Ex-Alpha's Regret: Siren's Comeback novel Chapter 19

POV: Seraphina

The party was a blur of smiling faces and empty pleasantries. I moved through the crowd, my own smile plastered on my face, feeling like a stranger at my own celebration. Every compliment directed at Sylvie, every admiring glance at her gown, was a fresh twist of the knife. I saw the pity in the eyes of the other Lunas, the smug satisfaction in the faces of Elder Maeve and her conservative faction. They were all witnessing my public downfall.

I escaped to the quiet of the library for a moment, needing to breathe air that wasn't thick with her perfume and his adoration. When I returned, a small crowd had gathered around the main sitting area. In the center was Sylvie, holding a large, leather-bound photo album. My heart sank. I recognized it. It was from the storage room, filled with photos from before my time.

"Oh, look at this one!" Sylvie laughed, her voice carrying across the hall. "Damian, do you remember this? You were so young! And so reckless!"

She had placed the open album on the large coffee table, right in the center of the room, for all to see. It was filled with pictures of a younger Damian and a younger Sylvie. They were laughing on a picnic blanket, their arms thrown around each other. They were chasing each other through a field of wildflowers, his eyes alight with a joy I had never, ever seen. They looked happy, carefree, and deeply in love.

My son, Nico, was captivated. He was on his knees, his small fingers tracing the smiling faces in the photographs. He looked up from the album, his own face a mask of genuine, innocent confusion. He spotted me standing by the doorway and ran over, his small hand tugging on my plain, grey dress.

"Mommy?" he asked, his voice clear and loud enough for several nearby guests to hear. He pointed back at the album. "Why is Daddy smiling so much in those pictures with Sylvie? He looks so happy."

"I'd almost forgotten about these," he said, his voice laced with a warmth he never used with me. "Those were good times, weren't they?"

He didn't even seem to notice my presence, or the way the color had drained from my face, leaving me as pale and grey as the dress he had chosen for me.

He just stood there, smiling at her.