INICIAR SESIÓNHazel’s POVI kept thinking about who Trey used to be before all of this.It was a strange thing to grieve, considering everything he’d done. But somewhere underneath everything, there had been a version of him I actually liked once. The brother who used to steal my fries at dinner and pretend he wasn’t doing it. The one who showed up to one of my middle school recitals because nobody else could make it.I didn’t know when that person had disappeared, it must have been in college because that was when he got all too absorbed with himself. Either way, he is gone from WildLife now. The school’s IT department had pulled his access during the investigation, and somewhere in the mess of paperwork, my account had finally come back to where it belonged.To me, after I wrote an undertaking never to use it to tarnish any image. Even if I never did tarnish any image. My blog posts were o mostly about rumours, sex and wild life on campus. Yet I graciously signed the undertaking because I missed
Trey’s POVThe official notice came through at noon, and by the time I finished reading it, my hands had gone cold.Blacklisted from any hockey activity with immediate effect. Three months of mandated community service, alongside Tiffany and the other students who took part in it. A formal public apology is to be broadcast through the school’s official channels for the entire student body.I sat with my phone in my hand for a long time after that, not moving.By two in the afternoon, the news had already crossed every group chat on campus. I knew because my phone had gone almost completely silent. Teammates who used to text me first about everything weren’t texting at all. Guys who had followed my lead in the locker room for three years suddenly had nothing to say to me.The worst part came at four.A message from one of the scouts my father had personally introduced me to last season. Disappointing to hear about the situation. We’ll be reassessing our interest.I stared at that messa
Trey’s POVI woke up the morning after Tiffany’s verdict feeling very good, for the first time in weeks, because everything has finally been settled.She had taken the fall. My name had stayed clean through the entire hearing. I stood in front of my bedroom mirror, buttoning my Ice Hounds jacket with a confidence I hadn't felt in a long time. One more game. That was all I needed.The moment I stepped onto the walkway leading toward the athletics building, something felt...off.Conversations stopped as I walked by. Two freshmen from the team whispered to each other before quickly looking away when I caught them staring.My grip tightened around my bag.What now?Then I saw Hazel crossing the courtyard with Jaxon beside her. For a second, everything else disappeared.She looked different because she no longer carried herself like someone waiting for permission to exist.Jaxon said something that made her smile faintly. It wasn't a big smile, just enough to soften the exhaustion that ha
Tiffany’s POVI told myself, walking into the hearing room that morning, that everything will be sorted out. Daddy had made a few calls and even if Hazel had refused to withdraw the petition, she would just be wasting her time.I had told myself that every day for the past two weeks. I had spent almost a year building my reputation and even from my former school before I transferred here. That would mean something right. I was not about to lose all of it over a dorm room incident.The hearing room felt different the moment I sat down.It wasn’t just the five board members behind the long table, the same faces from the previous hearing. There were more people present this time, administrative staff at the back, a note-taker I hadn’t seen before, a stack of folders in front of the Dean considerably thicker than the last session’s.“Before we proceed to the matter of the dormitory incident, the board would like to address several additional statements that have come forward over the past
Rivers’ POV The stack of papers on my desk had grown over the past week into something I no longer wanted to look at directly.Legal correspondence from the university's general counsel. A formal request for documentation related to the dorm incident. A note from the board's office indicated that the scope of the investigation had been expanded pending further review.For years, I had been the man who controlled the pace of every crisis that touched my family. I anticipated problems before they fully formed. I managed outcomes quietly, efficiently, without anyone noticing the hand that had shaped them.Now everything was moving faster than I could direct it.I told myself, for the umpteenth time that day, that Hazel couldn't possibly know. If she had found what I feared she'd found, she would have confronted me directly. She had never been a person who sat on things. But then I remembered the last breakfast we had. The way she had looked at me when I asked about the study. Why? Is s
Hazel’s POVThe drive back to Jaxon’s apartment was quiet. When we got back, I sat on the edge of Jaxon’s couch with my knees pulled up and stared at nothing in particular.“For weeks, I thought finding the truth would fix something. That if I just got enough proof, enough documents, everything would finally make sense.” I shook my head slowly. “Now I have a billionaire telling me he thinks I’m his dead daughter, and I feel less like myself than I have in my entire life.”Jaxon sat down beside me, close enough that his shoulder was against mine. “Everything is starting to make sense.”“Is it? Because nothing about this makes sense to me. If Rebecca Sterling is who I was born as, then who is Hazel? Was Hazel ever even real, or was she just a name someone gave me?”“Hazel is real, Hazel is the person sitting next to me right now.”“That’s not the answer.”“It’s the only answer I have, and I think it’s the right one. A name doesn’t erase eighteen years of life, Hazel. Rebecca might be wh
Trey's POV I stormed into the Ice Hounds’ apartment building, my teeth clenched so tight my jaw ached. Every step rattled through my chest making my heart beat accelerate. My blood boiled hotter than it had in weeks, maybe months. O’Malley’s voice replayed in my head "She is not in the spare roo
Hazel's POV By the next morning, I had barely slept, the memory of last night kept replaying in fragments, the sound of Jaxon’s pained groan, the feel of his hand gripping mine, the quiet plea not to tell anyone about his injury.This morning was a whole new game because I was about to walk straig
Jaxon’s POVIf there was one thing I hated more than losing a match, it was watching Hazel get torn apart by something she didn't do all because of a spoilt princess does like her.Before we faced the Dean for hearing, I overheard Tiffany bragging to her gang about how she is got everything sorted
Jaxon’s POV Hazel didn’t look back once, not even when I called her name the first time. She moved like she was trying to outrun her shadows. I tossed my stick to Johnson and jogged down to catch up with her. She has already been through a lot and I hate to be the reason why she shrinks the more.







