Chapter: Chapter 35~~~Asia's POV~~~By the time I got downstairs, George was still there.Which surprised me.Not because he was waiting.Because he looked like he hadn't moved.The lobby bustled around him in the usual afternoon chaos. Employees came and went through the revolving doors. Phones rang behind reception. Security greeted visitors. Yet George stood near one of the large windows overlooking the street, hands shoved into his pockets, staring outside like he'd forgotten where he was.For a moment, I simply watched him.The bouquet was over, at least.Thank God.Small victories.I walked toward him, my heels clicking softly against the polished floor."George."He turned immediately.Something crossed his face.Relief maybe.Gone too quickly for me to be sure."Hey."I stopped beside him.The city stretched beyond the glass behind us, traffic moving steadily through the afternoon while sunlight reflected off nearby buildings.Neither of us spoke right away.The silence wasn't uncomfortable exac
Last Updated: 2026-06-13
Chapter: Chapter 34Eden's POV"Do you think people can care about someone and still make them feel trapped?"The question followed me all the way back to my office.I shut the door behind me and dropped the Henderson file onto my desk.Then stood there.Staring at absolutely nothing.Because somehow, after everything that had happened over the past few weeks, that single question was the one thing I couldn't stop thinking about.I loosened my tie slightly and sank into my chair.First I walk into her office and find her husband standing beside her desk with enough flowers to supply a wedding venue.Then five minutes later she's asking me if someone can care about a person and still make them feel trapped.The timing wasn't exactly subtle.I leaned back slowly.Maybe she was talking about George.Maybe.But another possibility had been irritating me ever since I left her office.What if she meant me?The thought settled heavily in my chest.Because if I was being honest with myself.and I generally hated
Last Updated: 2026-06-04
Chapter: Chapter 33Asia's POVThe second George walked around my desk, I knew I was in trouble.Not actual trouble.The complicated kind.The kind that made guilt settle heavily in your stomach because someone was trying to be kind and all you wanted was space."You don't have to carry everything yourself."His hand rested lightly against my shoulder.Friendly and supportive gesture.I guess?At least it should have felt normal.Instead, my entire body went strangely stiff. I hated that because George wasn't doing anything wrong.Not really.He wasn't grabbing me.Wasn't yelling.Wasn't demanding anything.Yet lately every interaction felt loaded with something neither of us was saying out loud.I opened my mouth, trying to find a response that wouldn't hurt his feelings.Trying to find a way to explain that gratitude and affection weren't the same thing.That just because he'd helped me didn't mean I belonged to him.But before I could say anything the office door opened.Neither of us looked immediate
Last Updated: 2026-06-03
Chapter: Chapter 32Asia's POVTWO DAYS AFTER PARISBy ten o'clock, I had already regretted coming back to work.Not because of the workload.I loved work.Work made sense.Numbers made sense.But somehow, I was still overwhelmed with everything that has happened and what led me to this job in the first place.I stared at the quarterly reports on my screen while accomplishing absolutely nothing.The cursor blinked at me, mocking me.Twenty five emails remained unanswered.Two meetings sat on my calendar.And I'd reread the same paragraph six times without absorbing a single word.Pathetic.A knock sounded against my office door."Come in."The door opened.Sarah, one of the assistants, stepped inside carrying a folder."Good morning." I smiledShe hesitated. “Good morning.”That sounded forced.I wasn't prepared for the next thing Sarah was about to say"There's a man asking to see you."A man?Please don't be"George, he said his name is George."“Your husband.” Her eyes narrowed.I brought my head down
Last Updated: 2026-06-03
Chapter: Chapter 31 Asia's POVThe hospital smelled like antiseptic and exhaustion.I hated hospitals.Always had.Maybe because every hallway felt heavy with bad news.Maybe because hope and heartbreak seemed to live side by side inside these walls.Or maybe because right now my mother was sleeping behind one of those doors, and every time I looked at her, I felt guilty for not finding her sooner.The doctors had reassured me three separate times.She was dehydrated.Exhausted.Malnourished.But alive.Very much alive.The word still didn't feel real.I sat beside her bed and watched her sleep, tears burning behind my eyes for what felt like the hundredth time today.A knock sounded softly against the door.I already knew who it was.Eden.My stomach immediately did something ridiculous.I hated that.The door opened slowly.He stepped inside carrying two coffees.How sweet. The man solved every problem like it was a business transaction.I almost smiled.Almost."How is she?" His bass tone sent chills
