My Ex-Husband’s Rival Wants Me Back / Chapter 1: The Spotlight After the Storm
My Ex-Husband’s Rival Wants Me Back

My Ex-Husband’s Rival Wants Me Back

Author: Isha Reddy


Chapter 1: The Spotlight After the Storm

Next →

When the biggest star in Bollywood leaned over to fix my headset, his lips brushed my hair—so softly, I wondered if I’d imagined it.

For a second, the world seemed to stop around us.

We were both caught off guard.

And all this, right in the middle of a celebrity divorce reality show.

We weren’t even supposed to be together—each of us belonged to different, broken couples.

1

After divorcing Arjun Mehra, everyone assumed I’d still be chasing after him.

He’d made our marriage public at the height of his stardom. I still remember the front-page photo in Bombay Times—his arm tight around me, both of us beaming, the country’s biggest stars flooding our socials with congratulations. Chachi called from Lucknow, neighbours in our Andheri building lined the stairwell with mithai and gossip. The air smelled of fresh jalebis and marigold.

After the wedding, his image soared, and every time he finally clinched an award, someone or the other would mention my name.

Why her? She’s so lucky, they’d whisper.

But I was the one who brought up divorce first.

Though honestly, I think he’d been waiting for it.

Priya Sinha, his latest co-star, wore his jacket, flashed his phone cover, played his wife on screen…

Meanwhile, I was at home, flipping through the calendar, waiting for him to call, getting cut off every time with some excuse about a late shoot.

Then, I ran into Priya Sinha in business class.

She greeted me like an old friend, her smile dazzling, makeup perfect, that diamond nose-pin sparkling, dupatta tossed just right. The air hostess grinned between us, eyes twinkling knowingly.

“You know,” Priya whispered into my ear, “I used his card for this flight.”

She meant for me to hear it.

She wanted me to end things.

So I did. I went home and packed in half an hour—stuffed my clothes into the battered blue suitcase, left his watch and our wedding photo behind. I took only Amma’s silver payal and my diaries. I left the house keys on the shoe rack.

My hands shook as I stepped out. The lift was slow as ever, and I stared at the scratched mirror, willing myself not to cry.

I didn’t want anything others had already claimed.

Thankfully, there were no children yet. Dadi-amma still lit a diya for us every Thursday, but fate hadn’t blessed us so far.

Arjun leaned against the door, watching.

He seemed untouched, only asking, “What else do you want?”

“Your phone,” I replied.

He blinked, surprised, but handed it over.

Back in the days when he loved me most, when I stood by him as he rose from nobody to superstar, my chat was always his only pinned WhatsApp.

Now, I’d been replaced.

Only ‘Do Not Disturb’ remained.

We had our divorce agreement.

He gave me everything he’d earned, only asking that I let him go quickly. He signed the papers as casually as he signed autographs, barely glancing at me.

He said he truly loved Priya.

We signed a confidentiality agreement. The day I left, I thought I’d never hear from him again.

Until he called.

“Let’s meet.”

It was just a month after the divorce.

“We can’t let the fans think you cheated. The show still needs to air.”

I arrived early.

Inside the lounge, Arjun’s manager was already working on him.

“After the divorce, you’re still a superstar. She’ll just be a joke, yaar—an ordinary woman waiting to be trolled.” The manager scrolled his phone, smirking.

“She definitely can’t let go.”

“Just trick her, say you want to go on a celebrity divorce show with her.”

“Let her think there’s still hope, so she’ll try to please you.”

“In the end, with some clever editing, the audience will think she’s clingy, and you’ll keep your romantic image.”

He nudged Arjun.

“Are you even listening?”

Arjun lounged with his legs up, tapping away at a game on his phone. “Hmm.”

“Bas, ek signal de, she’ll come running like a filmi heroine.”

I pressed my dupatta between my fingers, keeping my face calm while my heart hammered.

In the meeting room, Arjun toyed with his phone, barely looking at me.

He spoke only a few words.

I agreed.

“I’ll go on the show.”

He looked into my eyes, pausing. “Are you really… so stuck on me?”

He was too sure of himself, too easy to fool.

I lowered my lashes.

“Yes.”

“Arjun, is there still a chance for us?”

His gaze was icy, he turned away, and murmured,

“We’ll see how you do.”

“But,” he added, “the script for this show isn’t what you think.”

This divorce reality show.

Would air alongside his and Priya’s new film.

It was all for the hype around him and Priya.

The show’s concept was “Try a different way of living, see the problems between couples.”

Priya and he would share a room.

And I would share a room with Priya’s husband.

That Kabir Malhotra, who shot to fame at nineteen with one film, swept every major award, and then suddenly retired to get married.

Arjun was just walking in his shadow.

He’d become famous partly because his face resembled Kabir’s.

Rumour had it, after marriage, Priya and Kabir lived in separate cities.

She loved him but couldn’t have him.

