RETURN OF A SUPERSTAR : Ex husband’s regret

Seraphina

When I opened my eyes, I felt a sharp ache in my body as if it was pressed under a giant roller.

It took me no longer to realise I was naked.

My skin was littered with red marks—hickeys that looked more like bruises.

When my hands drifted to my breast, I felt them sore.

Too sore.

The lips were swollen from brutal kisses, and the ache between my thighs made it clear I had been taken over and over again.

I grabbed my hair.

Those strokes over my clit, those spank on my butt. It wasn’t a dream.

It wasn’t an illusion.

When I was riding over a dick, when a man fucked me like an animal in the dark.

It really happened.

Tears slid down my temples as reality sank in.

No matter how desperately I had tried to escape that old man last night, I had failed.

I should never have touched the drink Natalia’s friends forced into my hand.

Never.

I swallowed hard and reached for my clothes.

Then I froze.

A broad shoulder came into view. Tanned skin. Strong arms. Dark hair.

This wasn’t an old man.

The scent hit me next—cedarwood and expensive cologne.

Familiar. Brutally familiar. It was the smell I should stay away from. That’s what I was asked to do.

My heart pounded wildly.

With trembling fingers, I pulled the quilt down.

My breath caught in my throat.

“Dominic…”

It was Dominic Montgomery.

The man my stepsister had been obsessed with for years.

Before I could process what I was seeing, the door was kicked open.

“Dominic! Open up!”

Natalia stormed inside. Her eyes landed on the bed, then on me. Shock flashed across her face before twisting into something ugly. She rushed forward and threw herself onto Dominic.

“Dominic!” she cried. Her tears spilled effortlessly. “Wake up! This girl drugged you. She climbed into your bed. She’s trying to steal you from me!”

Dominic stirred.

His dark eyes opened and locked onto mine.

Shock flickered across his face.

Then disgust replaced it.

Memories crashed into me all at once.

Natalia insisted I come to the party. Saying she needed help. She handed me a script and sent me to an old man’s room with a smile on her lips.

Then darkness.

“How did I end up here?” I whispered.

“Seraphina,” Dominic said coldly, sitting up. “I never thought you were this shameless.”

“I didn’t do this,” I said, my voice shaking. “Natalia—”

“Enough.” His voice was sharp. “You seduced me on purpose. You wanted to marry into a rich family. Natalia warned me about you.”

Each word cut deeper than the last. I was about to explain myself but then a scratch sound came.

At that moment, a wheelchair rolled into the room.

Grandma Montgomery.

The only person in this family who had ever treated me kindly.

I clutched the quilt to my chest and turned my face away. Shame burned my skin.

Too many eyes. Too much judgment.

“Grandma,” Natalia sobbed, “this girl is a liar. She couldn’t trap a rich man, so she used Dominic. She’s not who you think she is.”

I knew no one would believe me.

Not in this condition.

Not when I looked like the villain of the story.

Then Grandma spoke.

“Dominic,” she said firmly, “you will marry Seraphina. You slept with her. You are responsible for her now.”

My head snapped up.

What?

I shook my head desperately. I had admired Dominic since childhood. He was smart. Powerful.

He had everything any girl ever dreamed of.

But I never wanted to marry a man who despised me.

“What? How could I marry her?” Dominic said, annoying.

“This is my decision. We’re from a conservative family.” she cut in. “Either you marry Seraphina, or you leave the Montgomery estate.”

Dominic’s face darkened.

“I won’t agree to this,” he snapped. “I won’t marry her either.”

He grabbed Natalia’s hand and walked out without looking back.

I was left alone in the wreckage of my life.

Dominic had been my first crush.

Maybe my only one.

I call it more than crush—perhaps one-sided love.

But once I realised he loved Natalia, I forced myself to bury those feelings. It hurt, but I knew my place.

He was like an untouchable moon that I’ll never get.

Natalia was a world-famous supermodel under Dominic’s entertainment agency.

I was just a spot girl.

When they went on dates, I stood in corners holding her purse and phone.

How could someone like him ever love someone like me?

That night, I messaged my father and begged him to stop the marriage.

He never replied.

My fate was sealed.

The next day, I was back at work.

On my knees.

I slipped shoes onto Natalia’s feet.

“Why are you late?” she mocked. “Busy seducing rich men again?”

Her laughter echoed while I wiped her sandals clean.

Then the footsteps approached. My heart jumped before I could stop it.

Dominic.

He walked past me like I didn’t exist.

Then he bent down and kissed Natalia’cheeks.

Right in front of me.

I touched my cheeks. He did it to me that night. Not only cheeks but lips and every part that even I couldn’t see.

Pain stabbed straight through my chest.

"Ahhh! My foot!" Natalia suddenly shrieked. "Dominic, it hurts!"

Dominic pulled off her shoe. Blood was soaking into her skin. Someone had lined the inside of the sandal with sharp nails.

Natalia burst into tears. “Seraphina… how could you do this to me?”

Every eye turned toward me.

Dominic’s gaze burned with rage. “I can’t believe you’d hurt your own sister. Do you really hate Natalia this much?”

He lifted Natalia into his arms and carried her away.

I stood frozen on the set as whispers followed me.

Monster. Jealous. Evil.

A few days later, I stood in a wedding dress.