The Girl They Ignored Returned as the Woman Seven Men Would Die For novel Chapter 7

By the time Seraphina returned to the dorm, it was already eight o'clock at night.

Mika had just walked out of the bathroom after washing her face. Droplets of water still clung to her cheeks, making her skin look even more flawless and translucent.

"Mika, your face..." Seraphina's gaze landed on Mika's shockingly clear complexion, her perfect smile freezing for a fraction of a second.

Mika's transformation wasn't subtle.

As the roommate who saw her every day, Seraphina instantly noticed the difference.

"I've been using a new acne-clearing mask lately," Mika said casually, wiping the water from her face with a towel and offering a bright smile.

"What do you think? Do I look a little prettier?"

Seraphina hesitated for a moment. Her eyes drifted down to Mika's still-heavy figure, and her expression quickly relaxed back into effortless serenity.

Even if a profoundly unattractive girl got slightly prettier, she was still just plain.

Seraphina blinked, her lips curving into a flawless, sweet smile.

"Yes! To me, you're the prettiest girl in the world. Come on, let's eat the cake I brought specifically for you."

Catching that fleeting, calculated look in Seraphina's eyes, a trace of mockery flashed through Mika's gaze. She smoothly pushed Seraphina's hand away.

"Let's hold off on the cake. I actually... have something to tell you."

"What is it?" Seraphina asked, her eyes wide with innocent curiosity.

"Jude and I are dating."

The announcement hit the room like a bomb. It didn't just stun Seraphina; it yanked their other two roommates straight out from behind their privacy curtains.

"Jude asked you out?!"

"Are you serious? Doesn't he like..."

Lily cut herself off abruptly, exchanging a loaded, complicated look with Xanthe.

Anyone with eyes knew Jude was obsessed with Seraphina.

The campus goddess versus the campus outcast. Even an idiot knew how that math worked, let alone the guy ranked third on the university hot list.

"Yeah," Mika replied, ignoring the blatant disbelief in her roommates' eyes, a sickly-sweet smile spreading across her face.

"He even said he wanted to take us all out to dinner tomorrow night to make it official."

A bizarre, heavy silence fell over the room for two solid seconds.

Mika and the girls grabbed a cab to Birch Avenue. Jude was already waiting at the restaurant entrance, holding a massive bouquet of pink roses.

The second the four girls stepped out of the car, Jude's eyes magnetically locked onto Seraphina.

She was wearing a soft, angelic white dress, flashing him a pure, gentle smile.

Her quiet beauty was as refreshing as a spring breeze.

Jude's ears turned red instantly, and he unconsciously took a step toward her.

But a second later, a slightly plump arm casually slipped through the crook of his elbow.

Simultaneously, Mika's voice murmured a careless reminder right into his ear.

"Don't forget whose boyfriend you are tonight."

Before going to sleep the night before, Mika had laid out the ground rules.

The harder Jude chased, the more Seraphina would pull away.

So tonight, he had to treat Mika like absolute royalty to trigger a sense of loss in Seraphina's mind.