Chapter: The Shadow"You're going to puke if you don't stop pacing."Riley ignored him. She kept moving in the small space between their beds, her skates clicking rhythmically on the thin carpet. Each step felt like a countdown. The hallway outside was alive with the sound of doors slamming and guys shouting-the pre-game energy of the first official home opener."Woods. Sit down.""I can't," she snapped, finally looking at Jax. He was sitting on his bed, calmly taping his stick. He looked like he was preparing for a casual afternoon skate, not a game that could end her life if she tripped the wrong way.Jax stood up, towering over her, and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. He didn't push her, but the weight of it forced her to stop. "You're vibrating. If you go out there like this, you’ll blow it in the first five minutes. The scouts are already in the rafters. They aren't looking for a nervous wreck.""I'm not nervous. I'm... tight.""Because you're thinking about the hair. You're thinking about the
Last Updated: 2026-03-16
Chapter: The Wall"Eyes up, Woods! You’re skating like you’re looking for a lost penny!"Coach’s voice bounced off the empty bleachers, Riley didn't respond. She couldn't. Her lungs felt like they were filled with crushed glass. The athletic tape Jax had forced her to use was tighter than the binder, pulling at her skin with every stride. It felt more like armor, but the kind that crushed you from the inside out.She rounded the far turn, her blades biting deep into the fresh ice. She could feel Jax behind her. He wasn't just skating; he was hunting. Every time she slowed down, his stick would clatter against the back of her skates, a silent threat to keep moving."Pick it up," Jax hissed as he pulled alongside her. He didn't look tired. He looked like he could do this all day. "Beckett’s watching from the glass. Don't give him a reason to come over here crying."Riley glanced toward the dark tunnel. Beckett was there, a shadow in a green tracksuit. He wasn't supposed to be at the Falcons’ practice, bu
Last Updated: 2026-03-06
Chapter: The Debt"Get in the back."Jax didn't look at her when he said it. He didn't even stop walking. He just hooked his fingers into the collar of Riley’s jersey and hauled her toward the rear of the bus. The fabric bunched uncomfortably against her throat, forcing her to stumble over a discarded equipment bag."I can walk, Jax," she hissed. She tried to pry his hand off, but his grip was like iron."Sit." He shoved her into the last bench seat, the one hidden in the deep shadows furthest from the overhead lights.The rest of the team was filing on, loud and rowdy from the win. They were chanting, throwing punches at each other's shoulders, oblivious to the fact that their season was currently hanging by a single, fraying thread. Miller walked past, pausing for a second."Hey, Woodsy. Hell of a goal. You okay? You looked a little rattled out there."Riley opened her mouth to speak, but Jax stepped in front of her, blocking Miller’s view."He's fine," Jax said. His voice was flat. Cold. "Bell rung
Last Updated: 2026-03-06
Chapter: The Jersey"Turn around."Riley froze with her hand on the hem of her shirt. She didn't look back. She knew exactly where Jax was—sitting on the edge of his bed, probably watching her with that same narrow-eyed look he’d had since the dining hall."I'm changing, Jax. Get out.""It's my room, too. And you've got a hoodie on over a t-shirt. What are you, a nesting doll?" Jax’s voice was closer now. She heard the soft thud of his socks on the carpet. "Just take the damn thing off and put your jersey on. We’re late for the bus.""I'll meet you there.""Coach said together. Door to door." He was standing right behind her now. She could feel the heat. It was like standing next to a furnace. "What is it? You got a tattoo of a rival team? A girl’s name?""None of your business.""You make it my business when you act like a freak." Jax reached out and grabbed the back of her hoodie. It wasn't an attack. It was a tug, a frustrated, impatient yank.Riley spun around, slapping his hand away. "Don't touch me
Last Updated: 2026-03-06
Chapter: The Roommate"You’re going to sit there all night?"Riley flinched. Jax’s voice was too close, vibrating through the thin bathroom door. She was still sitting on the edge of the tub, the water running hot and wasting away into the drain. "I’m busy," she called out. Her voice felt raspy, a forced low growl she had practiced in the shower for weeks."Busy doing what? Drowning?"She heard the heavy thud of his boots hitting the floor. Then the springs of his bed groaned. He was settling in.Riley looked at the lock on the door. It was a cheap, plastic twist-knob. One good shove and it would snap. She looked at the binder beneath her shirt. It was damp with sweat, itching against her skin. She needed to breathe. She needed to take it off, but the thought of being exposed in a room with a man who already looked at her like she was a bug under a microscope made her stomach turn.She reached over and turned the shower handle harder. The pipes rattled."Woods!""What?" she snapped."The pipes are shaking
Last Updated: 2026-03-06
Chapter: The ScissorsChapter One: The Scissors"You're actually going to do it."Riley didn't look up. She kept her eyes locked on her own reflection in the cracked bathroom mirror, tracing the way the fluorescent light flickered against her forehead. The scissors felt heavy in her hand. Heavier than they had any right to be. They were just metal and plastic, but they felt like a gavel."Shut up, Ryan," she said. Her voice didn't shake. She was proud of that."It's a federal crime or something. Identity theft. Fraud. Probably a dozen other things that’ll land you in a cell." Ryan was leaning against the doorframe, his weight shifted to one side, biting his thumb nervously. He looked like a wreck. His eyes were bloodshot, and his skin had that sickly, pale sheen of someone who hadn't slept in forty-eight hours. He looked like the reason she was standing here. He looked like a coward."It's not a crime. It's hockey," Riley muttered. She grabbed a thick, dark fistful of her hair. It was long, reaching past h
Last Updated: 2026-03-06
