After My Star Player Betrayed Me for His Mistress

Three days passed. We moved fast. Theo was officially on the starting roster. The team was adjusting, and the noise online was deafening. But inside the Midnight Wolves facility, the air was strictly business.

It was Thursday afternoon. I stood in the main corridor outside the practice rooms. Derek, my head coach, was holding a tablet. We were going over jungle pathing with two of our academy players. The fluorescent lights buzzed softly overhead. The facility smelled of ozone, fresh coffee, and floor wax.

Then, the heavy glass doors at the front of the lobby slid open.

Footsteps clicked against the polished concrete. Sharp, deliberate, and entirely out of place. I turned my head.

Savanna Mills was walking toward us.

She wore a soft, cream-colored cardigan and light denim. Her blonde hair was perfectly styled to look effortlessly messy. She bypassed the empty front desk without a single glance. She walked with her shoulders back and her chin tilted up. It was the walk of a woman who believed she was the main character in a movie.

Derek stopped mid-sentence. The two players stared. The corridor grew very quiet.

Savanna stopped a few feet away from me. She looked around, making sure she had an audience. She saw Derek. She saw the players. Her eyes flicked briefly to the security camera in the corner.

Then she looked at me. Her face shifted into a mask of deep, tragic sympathy.

“Ember,” she breathed. Her voice was pitched up, sugary and soft. It echoed in the silent hallway. “I’m so glad I caught you.”

I didn’t move. I kept my hands loosely clasped in front of me. I felt the cold metal of my watch against my wrist. “You’re trespassing.”

She took a step closer. She reached out as if to touch my arm. I didn’t flinch, but my eyes tracked her hand. She let it drop.

“I just had to come in person,” Savanna said loudly. She wanted the players to hear. She wanted Derek to hear. “I know things ended badly. I know you’re hurting right now. I never meant to come between you two. You have to believe me, Ember. We just couldn’t hide our feelings anymore.”

She paused, letting the fake pity settle in the air. “I hope you find a way to heal. Truly.”

I looked at her. I didn’t see a rival. I saw a hollow, calculated performance. She thought I was a heartbroken woman clinging to a lost love. She didn't know I had spent five years looking at her new boyfriend and pretending he was someone else. She thought she stole a prize. She had no idea she just picked up my heavy, exhausted burden.

My chest didn't tighten. My pulse didn't race. I just felt a profound, icy calm.

I didn't say a word. I unclasped my hands. I stepped forward, closing the space between us.

And I slapped her across the face.

The sound cracked like a whip through the corridor. It was sharp and sudden.

Savanna gasped. She stumbled backward, her heels skidding on the polished floor. Her hand flew to her left cheek. A bright red handprint bloomed against her pale skin. The sweet, innocent mask shattered instantly. Her eyes went wide, flashing with raw, ugly fury.

“You bitch!” she shrieked. Her voice wasn't soft anymore. It was harsh and grating.

Before I could reply, the lobby doors crashed open again.

Elian sprinted inside. He must have been waiting in the parking lot, timing his entrance for the aftermath. He saw Savanna holding her cheek. He saw me standing perfectly still.

His face twisted in rage. He rushed over and grabbed Savanna’s shoulders, pulling her behind him. Then he stepped right into my space.

“Are you out of your mind?” Elian yelled. His voice bounced off the glass walls. “You put your hands on her?”

I looked up at him. I saw the sharp line of his jaw. I saw the dark, furious eyes. For five years, that face had made my heart ache. It was Johan's face. But right now, looking at the ugly twist of his mouth, the resemblance vanished. The ghost was finally dead. I was just looking at an arrogant, foolish boy.

“She came into my building,” I said evenly. My voice didn't rise a single decibel.

“She came to apologize!” Elian shouted, pointing a finger at my chest. “Because she actually has a heart! You’re just bitter. You’re pathetic, Ember. Apologize to her right now.”

He leaned in closer. He wanted a fight. He wanted me to scream, to cry, to show him how much I missed him. He needed me to be broken so he could feel whole.

I met his furious gaze. I didn't blink.

“You were never worth fighting over,” I said quietly.

The words dropped like stones. Elian froze. The air left his lungs. His arm dropped slowly to his side. He stared at me, searching my face for the lie. He looked for the desperate, clinging woman he thought he knew. He found nothing but a wall of ice.

I turned my head and looked down the hall. Two security guards were already jogging toward us.

I gave them a brief nod. “Escort them out. If they resist, call the police.”

“Ember—” Elian started. His voice faltered. The anger was suddenly gone, replaced by a flicker of deep, sudden confusion.

I didn't stay to listen. I turned my back on him. I walked past Derek and the wide-eyed players. I didn't look back when the guards grabbed Elian’s arms. I didn't look back when Savanna started crying loudly for the cameras.

I went straight to my office and shut the door.

An hour later, Nadia walked in. She didn't knock. She dropped her tablet on my desk.

“One of the academy players caught it on his phone,” Nadia said. “He sent it to a friend. The friend posted it. It’s been on X for forty minutes. It’s already trending number one nationally.”

I picked up the tablet. The video was shaky. It showed Savanna’s fake speech. It showed my hand connecting with her cheek. The sharp smack sounded even louder on the recording. It caught Elian screaming. It caught my quiet, flat dismissal.

“The comments are a mess,” Nadia continued, leaning against my desk. “Savanna’s fans are calling you unhinged. They want you suspended from the league. But the industry insiders? The other owners? They’re quiet. A few texted me. They think Savanna got exactly what she asked for by walking into our house.”

I handed the tablet back to her. “Let them talk. I am making no public comment. Midnight Wolves makes no public comment.”

Nadia raised an eyebrow. “You’re just going to let the internet burn?”

“Fires burn themselves out when they run out of oxygen,” I said. I pulled open my desk drawer. I glanced at the edge of the hidden wooden frame. Johan’s picture. I pushed the drawer shut.

“Are you okay?” Nadia asked softly. It was the first time she had asked since the breakup.

I looked at the scouting report sitting on my desk. Theo Ellis’s name was printed bold at the top. I thought about the cold, steady look in his eyes when he promised me a trophy.

“I’m fine,” I said. And for the first time in seven years, I actually meant it. “Tell Derek to get the team ready. Scrimmages start in twenty minutes.”