The Baller’s Hidden Son

HEIDI’S POVI pressed my fingers deeper into the knotted muscle of Jace Stanford’s thigh. His jaw tightened, and immediately his mood shifted. “Does it hurt?” I asked. He replied, almost sounding like a whisper. “No.”I looked up at him, refusing to look away. “You’re lying.”Those dark eyes of his met mine, he tried to smile and force a reply. “I said it doesn’t hurt.”“And I said you’re lying. I can feel how tight it is, Jace. You don’t get to pretend with me.”For a second I didn’t say anything, neither did he. His eyes studied mine cautiously. Outside, thousands of fans were still celebrating him, the hero who had scored the winning goal in the final minutes. Their chants shook the walls, mixed with the distant thud of music and reporters shouting his name. By morning his face would be everywhere. But sitting here in nothing but football shorts and a half-zipped training jacket, was my husband, and no one could ever know.I pressed my thumb carefully against the injured spot ag

HEIDIThe next morning I stopped wearing the ring. I kept it inside the drawer, then I got ready for work. I moved downstairs and I met Jace already dressed up in the living room. His mood? As if he was waiting for someone. I didn't say anything, I just moved to the kitchen and poured myself a cup of water to drink. This time, Jace made the first move, he came into me in the kitchen. His eyes dropped straight to my bare hand and stayed there a while before lifting to my face.“Where is your ring?” I reached for coffee, then I looked at my fingers. “I forgot.”Jace's face twisted, he pulled closer to me. “You never forget!” I shrugged nonchalantly. “Maybe I did today.”“Put it back on, You’re a married woman. You're my wife.”“Only when we’re alone, apparently.”His jaw tightened in rage. “You know why we can’t tell anyone.”“Yes. I know. That doesn’t make it hurt less.”Before either of us could say more the doorbell rang. Maya walked in carrying two coffees, smiles aimed entirely

HEIDII didn’t sleep that night, I sat in the back of a taxi with my forehead against the cold window, watching Jace’s neighborhood disappear. My suitcase rested beside me. Inside it, still tucked away, was my wedding ring. I hadn’t been able to leave it behind. Maybe that made me weak. Or maybe some part of me simply wasn’t ready to admit the marriage was already over.By the time I reached my mother’s house the sky was beginning to lighten. I carried the suitcase straight to the guest room, closed the door, and sank onto the bed. My body was exhausted, but my mind kept replaying the night—his arms around me, the slow way he had moved inside me, the way he had looked at me afterward as if he was seeing me for the first time. For a few hours I had let myself believe something might finally change. Morning brought reality with it. I was still only Heidi Reed. His physiotherapist. The woman he had married because he needed a status and I needed tuition. Nothing had changed except tha

~~ 5 years later ~~HEIDI“Mummy! Hurry up!”The excited little voice echoed through the apartment before a pair of small feet came pounding down the hallway. I barely had time to close the lunchbox before a five-year-old wrapped his arms around my waist.“Easy there,” I laughed, brushing messy dark hair away from his forehead. “We’re already running late.”“No, we’re not.” He puffed out his chest. “My watch says we still have eleven minutes.”I glanced at the bright plastic watch on his wrist. The hands had stopped moving months ago. “Oh, has it?”He nodded seriously. “Uh-huh.”“Ethan, your watch doesn’t even work.”“It does.” he pouted.I crouched until we were eye level. “Then tell me what time it is.”He stared at the frozen face for a few seconds before flashing me a grin that looked painfully familiar. “It’s… morning.”I burst out laughing. “Thats very specific.”He giggled and reached for the lunchbox. “I can carry it. I’m a big boy now.”“I know that.”Those dark eyes, Jace’s

HeidiMaya smiled at me in a way that screamed victory, and I didn’t need any explanations. She had always been Jace’s first choice, his first love. It only made sense that they were married now. What I couldn’t understand was the silence surrounding it. No announcements, no photographs of any kind that had once flooded the internet when Jace had been so eager to present her as his wife. Maybe he had simply chosen another hidden contract marriage the same way he once had with me.I lifted my gaze and offered a polite smile, forcing the sudden heaviness in my chest to settle.“Good evening, Mrs. Stanford.”The title that had once belonged to me tasted strange on my tongue, yet saying it aloud brought an unexpected emotion inside me. Jace turned toward her, his voice low but still clear enough for me to hear. “What are you doing here?”Maya’s smile remained soft, “You’ve been gone all day, honey. I finally got your schedule from your assistant and decided I wanted to be here for your