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หน้าหลัก / Romance / Goal! The Manchester United Captains / Chapter 81: The Price of the Game

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Chapter 81: The Price of the Game

ผู้เขียน: Frank J.P
last update ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2025-10-03 14:41:18

“Julian’s not the kind of man who lets go,” Leo muttered, pacing the room, his jaw tight. “He doesn’t lose. Not without breaking something on his way down.”

Maya leaned against the edge of the table, her eyes following him. “You think he’s on to us?”

“I don’t think,” Leo said quietly. “I know.”

There was a long silence. The soft hum of the city outside filled the space between them.

Julian Vance was a man built on secrets. He saw lies the way others saw colors — bright, clear, and impossible to ignore. And lately, he had begun to sense one forming beneath Leo and Maya’s smiles. The truth they were hiding, the bond they shared beyond the cameras, had become a thorn in his game.

So, Julian tested them.

At first, it was harmless — a teasing laugh here, a raised brow there.

“You two seem close,” he had said once during a press lunch, swirling his wine. “Almost too close for business partners.”

Maya had smiled. “Almost?”

Julian chuckled, but his eyes lingered. “In my experience, love makes
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  • Goal! The Manchester United Captains   Chapter 97: The Sterling Legacy 2

    Leo believed her. He believed the way Daniel had been lately: closed off, snapping at jokes, walking like he carried a stone in his shoe. He could imagine someone watching Daniel and holding a list of his faults like a map.“I’ll be there tomorrow,” Chloe said. “Stay with Maya. Don’t go look for trouble alone.”“I won’t,” Leo said.He hung up and paced the room until the house felt like it could hold him again. He called a friend, a teammate, someone who owed him more than loyalty and less than everything. He arranged to meet at the training ground before dawn. He wanted to find Daniel. He wanted to tell his brother that whatever storm blew, they would stand inside it together.When he left the Sterling house, the sky was the thin blue of sleep. He met his teammate under the old floodlights, the place where boys became men and men tried to be boys again. The grass smelled like damp and effort. The teammate handed him an envelope and didn’t say a word.“What’s this?” Leo asked, thumbed

  • Goal! The Manchester United Captains   Chapter 96: The Sterling Legacy

    The house did not feel like a house that night. It felt like a stage holding its breath.“Leo, come sit,” his mother said before he reached the chair. Her voice was soft like a blanket pulled too tight. “We need to talk.”“You already said that at dinner,” Leo answered, but he sat. He folded his hands on his knees like someone waiting for a storm to pass. “You promised no speeches.”“We aren’t giving speeches,” his father said. He sounded older than his years. “This is just... talking. Family talking.”“Family or team?” Leo asked, one eyebrow lifted. He kept his voice low. He didn’t want the neighbors to hear, didn’t want the house to swallow their words and keep them forever.“Both,” his mother said. Her fingers found his. “Both, and more. You know how people watch us. You know what our name asks from you.”Leo let out a breath. “I know.”His father looked at him long. “Tell me about Daniel.”Leo closed his eyes for one second. He remembered the first time he’d held Daniel’s hand on

  • Goal! The Manchester United Captains   Chapter 95: The Unexpected Connection

    The press called it a “historic moment.” The PR team called it “a show of unity.” But for everyone on that field, it felt like a circus.Banners fluttered from the stands, reporters lined the sidelines, and a dozen cameras caught every laugh, every glance, every mistake. The men’s and women’s teams were back together for the first time since the Julian Vance scandal — smiling for the cameras, pretending that the club had healed.Chloe adjusted her captain’s armband and muttered under her breath, “Unity and transparency, my ass.”Beside her, Maya smirked. “Smile, captain. They said the drone’s picking up facial expressions now.”Chloe gave her a look. “Then let it pick this up,” she whispered, forcing a bright grin that didn’t reach her eyes.The session was chaos wrapped in choreography. The PR handlers barked directions like stage managers. “More interaction! Look friendly! Make it natural!”It wasn’t natural. It was survival.And right in the middle of it all — Ben Carter.He stood

  • Goal! The Manchester United Captains   Chapter 94: The Weight of Expectations

    They dressed the ballroom like a painting—gold drapes, soft light, the kind of music that makes you forget the clock. From the outside it was gorgeous. Up close, the sparkle felt like a lie stretched very thin. Leo knew how to read the seams.He found Maya by the orchids, as if she'd pulled herself out of the crowd and into a small piece of quiet. Her dress fought the light and won; she looked like someone who could hold a room and still be startled by a hand on her shoulder.He slid into the space beside her before she could fold away. “You okay?” he asked, low so only she could hear.She let out a breath that might have been a laugh or a sigh. “As okay as you can be when strangers write our life into headlines for sport.”“You hate the attention.” He said it like a fact, not a whine. He curled his fingers around her hand beneath the linen tablecloth without thinking. “You hate it, I know. But look at me—are you still with me?”She squeezed his fingers back, once. “Always.” Her voice

  • Goal! The Manchester United Captains   Chapter 93: The Weight of a Name

    The Manchester United City training ground had never looked like this.Usually, it was a fortress of sweat, drills, and discipline — but today, it looked like a polished movie set. The annual Youth Development Day had arrived, and the club had transformed their sacred turf into a corporate carnival. Banners flapped in the wind, camera crews swarmed like flies, and PR agents with clipboards barked orders through wireless headsets.For Maya, it was suffocating. The air didn’t smell like cut grass and rain anymore. It smelled like cologne, camera flashes, and fake smiles.She adjusted the red ribbon tied around her wrist — a tiny symbol of the old her, the one who played for love, not for headlines. Now she stood in a tailored dress that made her look more like a brand ambassador than an athlete.Leo, beside her, wasn’t much better off. Gone was the fiery captain in his boots and armband. Today he wore a charcoal-gray suit — expensive, perfect, and completely alien. He looked like he bel

  • Goal! The Manchester United Captains   Chapter 92: The Gauntlet Thrown

    The lights from the media banners cut across the evening air like sharpened blades. Cameras flashed, voices rose, and the world held its breath. Maya stood in the center of the stage, the microphone trembling slightly in her hand. Her heart thudded, but her eyes—steady and alive—refused to look away.This was it. No turning back now.“Football,” she began, her voice low but sharp enough to slice through the noise, “isn’t just about winning trophies anymore. It’s about fairness. About respect. About giving every player—man or woman—the same chance to rise.”The murmurs swelled. Journalists leaned forward, pens frozen midair.She paused. “We’ve been told to wait our turn. To be patient. To smile for the cameras and stay quiet. But no more.” Her tone hardened. “If our federation can’t give women’s football what it deserves, then they don’t deserve us.”A wave of gasps broke across the hall.From the front row, Leo watched her with a mix of awe and terror. He had never seen her like this—

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