Next →

You may also like

Divorced at the Reunion: My Wife Chose Her Ex
Divorced at the Reunion: My Wife Chose Her Ex
4.8
Rohan came to his wife's college reunion to play the dutiful husband, but one shocking night turned into public humiliation and betrayal. With his mother dying at home and Ananya basking in the spotlight of her first love's dramatic return, Rohan must choose: grovel for her love, or walk away forever. When the crowd demands his dignity as the price for his mother's life, will Ananya finally reveal her true heart—or is this marriage already dead?
Betraying My Pregnant Wife for My Ex
Betraying My Pregnant Wife for My Ex
4.7
Arjun thought marrying into wealth would finally heal his wounds, but Meera’s pregnancy turned his love to disgust and drove him into the arms of his ambitious ex, Ritika. When fate throws Ritika—now fallen from grace—back into his life, Arjun risks everything for a second chance, only to be humiliated and blocked all over again. Torn between a loyal wife he resents and a lost love who rejects him, Arjun’s double life spirals out of control—until one WhatsApp message threatens to expose it all.
Switched at the Mandap: My Sister’s Husband
Switched at the Mandap: My Sister’s Husband
4.8
Forced to marry Rohan when my glamorous sister Priya ran away, I spent three years as the unwanted wife—living in her shadow, enduring his silent longing for her. When Priya returned, broken but beautiful, I finally demanded a divorce, shocking our family and the Mumbai elite. Now, as Rohan and Priya celebrate their wedding, I return with a new love by my side, determined to reclaim my dignity—even if the world calls me the villain who stole, and then lost, her sister’s husband.
Banished Goddess: Claimed by My Demon Ex
Banished Goddess: Claimed by My Demon Ex
4.9
Three hundred years ago, I betrayed my fox spirit lover to ascend as a heartless war goddess—only to be cast down to earth, forced to marry a mortal and regrow the very bonds I destroyed. Now, stripped of divinity and hunted by demons, my old flame returns—not as a lovesick companion, but as the vengeful Demon King, determined to break my cold resolve. Between seductive nights, bitter regrets, and rivals fighting for my bed, will I survive my exile... or lose myself to the man I once abandoned?
I Hired a Goon to Ruin My Husband’s Mistress
I Hired a Goon to Ruin My Husband’s Mistress
4.8
When her billionaire husband threatens divorce for a younger, brilliant mistress, Devika refuses to lose the family, fortune, and respect she’s sacrificed everything for. Desperate, she hires a seductive street-smart fixer to seduce the other woman, igniting a scandal that could destroy them all. But as secrets unravel and her own children join the battle, Devika must decide how far a mother will go to keep her crown in a city where love is cheap but survival costs everything.
She Chose My Rival Over Me
She Chose My Rival Over Me
4.8
He loved Ananya with his whole heart, but the world decided he was never good enough. Humiliated by teachers, abandoned by friends, and forced to watch his perfect rival claim her side, he became the invisible boy whose only crime was loving too much. When even his mother must beg for his place, will he fight for love—or accept that some stories are meant to end in regret?
Divorced for His Mistress, Married by Command
Divorced for His Mistress, Married by Command
4.8
On her eighteenth birthday, Priya’s husband signs their divorce papers without a glance—too obsessed with chasing his runaway mistress to notice her heartbreak. Shunned by her own family and stripped of dignity, Priya is forced into a new marriage with a military heir, only to have her ex-husband return, demanding she serve his new bride. Torn between her wounded past and a cold, transactional future, Priya must decide: will she surrender again, or finally claim her own destiny?
Reborn as the Villain’s Scapegoat Bride
Reborn as the Villain’s Scapegoat Bride
4.9
On farewell night, I was framed and shamed as the campus villainess, forced into a loveless marriage with my childhood friend who only had eyes for the college queen. Betrayed, unloved, and killed in a tragic accident, I wake up back in my final year—armed with memories of every heartbreak and secret. This time, I’ll rewrite my fate, expose the real schemer, and rescue the bad boy who always called my name, even if it means tearing my own heart apart.
Bought by the CEO, Banished by Love
Bought by the CEO, Banished by Love
4.8
Trapped as the stand-in husband to a ruthless Mumbai heiress, I’m forced to grovel and serve while her true love returns to reclaim her heart. Every humiliation stings deeper—eating behind the fridge, mocked as a leech, threatened by her NRI ex with violence and scandal. But when the system demands I beg for her affection or face a fate worse than death, I choose money, pride, and freedom—refusing to be anyone’s dog, even if it means risking everything.
Dumped Online, Chosen by My Best Friend’s Brother
Dumped Online, Chosen by My Best Friend’s Brother
4.7
When my online boyfriend ghosts me after mistaking my cats for secret kids, I’m shattered—divorced, alone, and judged without mercy. But just as my heart breaks, my best friend’s handsome, younger brother confesses he’s been searching for ways to win me—and my 'child'—over. Torn between virtual betrayal and a real-life second chance, will I risk everything for love that’s closer than I ever imagined?
Villainess Returned: Hunted by My Own Revenge
Villainess Returned: Hunted by My Own Revenge
4.8
Three years after faking my death, I thought my villainous story was over—until the hero I betrayed and the fiancé I humiliated stormed back into my life, swords drawn and hearts full of vengeance. Now, every debt I ever created is being collected, and the very people I once ruined want my blood. In Lucknow, not even death can save a villain like me from the ghosts of her own drama.
Divorced and Viral: Mumbai Wants Me Back
Divorced and Viral: Mumbai Wants Me Back
4.7
When Meera catches her husband Arjun and his charming assistant Priya in a web of secrets, she posts a rishta ad that turns Mumbai upside down. Betrayed, broken, and branded a 'bad-luck girl,' Meera faces heartbreak, a near-fatal crash, and her mother-in-law's venom. But after surviving the darkness, she chooses divorce—and posts her freedom for the world to see, sparking a social media storm that changes her life forever.