Last Updated: 2026-06-01
Chapter: Chapter 30Asia's POVBy the time I arrived at the location, my heart felt like it was trying to hammer its way through my ribs. Each beat was a brutal reminder that I was alone.Truly alone. In the belly of whatever nightmare waited for me.The abandoned warehouse crouched near the river like a dying beast, half-swallowed by shadows and flanked by rusted shipping containers that leaned against each other like drunks. Graffiti scarred the corrugated walls in faded, angry slashes. Broken glass glittered faintly under the weak security lights that still somehow worked. This was the kind of place people avoided even in daylight. The kind of place chosen on purpose because screams here would drown in the wind and the rush of the Seine.The sky had already surrendered to night. Heavy, low hanging clouds pressed down on Paris, pregnant with rain that hadn’t yet decided to fall. A cold wind whipped across the empty lot, carrying the metallic tang of rust, river rot, and distant diesel. I pulled my coat
Last Updated: 2026-05-31
365 Days With The Hockey Player I Hate
21 years old Soraya Rivera has spent her entire life fighting for everything she has.
A full scholarship is her only ticket to a better future, and with her father's mounting medical bills threatening to bury her family, failure isn't an option. So when a heated confrontation at a nightclub turns into a public scandal, she's one mistake away from losing everything she's worked for.
Declan Shaw has his own future on the line.
At twenty-five, he's hockey's golden boy the league's favorite player and captain of the ice. But after one reckless night involving Soraya, lands him in trouble with sponsors and team management, he's given an impossible ultimatum: clean up his image or kiss his career goodbye.
The solution?
A legally binding marriage.
For 365 days.
One year of pretending they're happily in love.
One year of living together, smiling for cameras, and convincing the world their relationship is real.
If they fail, Declan loses the career he's sacrificed everything for.
If Soraya refuses, she loses her scholarship and the chance to help save her father.
The rules should be simple: no feelings, no complications, and absolutely no falling in love.
But when hatred starts feeling dangerously close to attraction, and every stolen glance blurs the line between fake and real, Soraya and Declan discover that surviving 365 days together may be the easiest part.
Because the biggest risk isn't losing everything.
It's losing their hearts to the one person they swore they'd never love.
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Chapter: Chapter 72 - What I saw~Maya’s POV~I brought coffee to the rink that morning the same way I had almost every morning these past three weeks, though lately I'd started timing my arrival a little earlier than strictly necessary, just to catch the last few minutes of Caleb running drills before Soraya showed up.Small thing. Selfish thing, maybe. I didn't examine it too closely.Soraya was already limping noticeably by the time I settled into my usual spot along the boards, her leg clearly protesting every hard stop Caleb pushed her through. She'd been favoring it more this week than last, though she never said so out loud, and Caleb had started building extra rest into the drills without making a production out of it, the kind of quiet accommodation that told me he'd noticed too, even if neither of them wanted to say it plainly."One more set," Caleb called from center ice. "Then we're done for the day.""You said that twenty minutes ago," Soraya shot back.She was already lining up for the drill anyway, stu
Last Updated: 2026-09-15
Chapter: Chapter 71 - The Regionals~~~Soraya~~~Coach Bennett didn't sugarcoat it when I finally got her on the phone."Camp administration isn't pulling your invite," she said, and I felt my whole chest loosen for one brief second before she kept going. "But they want something to point to. Something that proves the story doesn't define you. There's a regional showcase in three weeks. Bigger stage than your last game, multiple scouting programs in attendance, including the one who already extended you an invite. If you play, and play well, it gives everyone a much easier story to tell than the one currently circulating.""And if I don't play well?" I said breathlessly."Then we deal with that when it happens." Her voice softened slightly. "I believe in you, Soraya. I wouldn't be fighting this hard for a spot I didn't think you'd earned fair and square. But I'd be lying if I said the stakes weren't higher this time."I sat with that for a long moment after we hung up, staring down at my leg, still healing, still not e
