C2 If Wishes Were Horses

Michelle’s POV

I stirred slowly, my head pounding dully and my body sore in places I hadn’t felt in a long time. My limbs tangled in sheets that smelled faintly of sex and citrus. The bed beneath me was too soft, too expensive. This wasn’t my room.

I blinked.

A heavy arm was draped over my waist, warm and possessive, anchoring me to a man I didn’t know. My breath caught as I realized—I was naked.

Completely.

Panic surged through me, and I shot upright despite the ache between my thighs. I winced. It was too real, too raw to be a dream. I scrambled out of the bed, clutching the edge of the nightstand for balance as my gaze darted to the man beside me.

He was still asleep. The soft rise and fall of his chest, the tangle of tousled dark hair on the pillow, the lazy contentment written across his sculpted features... and all I could think was:

What have I done?

My clothes were scattered across the floor like broken promises. I gathered them as quickly as I could—my skirt, my ruined crop top, one heel under the chair, the other by the foot of the bed. Shame clung to me like sweat as I dressed in silence.

I gave my body to a complete stranger.

My fingers trembled as I pulled on my shirt.

Seth…

My chest tightened.

What about Seth? The man I’ve loved, waited for, trusted…

Even if he disappointed me constantly, I never stopped loving him. And now? I’d gone and slept with someone else—a man I didn’t even know the name of. I’d let my emotions, my trauma, and my confusion shove me into the arms of another man. No—into his bed.

I paused at the door, hand on the knob.

Something tugged at me—a feeling I didn’t want to acknowledge. I looked back, just once. The stranger's face was calm, almost beautiful in the faint morning light. The way his brow twitched slightly in sleep. The small scar on his collarbone. The mess of sheets where I had lost myself.

I closed the door quietly and left.

*********

The rain started just as I pulled into the driveway of my family home. Dark clouds mirrored my mood—heavy, threatening to burst. Dad’s car wasn’t in the lot, and I let out a soft sigh.

“Good. I can hide in my room and pretend last night never happened,” I whispered to myself, dragging my sore body toward the front door.

The house was too quiet. I slipped off my heels and tiptoed past the sitting room. Just as I climbed the stairs, voices caught my attention—faint but familiar. They came from Kiara’s room.

I paused.

It felt wrong to listen. I should’ve kept walking. But something—maybe that same gut feeling that had driven me mad lately—pulled me back.

I leaned toward the door.

“Oh, God… Seth,” Kiara moaned.

I froze.

My hand tightened on the doorknob. No. No, no, no.

“You’re so much better than Michelle,” Seth’s voice replied, breathy, low, unmistakably his. “She bores me.”

My stomach dropped.

“She doesn’t deserve you. I’ll make you forget her,” Kiara whispered, her tone laced with smug satisfaction.

My blood turned to ice.

“I don’t even love her,” Seth muttered between panting. “I only got close for the company. I already got half of it. Just need her to sign those last documents, and I’m done with her.”

I staggered backward.

A sob clawed its way up my throat, but I slapped my hand over my mouth. My body shook violently as I tried to breathe through the betrayal that wrapped around me like a noose.

“I don’t know why her father worships her so much,” Kiara said with a giggle.

“Because she’s the heir,” Seth replied. “But not for long.”

I wanted to scream.

I wanted to rip the door open and make them pay. But I couldn’t move. My knees felt weak. My heart cracked open in a million places.

Seth.

The man I loved.

The man I gave everything to… was using me. Sleeping with my stepsister. Plotting to rob me.

And I’d been worried about cheating on him?

I was never his. He was never mine.

I ran.

Down the stairs. Out the front door. Through the gates. Into the street. I didn’t care that the skies opened up and the rain poured like it wanted to drown the whole world.

Let it.

I welcomed the cold. Let it soak my skin and hide my tears.

I walked blindly through puddles, mascara smudging, breath catching as sobs tore from my chest. My clothes clung to me. My heart bled. Nothing made sense anymore.

I gave Seth everything—my loyalty, my body, my trust—and he betrayed me with someone I called family.

I gave a stranger my body last night—and he… he didn’t hurt me. He asked if I was sure. He held me like I was worth something.

I don’t even know his name.

I collapsed onto a bench near a park, rain still pounding down. My thoughts scattered.

What would people say?

What would my father say?

What would I do with this pain sitting in my chest like a ticking bomb?

I wrapped my arms around myself, wishing someone would come, hold me, lie to me that everything would be okay.

But if wishes were horses… even beggars would ride.

And I was no longer a princess.

I was just a girl betrayed by love, ruined by secrets… and aching for revenge.