Chapter 4

I felt numb as the laughter continued incessantly in the room.

After the technicians and security guards left, I looked at Ian coldly and said, "Captain, now that it's proven that the leak had nothing to do with me, don't you think you owe me an apology?"

Everyone around me immediately began cursing and yelling at me the moment they heard that.

"He's crazy. Did he just demand an apology from the captain? Who does he think he is?"

"Captain's already been merciful enough not to kick him out of the team straight away. We just don't have the proof. Nobody knows if he was actually the one who leaked it."

Ian frowned impatiently at me.

"I was only following regulations by checking your personal assets in your locker before the transfer request. And yet, you're asking me to apologize to you instead?

"Who's the one going crazy here? Me? Or you?"

I replied calmly, "You know better than I how the hundreds of intimate photos in my phone came about. It's been five years. The only thing I'm asking for is an apology. That's not a lot to ask for, is it?"

The look in Ian's eyes turned complex.

Katie walked over to us just then with a grin on her face. "It was Ian's and my fault for what happened today. But if you really mind that much, then I will apologize on Ian's behalf as well."

But before she finished her sentence, she suddenly began coughing violently until it sounded like her lungs were about to fly out.

Ian's face turned black at once as he went up to hold her up, gently patting her back to stop her coughing. "What were you thinking? This had nothing to do with you! Are you feeling any better now?"

Then, he turned to me with a cold, icy look on his face as if I were his sworn enemy.

"Claude Manning! You should have just taken out your anger on me instead of upsetting Katie like this! What's the point of doing this to her? She's a sick patient!"

Katie shook her head and said, "I'm fine. Claude is still young. Let me talk to him."

Then, she broke free from Ian and approached me once again.

As she turned her back to the other teammates, I clearly saw the cold, calculating smile in her eyes.

Before I'd even collected my wits, she suddenly fell to the ground by herself with a loud, heavy thump.

The locker room turned even more silent.

Everyone saw that she was the one who fell herself. But Ian was the only one who didn't see it that way.

He rushed up to me like a madman and shoved me forcefully to the side. He pushed me without holding back, and the sudden force sent me reeling backward. I lost my balance and fell against the metal rack behind me that held our equipment.

There was a loud, metallic thud.

My right shoulder hit the sharp corner of the solid metal rack. A pair of ice skates with razor-sharp blades slid down toward me, neatly slicing into my right wrist.

The searing pain that felt like cracking bones and torn flesh instantly overwhelmed me. My vision blurred as cold sweat soaked my back almost immediately.

However, Ian didn't even spare me a glance.

He picked Katie up instead, his eyes filled with ruthless malice. "You'd better pray that Katie is alright, Claude. Or else, I'll make you wish you were dead."

The man I'd loved for five years wanted me dead, and it was all because of Katie.

The last vestige of my affection for him shattered completely in that moment.

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Someone pointed in my direction. I looked down and saw blood pouring out from my wrist, slipping down my fingers, and quickly pooling onto the floor.

Just before I passed out, I saw Cale's face flash before my eyes. He burst through the crowd and rushed toward me with an ashen face, scooping me up into his arms.

His hands were shaking badly as his voice choked with barely suppressed sobs.

"It's okay, Claude. I got you. I'm taking you to the hospital now."