Se connecterChapter 176MaxI looked at her chubby, healthy cheeks and felt a surge of love so powerful it made my breath hitch. We had found her two years ago. I had been at the hospital picking up a prescription for my mother when I overheard the nurses in the pediatric wing talking about a "discarded" case. A baby girl, only a few days old, had been left behind. Her biological mother had walked away the moment the doctors explained the child had a serious heart disease.I hadn’t even paused to think about the logistics. I hadn’t thought about the fact that I was still a student or that our lives were already under a microscope. I had called Ace immediately. I told him, "There’s a little girl here, Ace. She’s alone, she’s sick, and she needs us."Ace hadn't hesitated for even a second. Even though he was in the middle of his breakout season with the New York Liberty, he took on the responsibility. He paid for the specialists, sat through every terrifying hour of her heart surgery, and rocke
Chapter 175MaxThree Years LaterI stood in front of the full-length mirror, adjusting the lapels of my white tuxedo jacket. My hands weren't shaking, not because I wasn’t nervous, but because for the first time in my life, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.Three years ago, a day like this felt like a mirage, something I could see in the distance but never quite touch. Back then, we were just trying to survive the next hour, the next headline, the next breath. Now, I wasn't just surviving. I was living.The mirror reflected a man I barely recognized from the boy who had first stepped onto that university campus. My shoulders were broader, my eyes clearer, and the heavy.I checked my reflection one last time. I looked like a groom. I looked like a Rivera... yes I still answered my adoptive parents name, it was for my late mother who loved me like her own... Most importantly, I looked like myself.A soft knock at the door broke my concentration. Adrian walked in,
Chapter 174MaxThe air in the private dining room was peaceful.It was surreal to see them all around one table. My parents sat across from Ace’s father. Adrian and Maria were tucked in at the ends, Adrian already deep into a conversation with Ace about the Liberty’s defensive rotations.I sat between Ace and my mother, watching the way the candlelight caught the silver in my father's hair. He looked different without the weight of his office, he looked like a man trying to be a father instead of a mogul.“Richard,” my father said, addressing Ace’s dad with a level of respect that made the room go quiet. “I think we both have some things to square away.”Richard Stiles cleared his throat, setting his glass down. He looked at my parents, his expression uncharacteristically humbled. “I wanted to say this in person. I am deeply sorry for the actions of my brother and my daughter. The pain they put Max through... the role they played in that whole mess... it’s a shadow on my family n
Chapter 173AceThe next morning I woke up with Max wrapped around me like he belonged there. His head was on my chest, one leg thrown over mine, and his arm tight around my waist. I didn’t move for a long time. I just lay there feeling his slow breathing and the warmth of his skin against mine. After all the hell we’d been through, this felt like peace.I kept thinking about those texts from Greg Harlan. Part of me was still scared they might disappear if I checked my phone again. But when I finally reached over and looked, they were still there. Real. I read them twice just to make sure.Max started to stir a little while later. He blinked up at me, eyes soft and sleepy, and gave me that small smile that always hits me hard.“Morning,” he mumbled, voice rough.“Morning, fiancé,” I said and kissed his forehead. “Sleep good?”“Best sleep I’ve had in weeks. You?”“Yeah. Same.” I ran my hand slowly up and down his back. “Feels different today. Like we can actually think about the futur
Chapter 172Max*Unknown Number: Mr. Stiles, this is Greg Harlan, Director of Player Personnel for the New York Liberty. Apologies for the radio silence, the organization needed time to get everyone aligned after the finals. Your performance in the championship, especially the way you carried the team in the third period, was impressive. We’d like to sit down and discuss a two-year entry-level deal with performance bonuses. Are you free for a meeting this week?*I blinked hard, reading it again. Then another message appeared right beneath it, time stamped only minutes earlier.*Unknown Number: Off the record, that proposal on the ice was something else. The league needs players with heart like that. Looking forward to talking. Call me when you can.*My knees actually went weak. I gripped the edge of the display table so tightly my knuckles turned white. All the guilt that had been poisoning me for days – the sleepless nights where I replayed every second of that proposal, wonderin
Chapter 171MaxThe days following the release of the videos felt like stepping out of a violent, swirling storm into a strange, lingering calm. We knew from the very beginning that the internet would be a battleground, and it certainly lived up to that reputation. There were always going to be bitter strangers with too much time on their hands, leaving their negativity and cruelty in the comment sections.But as the hours ticked by, the tide had undeniably turned. For every hateful message we received, there were ten more calling out the homophobia, quoting our fathers' words, and reminding everyone that we were just two human beings who loved each other.The university administration had quietly backed off. The threats to strip my scholarships and remove us from the team had evaporated overnight. They were likely terrified of the massive public relations nightmare that would follow if they went against the families of two prominent players, especially after the very public apolog
Chapter 120MaxTriplets—the word echoed in my head and bounced around like it was trying to find somewhere to land and make sense, but everywhere it touched just created more confusion and more questions that I didn't have answers for. I felt like the floor had dropped out from under me because t
Chapter 118MaxI was wearing different clothes than I remembered, soft cotton pants and a t-shirt that weren't mine but fit reasonably well. That meant someone had undressed me while I was unconscious which was a violating thought but at least they'd left me in comfortable clothes rather than a h
Chapter 117MaxThe first thing I felt when consciousness started creeping back was the weakness, a bone-deep exhaustion that made my limbs feel like they were made of lead and filled with sand.Even the simple act of breathing felt like it required more energy than I possessed.My head was poundin
Chapter 114Ace*This is our fault,* Kael said miserably. *We should have been stronger. Should have fought off the wolfsbane. Should have protected him.**I know,* I thought back. *I know.*But knowing didn't help. Nothing helped except action, and right now, all I could do was wait.I walked the







