004

A Dead Mother.

Raxon's POV

“Argh!”

Another vase shattered against the wall, missing me by two inches at most.

Shantel had torn my apartment, her face streaked with tears as I stood there with my hands raised completely helpless.

“Babe, just... calm down for a second,” I muttered, taking a step forward when Shantel snapped her head toward me, “Don't you ever tell a woman to calm down, Raxon!”

I instantly backed off because when she got like this, it was better to just let the hurricane run its course.

“They announced it on the news!” she shrieked, “Why would your mother do this to me? To us?!”

Finally, the rage seemed to drain out of her, replaced with trembling sobs. She collapsed onto the floor, burying her face in her hands and my heart broke.

I slowly came down on the floor next to her, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head.

“Hey, look at me,” I murmured, “It's going to be okay. I promise you, it's going to be okay.”

Shantel stared at me through her tears. “How, Raxon? How is this okay? My life is completely ruined!” She started lamenting, her voice cracking as she rocked back and forth. “We're never getting married now. Instead, you're going to be tied to some ugly nobody from the middle of nowhere. Everyone is going to laugh at me!”

“Listen to me,” I said, grabbing her face gently so she had to look at me. “I still love you. From the absolute depth of my heart. A piece of paper signed with some random girl isn't going to change that. You know how my mother is, I promise it's just business.”

She let out a ragged sob, leaning her forehead against my chest. “I still want to be your wife, Raxon. I'm supposed to be the one standing next to you.”

“And you will be,” I promised, my jaw clenching as I thought about the mess my mother had dragged me into. “You will be. It's just a matter of time. Let me just handle this clown, and we'll get our life back.”

Or so I thought because after that day, my life turned upside down. I had to keep showing up with Nadia, to every single event, smiling for the cameras like we were deeply in love.

It was all a pathetic attempt to prove the media's narrative wrong—to show the sponsors I wasn't some predator forcing myself on women.

A few weeks into this nightmare, I had an interview, one I attended alone, and honestly, it was actually going well. I was talking about the upcoming season, completely in my element. Until the interviewer brought up Nadia.

“And speaking of your lovely fiancée,” the guy said, leaning forward with a grin, “your mother just released a statement confirming that the wedding is actually right around the corner. Care to share any details?”

We were live, so I couldn't flip a desk or walk out. I just sat there, forcing my face into a stiff smile while nodding like an idiot.

I thought I had finally calmed Shantel down after that massive bomb dropped, but the universe clearly loved watching me suffer.

I was driving back to my place when I heard the breaking news alert. I saw a live footage of Shantel literally on the news, caught by paparazzi outside a café, physically attacking Nadia.

“Damn it, Shantel!” I slammed my hand on the steering wheel, flooring the gas.

I got there just in time, the crowd of reporters yelling and flashing cameras as Shantel screamed, shoving Nadia against a wall. I lunged forward, grabbing Shantel and pulling her back, using my body to block her from hitting the girl again.

“Shantel! Stop! What the hell are you doing?!” I yelled, trying to hold her arms down. Nadia was leaning against the wall, her hair messy and her breathing ragged, looking completely shaken up.

Before I could even drag Shantel away, a black town car screeched to a halt, the door came open, and Mother stepped out. She looked furious.

“What is the meaning of this circus?!” Mother barked, marching straight up to us going straight to Nadia and pulling her back securely behind her own body.

“Tell your son to get rid of this trash!” Shantel shrieked, pointing a finger at Nadia. “She’s a nobody trying to take my place!”

“Shut your mouth, Shantel,” Mother snapped, looking Shantel up and down with disgust, completely humiliating her right in front of the cameras. “Look at yourself. You are a screaming, unhinged embarrassment. You have absolutely no class, no dignity, and you are completely irrelevant to this family.”

“Raxon!” Shantel cried out, her voice cracking as she looked at me to defend her. “Are you going to let her speak to me like that?!”

“Mother—” I started, stepping forward.

“Silence, Raxon!” mother commanded, turning her glare on me. “Look at the woman you claim to love actively trying to destroy your career and your reputation on live television. If you have even a single brain cell left in that head of yours, you will let her go right now.”

