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Chapter 60

Author: Joe Michael
last update publish date: 2026-10-30 14:47:55

The Man Behind Us

Liam’s POV

“Noah's grandfather.”

My mother said the words so quietly that I almost wished I hadn't heard them. Noah stood beside me, staring at the photograph on my phone. His expression had gone cold, the way it did before a crucial hockey match, when he shut out everything except the threat in front of him.

But this wasn't a hockey match. This was his family. “Are you sure?” he asked my mother.

She nodded slowly. “I saw that watch many times. Your grandfather wore it to meet
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  • The Hockey King I Hated   Chapter 72

    Liam’s POVThe final period began with the score tied at one.Every movement mattered now. Every pass, every mistake, every second could decide the championship.I pushed the note about my father out of my mind and focused on the puck. Whatever the investigators had found, it could wait until the game was over. Noah won the opening face-off and sent the puck toward his defenseman. I anticipated the pass, intercepted it, and raced down the left side.A defender closed in. I shifted right, slipped past him, and sent the puck toward Darius.He shot. The goalie blocked it. The rebound came straight back to me, but before I could take another shot, Noah appeared beside me and knocked the puck away.“Not today, Cole,” he said.I gave him a quick grin. “Keep telling yourself that.” He skated past me, and I chased him toward the opposite end. For the next several minutes, neither team gave the other room to breathe. The Wolves scored first.A sharp pass across our defensive zone left their win

  • The Hockey King I Hated   Chapter 71

    Liam’s POVThe morning of the championship final, I stood in front of the mirror and barely recognized the person looking back at me.Not because my face had changed, but because I had.A few weeks ago, I had believed losing Mia meant losing the future I had planned. Then Marcus betrayed me, my reputation collapsed, and the coach I trusted became part of the conspiracy that threatened my career.Now I knew the truth about the foundation, my father's attempts to expose it, and the people who had treated my future as something they could buy.Yet here I was, wearing my Frostford Hawks jersey.My name was still printed across the back.COLE.For the first time in weeks, seeing it didn't hurt.A knock sounded at the door.“Are you planning to admire yourself all morning?” Noah called.I opened it.He stood in the corridor wearing his Riverdale Wolves tracksuit, his hair still damp from the shower.“You're one to talk,” I said. “You probably practiced your entrance in the mirror.”“I don't

  • The Hockey King I Hated   Chapter 70

    Liam’s POVRaymond Holt wanted immunity. That was the first thing Helen told us when we arrived at the league's administration building the following morning.“He has agreed to provide documents and answer questions about the payments,” she explained. “In return, his lawyer has requested that his cooperation be considered when the authorities determine what action to take against him.”“So he's not confessing because he's sorry,” I said. “Possibly not. People cooperate for different reasons. Our job is to establish whether what he tells us is true.”Noah sat beside me, his expression unreadable.“Can we refuse his terms?” he asked. “We aren't negotiating an immunity agreement. That's a matter for the appropriate authorities. We're here to document his statement and preserve any evidence he provides.”I nodded. I didn't care whether Raymond felt guilty. I cared about what he knew, what he had done, and whether his evidence could finally end the operation that had followed me for years.

  • The Hockey King I Hated   Chapter 69

    Liam’s POVI barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the photograph Darius had sent me. My name appeared on the championship contingency plan, followed by instructions for damaging my reputation if I refused the transfer.Raymond had signed it. Derrick had approved it. Tomorrow, they intended to convince the league that I was the problem.At six in the morning, Noah found me sitting beside the hotel window, already dressed. “You haven't slept,” he said. “Neither have you.” “I slept for two hours.” “That's not sleeping. That's a long blink.”He smiled faintly before sitting beside me.“Are you ready?” I looked at the folder on the table. Inside were copies of my contract, the transfer suspension, the payment records, and the contingency plan. Ethan had helped preserve the files, and Helen Price had arranged for the original records to be authenticated before the hearing.“As ready as I can be.”Noah took my hand. “Remember something. You aren't going into that room to prove yo

  • The Hockey King I Hated   Chapter 68

    Liam’s POVHelen Price called us back before we reached the parking lot. “Don't leave yet,” she said. “I've received the photograph you sent. I need to ask you both a few questions.”Noah and I returned to the conference room.Helen placed the photograph on her laptop screen. Raymond Holt stood beside Coach Derrick in a private meeting room. The folder between them carried the league's official seal.“Do you recognize the room?” she asked.Adrian, who had joined us for the meeting, leaned closer.“It's the foundation's executive conference room. They use it for contract negotiations and disciplinary reviews.”“Can you identify the document?” “No. But that seal suggests they're discussing something that involves the league.”Helen looked at me. “Have either of them contacted you today?” “Derrick called an emergency team meeting to discuss removing me as captain. He also told me to stop making accusations.”“Did he threaten you?”“He said I would lose more than my captaincy if I continu

  • The Hockey King I Hated   Chapter 67

    Liam’s POVBy noon, the threat had spread beyond my phone.Someone had sent an anonymous email to the Frostford Hawks' management claiming I had accessed confidential foundation records to manipulate my contract. The email included screenshots of my name beside the disputed transfer request. It didn't include the payment to Raymond. It didn't include Derrick's authorization. And it certainly didn't include the fact that I had never agreed to any transfer. Whoever sent it had chosen exactly what the team was allowed to see. I stood in Noah's hotel room, reading the message on my laptop while he paced behind me. “They're getting ahead of us,” he said. “They've been ahead of us for years.” “Not anymore.”I turned to him. “We have the original records, but if the league only sees their version first, they could suspend me before the final.”“Then we make sure the people who can verify the records receive them before that happens.”Ethan had already arranged a meeting with an independent

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