Against Him?

CHAPTER FIVE — Scarlett POV

I was asleep when my phone started ringing.

At first, I didn’t want to open my eyes. My body felt too heavy, and my mind was still stuck in everything that had happened over the past few days. The ringing continued anyway, sharp and persistent, until I finally forced my eyes open.

For a moment, I didn’t even recognize where I was.

Then i remembered slowly. Ryan’s house. The contract and everything 

I reached for my phone and the  name on the screen made me sit up immediately.

Coach called me, My coach? 

My heart jumped,  stared at it for a few seconds, almost afraid to breathe. Why was he calling me? After everything that happened… I thought I was done. I thought I had been completely removed.

My fingers trembled as I answered. “Hello?”

His voice came through immediately, firm and direct. “Come to the training hall. Now.”

Then the call ended.

I sat still, staring at the screen as my mind struggled to catch up. My heart had already started beating faster. Why would they call me back? After my contract was terminated? After everything was over?

Unless… Unless they changed their minds.

That thought sparked something dangerous inside me, maybe a small hope.

I got up quickly, almost too quickly, pulling on clothes without thinking properly. My hands were unsteady the entire time, like my body was moving faster than my thoughts.

All I knew was that I had to go.

When I stepped out of the room, I saw him. Ryan.

He was standing in the center ,calm as always, like he had been waiting without actually looking like he was waiting.

I stopped. My heart slowed without permission, his gaze landed on me immediately. “Where are you going?” he asked.

“My coach called me,” I said quickly. “I have to go.”

There was a brief pause before  he nodded once. “Go.”

He answered just like that, I should have felt relieved. Instead, something unsettled me about how easily he let me leave.

I left quickly… maybe too quickly.

My thoughts stayed tangled all the way out of the house, maybe  it was good news, maybe they had reversed the decision, maybe I still had a place in the league after all.

By the time I reached the training hall, my heart was already racing.

The doors were open, I stepped inside.

The coach was there but he wasn’t alone.

Officials stood beside him, and every single one of them was looking at me and that  was the first thing that felt wrong.

My steps slowed. “Scarlett,” the coach said.

I swallowed. “Yes?”

His smile widened slightly. “We’ve heard about you and Ryan.”

My mind went blank. “What?”

He nodded as if it were obvious. “Congratulations.”

My heart dropped, I blinked once, then again, as confusion replaced everything else. Slowly, I pulled out my phone, my fingers were shaking as I unlocked it.

The screen was flooded, messages, headlines, alerts.

Every single one saying the same thing.

Scarlett and Ryan—confirmed.

Sports world’s new couple.

Public sighting sparks relationship confirmation.

My stomach turned, No!This couldn’t be realc it  wasn’t public, it wasn’t supposed to be public.

Only a few people had seen that moment, only  that incident. Only…

My breath grew uneven. “How…” I whispered. “How do they know this?”

The coach studied me for a moment before answering calmly. “We work in media. Things spread fast.”

My hand  tightened around the phone.So that one moment… Ryan stepping in, the guards, my stepmother… that was enough, just one scene.m and my entire life had been turned into a headline.

My privacy was gone, just  like that.

The coach cleared his throat. “But that is not why we called you.”

I looked up slowly. “Then why?”

His expression shifted, still polite, but sharper now.“We have decided to let you stay.”

For a moment, my brain didn’t process it. Then it hit me, stay!

My eyes widened.“You mean… I still have my position back here in the team”

He nodded, I felt relief, I didn’t realize I had been holding.

“Thank you,” I said quickly, almost laughing in disbelief.

Without thinking, I stepped forward and hugged him., I didn’t planned. It wasn’t controlled and maybe because I was too happy . It was just pure relief spilling out of me because for the first time in days, I felt like I could breathe again.

But after a second, I noticed something, he didn’t hug me back so I pulled away slowly.

His expression had changed. The smile was still there, but it didn’t reach his eyes anymore. “There is a condition,” he said.

The relief in my chest disappeared instantly. My stomach dropped. “A condition?”

He nodded once.“Yes.”

I swallowed hard.

Anything, I  would have agreed to anything in that moment.

“Any conditions,” I said quickly. “I’ll do it.”

His eyes narrowed slightly, as if he had expected that answer.“Good.”

He folded his arms. “Ryan Carter is the best player we’ve ever seen.”

I nodded slowly, not understanding where this was going.

Then he continued. “So we want you to observe him.”

“Observe?” I repeated.

“To understand him,” he said. “His patterns, his behavior. What affects his performance.”

My confusion deepened.

Then he said the word.“His weakness.”

Everything inside me went still. “No,” I said immediately. “That’s not possible.”

The coach didn’t change his expression. “It is your assignment.”

I shook my head. “We’re not close like that. I don’t know anything about his weaknesses.”

He tilted his head slightly.

“You live in his house now.”

My voice dropped. “That doesn’t mean I know him.”

“We are sure you will find something,” he said simply.

My fingers tightened around my phone.

“What if I refuse?” I asked quietly.

A pause, then  his voice lowered.“Then we revisit your old records, how about we spread it to the world”

Everything in me stopped, my  breath caught, my body went completely still, my old records, the  accusation, the  lie.

Once spread, it would destroyed my name.

My throat tightened painfully. The coach watched me closely. “That’s what we thought,” he said.

My lips parted, but nothing came out. “No…” I whispered. “Please.”

He nodded once. “Do the assignment.”

I stood there for a moment longer, unable to move.

Then slowly, I turned and  walked out.

The relief I had felt minutes ago was gone and now completely erased and  all that was left was fear because now I understood something clearly.

Even after escaping one prison…I might have just stepped into another.