I looked at Shantel and then I looked at Nadia, who was trembling behind my mother. The cameras were capturing every single second drying my throat completely.

Slowly, I let go of Shantel's arms and stepped away from her.

“Raxon? No... Raxon, what are you doing?!” Shantel gasped, her eyes widening.

I couldn't look her in the eye. Instead, I turned my back on her, walked over to Nadia, and wrapped an arm around her waist.

The second we got into the car, I shoved Nadia away.

“Get away from me,” I muttered, pressing myself against the opposite side of the leather seat.

God, she was just everywhere now. Every time I turned around, I had to see her stupid face, reminding me of the joke my life had become.

I pulled out my phone to call Shantel. Over and over. She was completely declining my calls, ignoring my texts, erasing me out of her life because of this forced circus.

And then, before I could even fix it, the wedding day arrived. The part I dreaded most? “You may kiss the bride.”

I leaned down, barely brushing my lips against hers for the sake of the photographers, and the second I pulled back, I couldn't help but wipe my mouth with the back of my hand.

To make matters worse, right after the ceremony, my mother stepped up with a small box. With this proud smile, she handed Nadia our family heirloom that had been passed down for generations.

I stared at them, speechless, genuinely wondering what kind of crazy was going on inside my mother's head. Nadia didn't deserve that ring. She didn't belong in this family.

I checked out mentally for the rest of the reception and slipped out without notive, got into my car, and drove straight to Shantel’s.

It took hours and a mountain of endless apologies, and me practically begging on my knees through her locked door, but I finally managed to tame her. The anger melted away into desperation, and we ended up tearing into each other, having the most passionate, intense sex of our lives.

×××

My game was coming up exactly two days after the wedding, and during that forty-eight-hours, I barely set foot in the house. I couldn't afford to see Nadia’s face. I slept over at Shantel's place both nights, making endless love to her without a single care in the world. I just wanted to fuck her senseless and pretend my life hadn't fallen apart.

The morning of the game, I finally dragged myself back to the house just to grab my gear and some fresh clothes and on my way out the door, Nadia stepped right into my path.

She stared up at me, stuttering over her words before she finally found her voice. “Could we... could we just at least pretend to get along? For the sake of everything?”

I rolled my eyes before she could even finish the sentence, “Move, Nadia.”

“Your game tonight,” she blurted out quickly, her hands twisting together. “If it wouldn't be any issue... I'd really love to attend.”

“No, I'm going with Shantel instead,” I said with a mocking smile on my face. “So you can just sit at home and look pretty like the decorative wife you are.”

This one stung. I just pushed past her shoulder and walked out the door without looking back.

By the time night came, the atmosphere in the stadium was electric.

I was completely pumped as the roar of the crowd echoed through the locker room. This was my turf and I was ready to dominate.

The game went on, and I was on fire. I scored the opening goal, the crowd erupting into a deafening cheer. A quarter later, I cut through the defense and scored again.

During a quick timeout, I glanced up toward the VIP section and caught sight of Shantel, looking stunning and cheering for me with a huge smile. Everything was going exactly according to my plan.

But the opposing team fought back, and before we knew it, the clock was ticking down in the final minute and the score was a dead draw.

This was it. I got the ball, my eyes locked on the goal when suddenly, through the deafening roar of thousands of fans, a voice screamed my name from the sidelines snapping my focus.

Running breathlessly along the edge of the lower stands was Nadia. Frantically waving her hands in the air to get my attention. Before the security guards could even grab her, she cupped her hands around her mouth and screamed with everything she had:

“It's mother Raxon, she's dead!”

The entire stadium seemed to instantly drop into silence. My world had stopped spinning, the air rushing out of my lungs as my brain violently struggled to process the words that had just left her mouth.

The final buzzer blared through the speakers, cutting through silence.

We had lost…the championship was gone.

But I couldn't even feel the sting of the defeat. The stadium lights started spinning violently above me and the last thing I saw before my knees buckled and the world completely blacked out was the panicked, blurry faces of my teammates rushing toward me.