Chapter 5

The next time I opened my eyes again, all I could see was just a blinding white.

I struggled to reach for my phone with my working left hand. As soon as I turned it on, hundreds of various social media post notifications flooded in.

Some of them were from a post Katie had made two hours ago.

The photo showed Ian gently feeding her in the hospital bed, his eyes filled with the lingering fear and deep affection of someone who looked like he'd almost lost someone dear to him.

Her caption read, "I'm the happiest person with you by my side, even if I only have one month left to live."

The comments below her post were mostly from my ex-teammates. Many of them liked the post and called them "star-crossed lovers", "each other's soulmate", and even praised Ian for being so devoted to her.

I laughed self-deprecatingly, feeling the last of the feelings I had for him disappear like smoke.

The ward door was slid open, and Cale walked in with a container of warm soup. His eyes turned red when he saw that I was awake, and he hurried over to me.

"Claude? How do you feel?" he asked, his voice a little hoarse.

I ignored the pain from my right shoulder and wrist and spoke with much difficulty. "Can I still play ice hockey with my hand?"

Cale gripped my left hand tightly and nodded. "Yes. The doctor said that the cut barely missed the tendons in your wrist, but luckily, the surgery was a success. You'll be able to go back onto the ice. It's just that the recovery and physiotherapy afterward will probably be very hard on you."

My tense body finally relaxed when I heard what he said. I could put up with the hardest of all hardships as long as I could still keep my right hand and return to the ice.

I ended up staying at the hospital for a week.

Ian never came to visit me even once during the week. He never even sent me a text message during that time.

On the contrary, Katie's socials kept refreshing with new updates. Ian took her to the beach and the movies, and they even went shopping together. He was in every photo that she posted.

Everyone in the Yorkson Bears group chat gave them their blessings every single day. And yet, it seemed as though they'd completely forgotten about me, the ex-Left Field player on their team.

…

The sun was shining brightly on the day I was finally discharged from the hospital.

I changed into clean clothing. I still had a cast around my right arm, but I could already move it freely about now.

"The transfer was approved, Claude," Cale said, showing me the phone.

It was an official email from the higher-ups, telling me that all the necessary paperwork and formalities had been completed.

The Yorkson Bears were probably just eager to quell the scandal surrounding me, Ian, and Katie. Besides, the Claston Hawks had given them a very good deal, so they quickly let me go.

From now on, I was no longer a Left Wing player for the Yorkson Bears. I was a member of the Claston Hawks instead.

The Yorkson cityscape rushed past the car window while I was on the way to the airport.

This place held five years of my youth, blood, sweat, and tears. However, I realized that I didn't feel a thing now that I was leaving this place for good.

I soon arrived at the Yorkson International Airport.

Right before boarding, I suddenly received a text message from Ian.

"Don't you think that you've made enough of a fuss over the past week, Claude Manning? Return to the team tomorrow morning and apologize to Katie. I will then consider withdrawing your transfer request so you can stay in the team."

I read his condescending, matter-of-fact text message and realized that I didn't even harbor the slightest hope in him anymore.

To him, my wrist injury and my transfer request were just me trying to get his attention. He thought that I would obediently go back to him if he just gave me the carrot once after giving me the stick for so long.

I didn't reply to his message. Instead, I calmly blocked all of his contacts and social media connections.

This absurd five-year underground relationship between us was officially removed from my life at this moment.

I had no more lingering feelings for him either.

Goodbye, Ian. Goodbye, Yorkson.

I was going to pursue my career elsewhere. My new life had only just begun.