Last Updated: 2026-09-08
Chapter: Chapter 70 - Bigger than campus~~~Soraya~~~The phone rang at 5:42 in the morning, dragging me up out of sleep so fast my heart was already pounding before I even managed to answer it."Hello?""Soraya, it's Coach Bennett. I'm sorry to call this early." Her voice had a tightness to it I hadn't heard before, careful and controlled in a way that immediately set my nerves on edge."Have you checked anything online yet this morning?""No. I just woke up." I sat up slowly, reaching for the light. "What happened?""The rumor got picked up." She stayed silent, brief but heavy."By a real outlet this time. A hockey recruiting blog with a decent following, the kind scouts actually follow for prospect updates. They ran a version of the story overnight. Framed it as a question mark on your character rather than a confirmed fact, which is the only reason it's not worse than it already is, but Soraya,it's out there now. Really out there. Not just campus gossip anymore."My stomach dropped straight through the mattress. "How ba
Last Updated: 2026-09-02
Chapter: Chapter 69 - Caught~~~Soraya~~~Campus security had installed a camera outside my door two days after the package showed up, along with a promise to review footage from the courtyard and increase patrols around my building at night. Nothing had turned up yet. No new packages, no more figures standing beneath streetlights, just a careful, watchful quiet that felt more like held breath than actual safety.I tried not to think about it too hard. Some mornings that worked better than others.Today, at least, was quiet in the ordinary way. Sunlight through the blinds instead of dread, my leg propped up on a pillow while I worked through the stretches the physical therapist had given me, slow and careful, counting under my breath the way she'd taught me.Maya was supposed to bring lunch back from the dining hall. She'd left almost forty minutes ago for what should have been a fifteen-minute trip.I texted her. No response.I tried again ten minutes later, and when that went unanswered too, I hauled myself up
Last Updated: 2026-08-29
Chapter: Chapter 68 - Who's behind it~~~Declan~~~The flight landed a little after six in the morning, local time, the sky outside the window still bruised with early gray light. I turned my phone back on the second the wheels touched down, half expecting a wall of missed calls from my father, bracing myself for whatever fresh wave of consequences waited on the other side of airplane mode.Nothing came through. No calls. No messages. Just silence, which somehow felt worse than a hundred angry texts would have.I told myself it didn't mean anything. I told myself a lot of things on the drive from the airport back to the apartment my father had arranged for me, staring out the window at streets that still didn't feel like they belonged to me no matter the duration I spent walking them.The apartment felt different the second I stepped through the door. Too quiet, too still, like the air itself had shifted while I was gone. I set my bag down and reached for the light switch, and that's when I noticed the first thing wrong.
Last Updated: 2026-08-22
Chapter: Chapter 67 - Alone~~~Soraya~~~Declan's plane had been in the air for exactly forty minutes when my phone buzzed for the first time.Unknown number.‘Wonder how long it takes him to disappear again this time.’My stomach dropped straight through the airport floor. Maya's arm tightened around my shoulders, and I realized she'd read it over my shoulder at the exact same second I had."Ignore it," she said, though her voice had gone tight and careful. "Whoever this is, as usual they want a reaction. Don't give into it."I shoved the phone into my bag and let Caleb steer us toward the exit, the fluorescent airport lights blurring past as my mind raced through everything I refused to let myself think about too closely. Whoever was doing this had known, almost immediately, that Declan was gone. That kind of timing wasn't luck. That kind of timing meant somebody was watching close enough to know exactly when I'd be alone.We got back to campus a little before dark. Maya insisted on walking me straight to my d
Last Updated: 2026-08-22
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