Chapter 3

News of the Yorkson Bears' management agreeing to my trade request came back the next day, and I returned to the team's office to pack up my things.

Along the way, many other teammates and staff members gave me mocking looks.

"Did he really think he could play Center just by changing teams? Don't you dare come crawling back to us if you fail next time."

"Didn't you see how sarcastic he was with Captain the other day? No wonder Captain looks down on him that much."

I pretended not to hear a thing and continued packing up my stuff.

"Wait a minute."

Ian's cold voice sounded from behind me.

Katie was leaning into his embrace as she smirked at me. "The playoff tactics, defense, and personnel deployment information were leaked this morning. I heard that the Claston team offered you a high salary to join their team. Could it be that there's a shady deal going on between you and them?"

I turned to Ian. "You think I did it?"

"We'll find out the truth after checking your phone," he replied expressionlessly.

The technicians and security guards surrounded me. My heart sank at once.

My phone was filled with secret files that I hadn't managed to completely delete in time. They were all intimate photos of Ian and me over the past five years.

If the technicians recovered the photos from the recycle bin, our relationship would be exposed to everyone immediately.

"Don't touch my phone!" I said, stepping forward and trying to stop them. However, two massive defense players stopped me.

"Ian! Stop them! I didn't leak anything!" I exclaimed shakily. This was the first time I'd ever called him by his first name in front of the team.

Ian grabbed my wrist and glared coldly at me. "What's there to be anxious about if you weren't the one who did it?"

The other teammates began making fun of me. "Look at his reaction! I bet it's definitely love turned into hatred. He deliberately leaked the defensive strategy to the opponents as revenge. Disgusting."

"Did you manage to recover the files?" Ian asked, interrupting them.

"All recovered!"

Seconds later, countless intimate photos of Ian and me were projected onto the massive screen.

The entire office fell into a deathly silence.

Ian's face froze. However, a split second later, he laughed coldly and pointed at the screen mockingly. "You really are my biggest fan after all, Claude Manning. Where did you get all these photos from? Did you seriously edit my face into every single one of your photos?"

Loud mocking laughter rang out around me at once.

"Oh, my God! He was fantasizing about Captain all along! What a disgusting creature!"

"So he hadn't been crushing on Katie this whole time? It was Captain? Gross! He actually secretly Photoshopped so many photos. This is just disgusting!"

The most ironic thing was that these ex-teammates of mine would usually playfully slap each other's butts and exchange flirtatious jokes in the locker room while half-naked. Yet, they were now all wearing expressions of disgust, as if merely glancing at me would taint their eyes.

Katie laughed as well, her eyes filled with disdain. "I didn't know you liked Ian this much, Claude. But if you'll admit it, I don't mind lending him to you for a month."

Ian nudged her. "Don't stoop down to his level, Katie. I've always treated him as a younger sibling. But if you like these kinds of photos, I'll get someone to edit a million photos of us instead."

He was getting revenge on me for breaking up with him by pinning all the blame on me. His words felt like sharp blades across my chest, making my heart sting with excruciating pain.

I clenched my fists tightly, barely able to suppress the urge to swing a fist in that cocky, hypocritical man's face.

Katie gripped his arm tighter and said, "You're so heartless, Ian. You shouldn't have backed him into a corner like this. What if he runs away like how I did years ago? You're never going to get him back."

Ian just grinned confidently, his eyes filled with disdain, as he said, "Where can he even run away to? He's always either with Cale or wagging his tail behind me like an obedient puppy.

"He's just throwing a temper tantrum like a five-year-old kid. Trust me, he'll be crawling back to me on his knees begging to be let back into the team just 36 hours later."

It would have been true if this had been in the past. I could never last more than 36 hours every time we argued. I would always be the first one to fold.

But the current Claude didn't love him anymore. I just didn't know when he would finally realize it.