Chapter: Nine FifteenThe room was loud and warm and full of people who had no idea what was about to happen.I moved through it slowly, stopping to speak to people when they approached me, saying the right things, smiling the right smiles, feeling the whole time like I was watching the evening from a slight distance even as I stood in the middle of it.At eight thirty I saw Preston move.She crossed the room toward the sound desk and said something to the man standing next to Daniel and then looked over at the photographer she had brought in and gave him a small nod. He moved toward the side of the room where the screens were visible from every angle. He was getting into position.She was moving earlier than nine fifteen.I caught Margaret’s eye across the room. She had seen it too. She tilted her head slightly toward the door and I understood immediately. She was moving her people into position. Quietly. Without drawing attention. The way Margaret did everything.I found Jason at my elbow. “She’s moving
Last Updated: 2026-08-23
Chapter: Three DaysJason stayed till midnight and when he left I stood at the door and listened to the lift go down and felt the quiet settle around me and thought this is what good actually feels like, not surviving, just good.Saturday morning Clara texted at seven to say Daniel was confirmed, Margaret was confirmed, Leo was confirmed, Eleanor and Victoria were confirmed, Jason was confirmed, and everyone was in place.I made coffee and sat at the counter and felt ready in a way I hadn’t felt ready for anything in a very long time.I went in at nine and Park was waiting and Torres had sent his brief and at ten Preston walked past my office and smiled through the glass and I smiled back and thought three days.Elena rang at noon. “Preston called me yesterday,” she said. “She thinks I’m still in. Photographer goes in at eight, footage plays at nine fifteen.” A pause. “She sounded very sure of herself.” “Good,” I said. “Let her be.” Elena was quiet for a second. “Are you scared,” she said. “No,” I said.
Last Updated: 2026-08-23
Chapter: Five DaysI called Margaret immediately.She picked up on the first ring. “I just got the same call,” she said. “Different number. Same voice.” I sat forward. “You think it’s real,” I said. “I think we can’t assume it isn’t,” she said. “What second layer,” I said. “That’s what I’ve been asking myself for the last three minutes,” she said. A pause. “Come in tomorrow morning. Early. We go through everything again from the beginning.” “Seven,” I said. “Seven,” she said.I put the phone down.Sat there.Five days.I had the recording. The documents. Dr. Webb. The coordinator neutralised. Preston walking into something she didn’t know was waiting for her.But someone was telling me there was more.I picked up my phone and called Clara.“I need you to go back through everything,” I said. “Preston. Her contacts. Her movements. Everything from the last three months. Anything we might have missed.” “Tonight,” Clara said. Not a question. “Tonight,” I said. “I’ll start now,” she said. She hung up.I didn’
Last Updated: 2026-07-11
Chapter: Two WeeksDr. Webb sent the proof that night.Texts between her and Preston. Voice notes. A signed offer for fifty thousand dollars to fake my medical records. Preston had written it all down like she thought nobody would ever see it.I sent everything to Margaret.She called back in ten minutes. “This is it,” she said. “This is the whole case.” A pause. “Sarah this is bigger than I thought. We can end her completely. Not just at the gala. In a courtroom after.” “Do it,” I said. “All of it.”Monday came fast.Preston smiled at me in the hallway again. I smiled back. She had no idea Dr. Webb had called me. No idea the trap had closed around her three days ago. She just kept walking past me like she still had the upper hand.It was almost funny.Clara had a list on my desk by Tuesday morning. Everyone who knew the real plan. Margaret. Jason. Eleanor. Victoria. Leo. Clara herself. Six people. That was all.“Small list,” Clara said.“Small list stays quiet,” I said.She nodded.Wednesday Jason came
Last Updated: 2026-07-11
Chapter: Three WeeksPreston sat across from me in the Monday board meeting and smiled.I smiled back.Neither of us meant it.She took notes the whole meeting. Careful ones. I watched her hand move across the page and thought about what she was writing and what she was going to do with it and felt nothing except a cold specific patience.After the meeting she stopped me in the corridor.“The gala preparations look wonderful,” she said. “You must be excited.”“Very,” I said.She smiled again and walked away and I watched her go and thought three weeks.Clara appeared at my elbow. “She’s been on her phone since she left the boardroom,” she said quietly. “Reporting back,” I said. “Yes,” Clara said. “Good,” I said.We walked back to my office.Jason came by at lunch. He didn’t have an appointment. He never had an appointment. He sat across from my desk and put a coffee in front of me and said “how are you” and I said “ask me in three weeks” and he said “fair enough” and we sat in the quiet for a moment and i
Last Updated: 2026-07-11
Chapter: Four WeeksJason came at seven.He brought red wine and didn’t mention the filing or Richard or any of it and I didn’t either and we ate at the counter and talked about nothing important and it was the best hour of the week.After dinner he washed the dishes without being asked.I watched him do it.Sleeves rolled up. Focused. Like a man who had decided that showing up properly meant the small things too, not just the dramatic ones.“You’re thinking,” he said without turning around.“Always,” I said.He dried his hands and turned and looked at me. “What are you thinking about.”“The gala,” I said.He nodded slowly. “Four weeks.”“Four weeks,” I said.He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms and looked at me with that open steady expression. “Tell me what you need from me between now and then,” he said. Simply. No agenda. Just the question.I looked at him for a moment.“Show up,” I said. “That’s all. Just keep showing up.”Something moved through his face. Quick. Real. Gone before he c
Last Updated: 2026-07-11
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