors, and one hell of a comeback. If anyone deserved this win, it was Mia—and Susan knew it.

The flashbulb popped again, capturing Mia in a shimmering silver jumpsuit. She tilted her chin, hand on hip, every inch the international icon she had fought to reclaim.

As the crew adjusted the lights, Mia stole a glance at her reflection in the ring light mirror. Thirty-four and reborn, she thought. A single mother, a survivor, a star still burning bright. A musical note inked on her ankle peeked from her stiletto—a quiet reminder of everything she’d given up and everything she was reclaiming.

Just then, Susan’s phone rang. She stepped away to answer, nodding rapidly, her mouth falling open. When the call ended, she turned around slowly—eyes wide, voice trembling with disbelief.

“Mia... you got it.”

Mia blinked. “Got what?”

“You’re headlining the Super World Football Championship opening ceremony!”

The room froze, then exploded into cheers. Mia covered her mouth, stunned.

“ I-I’ve been trying to get that slot for years,” she whispered.

“I know,” Susan said, tearing up. “And now you’ve done it. Without him. Without any man.”

Applause echoed off the studio walls. Mia raised a champagne flute that one of the stylists had handed her. “Here’s to all of you, for believing in me when I couldn’t even look in a mirror.”

More cheers, laughter, flashbulbs. For a moment, she was untouchable.

Until Susan’s phone dinged again.

Mia noticed the way her friend's expression turned. Not the usual “just-an-email” frown. No, this one had weight. Fear.

“What is it?” Mia asked.

Susan hesitated. Then handed her the phone.

On the screen: a video.

Lucas. Her ex-husband. Naked. Tangled with an I*******m model. Recorded. Uploaded. And it was spreading fast.

Mia’s smile didn’t crack, but her pulse did.

She handed the phone back. “He’s dead to me,” she said coolly. “And I’m done being haunted by his ghost.”

But deep down, something shifted. She knew it did.

Later that afternoon, the real star of Mia’s world, her daughter, Sofia came sprinting into her arms outside the school gates.

“Mummy!” she squealed, legs pumping fast beneath her pink skirt. Dressed in bright colours, her hair packed up in a ponytail, Sofia was the exact mirror of her mother Mia.

Mia caught her mid-run, laughing as she twirled her. “My baby girl. I've missed you.”

Sofia beamed, face pressed against her mother’s neck. “I missed you too, mummy. Guess what?”

“What?”

“I asked Dad to take me to the movies when he came to school earlier. But he said no….”

Mia’s smile froze.

“You saw your father? Today?”

Sofia nodded, unbothered. “He said he missed me.”

Mia’s heart slammed against her ribs.

“I’m getting a restraining order,” she said later in the car, jaw tight.

“Mia… Calm down. You need to think this through.” Susan warned from the passenger seat.

“No. He’s not coming near her again. I won’t let him undo everything I’ve rebuilt.”

She dropped Sofia off with Susan. Then drove back alone. A woman on a mission.

By the time she reached the faded front door of her ex-husband’s house, the sun had dipped behind a haze of clouds. The sky matched her mood, dark, warning, storming quietly.

She pressed the buzzer. She didn't need to wait because Lucas was at the door almost immediately.

Lucas opened the door shirtless, a lit cigar dangling from his lips. His eyes were bloodshot, pupils wild.

“Mia,” he slurred, spreading his arms like an actor welcoming applause. “My darling.”

Mia pushed past him, her heels clicking against the wood floor like war drums. The smell of weed and vodka clung to the air of his house and she scrunched her nose in disgust.

But before she could say anything, she noticed someone else in the room. She saw her.

A half-naked blonde on the couch, powder dusting the glass table beside her, snorting without care. Empty bottles littered the floor like broken promises.

The young woman seemed bothered that someone else had walked in.

Lucas hurried to her side, kissing her on the forehead. “Darling, could you give us the room for a bit?” He pleaded.

The lady took one glance at Mia, barely registering her before she nodded and walked out of the room, dragging the multicolored bed sheets wrapped around her slender figure with her.

Mia’s voice was steel. “You're still using?”

Lucas snorted, offering her a cigarette. “We used to do it together, remember?”

She swatted the cigarette out of his hand. It burned a hole in the carpet, just like he’d burned a hole in her life.

“I’m not here for games. Why were you at Sofia’s school?”

“She’s my daughter too.”

“You lost that right the day you started blackmailing me,” Mia snapped. “You think just because you helped me win custody…”

“I kept your secrets,” Lucas cut in coldly. “I protected your image. And in return, I get my money. Every darn Month.”

Mia’s face paled. “I only missed last month because my mother—”

“I don’t care about your mother,” Lucas said, stepping closer. “Miss another payment and I’ll make sure the whole world knows who the real Mia Martinez is.”

Mia’s throat tightened. He still had the videos. The old photos. The texts. One leak and she’d lose her daughter, her career. Everything.

Sighing, she dipped a hand into her bag as she dropped a brown envelope on the table.

Lucas opened it, grinning. “That’s better. Now you’re behaving.”

Then his voice dropped, quiet and poisonous.

“Next time, don’t make me come looking for you.”

Mia turned to leave, stomach churning. Her fingers closed around the doorknob.

“You know,” Lucas called after her, voice almost gleeful, “it’s a good thing you didn’t bring Sofia here tonight. Things might’ve gotten... complicated.”

Mia froze. Her blood ran cold.

She turned back slowly. “What the hell do you mean?”

Lucas leaned back, a smug smirk curling his lips.

“She was here last weekend. While you were out doing your ‘photo shoots’. She said she missed me.”

The words hit like a slap.

“You’re lying,” Mia whispered.

Lucas just laughed.

And Mia... wasn’t sure anymore.