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96.

Penulis: Justina
last update Tanggal publikasi: 2025-10-27 19:48:01

Anthony’s POV

The photo hit harder than I expected ,me, leaving the hospital parking lot, dressed down in clothes I thought would make me invisible.

Sunglasses. Cap pulled low. Shoulders hunched like I was trying to disappear. I remembered that day ,the way the sun had felt too sharp, how every noise seemed to stab at the edges of my head. The way I’d just wanted to get home before anyone saw me.

Guess that had worked out great.

Then another photo flashed up. Me again ,standing beside my car,
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  • SHATTERED ICE:One rink, bound by betrayal    188.

    Anthony's POVThe equipment room was narrow and smelled like rubber and cold metal. Vera let the door close behind them. She stood with her arms at her sides and waited.Anthony leaned against the storage shelf behind him. He looked at the floor for a moment. Then he looked at her."I have a degenerative eye condition," he said. "Keratoconus. It affects the shape of the cornea. On good days my vision is near normal. On bad days the left eye is significantly impaired and my depth perception drops."He said it the way he had learned to say it. Flat and factual. Clinical enough to keep the vulnerability out of it.Vera's face did not change. "How long?""Diagnosed four years ago. Managed with lenses. The degeneration has been slow but it's progressing.""Who knows?""Samantha. Our previous coach, Cole, was informed before we began training." He paused. "The federation has documentation. It was disclosed when I renewed my competition license."Vera was quiet for a moment. "Today is a bad

  • SHATTERED ICE:One rink, bound by betrayal    187.

    Anthony's POVAnthony knew before he got to the rink.He knew the way he always knew, not from a single symptom but from the combination of them arriving together. The slight drag on his left visual field when he woke up. The way the bathroom light had felt too sharp and too soft at the same time. The few extra seconds it had taken his eyes to settle on his own reflection.Bad day.He had stood at the bathroom mirror for a long moment and done the thing he always did on bad days. He catalogued what he had. Right eye was clearer than the left. Center vision was workable. Periphery on the left was unreliable. Depth perception would be slightly off, manageable on flat ground, less manageable at speed with another person's body weight in his hands.He had gone to the rink anyway.This was not a decision he examined. It was simply what he did. The qualifier was in eleven days. They were in the middle of the most demanding training block of the program. There was no version of today where

  • SHATTERED ICE:One rink, bound by betrayal    186.

    Anthony's POVDerek looked at him for a moment, then wrote something on his notepad."One more question on a different topic," Derek said, shifting his eyes to both of them. "Your program this season is titled 'Found.' There's been a lot of speculation about the narrative. Some people are saying it's autobiographical. Is there truth to that?"Samantha spoke before Anthony could. "Every program has a personal element," she said. "That's what makes skating worth watching. We put ourselves into the work. That's all I'll say about it."Derek smiled. "Fair enough."The bell rang.He stood, shook their hands, and moved on.Samantha exhaled slowly through her nose.Anthony said nothing. He poured himself a glass of water from the table and drank half of it."You did fine," she said."I know," he said."The Celeste question was a trap.""I know that too."She looked at him. His eyes were forward, watching the next journalist settle into the chair across from them. His jaw was still tight. He

  • SHATTERED ICE:One rink, bound by betrayal    185.

    Anthony's POVThe hotel ballroom had been divided into twelve interview stations.Each one had a small round table, two chairs, a branded backdrop, and a ring light that made everyone look slightly unreal. Samantha had been to press events before, but nothing at this scale. This was the Grand Prix media circuit, and it moved like a machine. Every fifteen minutes a bell sounded and the journalists rotated to the next pair. Smile, answer, deflect, repeat.She had been coached on it by Isaac the night before."Keep it warm," he had said. "You're likable. Use that. If they ask about the lawsuit, you say Anthony was fully cleared and you're focused on the competition. If they ask about Celeste, same answer. If they ask about Logan, you didn't hear the question.""And if they ask about Anthony's health?" she had said.Isaac had looked at her. "They won't ask that directly. But if something close comes up, you redirect to the program. Talk about the program."She had nodded. She had gone ho

  • SHATTERED ICE:One rink, bound by betrayal    184.

    The music started and Samantha stopped thinking.That was the goal, anyway. That was what six a.m. training for three consecutive days was supposed to produce. Muscle memory deep enough to silence the brain. Body knowledge so automatic that there was nothing left to do but feel.Except she was thinking. She was thinking about her left shoulder, about the entry angle on the first combination jump, about whether her free leg was fully extended on the back outside edge. She was thinking about Vera standing at the boards with her arms crossed and her eyes moving over everything like a scanner.She was thinking too much and she knew it.They moved through the first movement of the program in parallel, the choreography keeping them apart, two figures sharing ice without sharing space. That part was easier. Distance was something both of them understood.The music shifted at the two minute mark. The key change Vera had described in the conference room. The moment the program stopped being a

  • SHATTERED ICE:One rink, bound by betrayal    183

    Anthony's POVThe conference room on the second floor of Westview Arena was not built for comfort.It had fluorescent lights that buzzed faintly if the room was quiet enough, a folding table that was slightly uneven on one leg, and four chairs that all wobbled in different directions. Someone had taped a motivational poster to the wall years ago and never taken it down. The corner was peeling.Anthony sat in the chair closest to the door.He didn't know why he always chose that seat. He had never examined it closely enough to find out.Samantha was beside him, her jacket still on, her hands wrapped around a paper cup of coffee that had gone cold ten minutes ago. She was looking at the blank whiteboard at the front of the room. Not thinking about the whiteboard. Just giving her eyes somewhere to go.Isaac was near the back, scrolling through something on his phone. Vera had asked him to be present. Anthony hadn't asked why.Vera came in at exactly the time she had said she would. She s

  • SHATTERED ICE:One rink, bound by betrayal    119.

    Celeste’s POV My voice was iron. Hearing it out loud made something shift inside me. It felt like a lock turning, like a gate slamming shut. And with that came a cold, awful relief, somewhere between victory and ruin.Parker gave a slow nod, approval balanced with caution. “Understood. We will mov

    last updateTerakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-30

  • SHATTERED ICE:One rink, bound by betrayal    124.

    Samantha’s POV I tilted my head, unable to stop myself. “But the organizers can deny special arrangements, right? They set the rules. And if it’s for a cause supporting visually impaired youths… I mean, it’s not unreasonable.”Anthony paused long enough to shoot me a look. Not angry. Just… tense.

    last updateTerakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-30

  • SHATTERED ICE:One rink, bound by betrayal    126.

    Samantha’s POVAnthony muttered a curse more quietly this time. “Fine. But if someone leaks pictures of me crammed on a shared jet, I swear…”“You will still get there,” Isaac interrupted sharply, then softened. “Look, I know this is not ideal. But it is our best option.”He let out a breath that s

    last updateTerakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-30

  • SHATTERED ICE:One rink, bound by betrayal    121.

    Samantha’s POV I was too tired to argue, and honestly, my nerves were buzzing too much to eat properly. The festival wasn’t just a performance; it was a charity gala supporting visually impaired youth. Anna had been invited to attend, as a former skater who’s battling with an eye condition, but s

    last updateTerakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-30
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