Two

CHAPTER TWO

Avery’s POV

The moment the door of the locker room closed behind me, the sound of the arena disappeared completely, but the silence that replaced it was even worse because it gave my mind the space to finally understand what had just happened.

We had lost, not just a game but everything.

My legs felt weak as I moved slowly deeper into the room, my hockey stick slipping from my hand and hitting the floor with a soft sound that felt too loud in my ears. I stood there for a moment, staring at nothing, waiting for my body to catch up with reality, but it never did, so I simply sank down onto the nearest bench as if my strength had been taken away all at once.

That was when it started.

The tears came without warning, heavy and uncontrollable, sliding down my face before I even had the chance to stop them. I quickly pressed my hand against my mouth because I did not want to hear myself break, but I was already breaking. My shoulders shook as I bent forward, my elbows resting on my knees, my breath coming in uneven gasps that hurt more than the loss itself because this was not just about a championship anymore.

This was my life.

My future, my right to stay in this country, and everything I had built, everything I had suffered through, and everything I had fought for were hanging by a thread that had just snapped in front of thousands of people.

And all I could think about was home.

Going back meant losing everything I had escaped. It meant going back to a house where my voice did not matter, where my decisions were not mine, and where my future had already been decided without me.

My chest tightened painfully as I cried harder, shaking my head as though I could physically refuse the reality that was waiting for me outside this room.

“No… please… no…”

My voice was barely there, broken and weak, lost inside the sound of my own breathing.

I pressed my hands harder against my face, trying to stop the tears, but they kept coming faster now, as if my body had been holding everything inside for too long and finally refused to stay silent.

I did not hear the footsteps at first.

I only noticed the change in the air, the feeling that I was no longer alone.

When I lifted my head slightly through my tears, I saw them.

My father, my stepmother, and my stepsister were standing at the entrance of the locker room as if they had been waiting for this exact moment.

My stomach dropped immediately.

Not now.

Please, not now.

I tried to wipe my face quickly, but it was useless because my tears would not stop, and my breathing was still uneven, making it obvious that I was already falling apart.

My stepsister was the first to speak. She stepped forward slowly, her expression calm in a way that felt cruel.

“You really believed you could win,” she said softly, as if she were speaking about something obvious and already decided.

My throat tightened immediately. I tried to stand, but my legs felt unsteady.

My stepmother looked at me with disappointment, as though I had wasted something valuable. My father did not even look emotional. He simply looked tired of waiting.

“You are done here,” he said flatly.

Those words hit harder than anything else, as though I were something finished, something that no longer had a purpose.

I shook my head quickly, tears falling again before I could stop them.

“No… please… I am not done. I can still stay. I just need time…”

My voice cracked halfway through, but I forced myself to keep speaking because I could not accept what they were about to do.

My stepsister gave a small laugh.

“There is nothing left for you here,” she said. “You lost. Now you come home and do what you were always meant to do.”

My breath caught because I already knew what she meant.

My chest tightened so painfully that I could barely breathe.

“No…” I whispered again, shaking my head harder. “No, I cannot go back. Please, I am begging you…”

My stepmother stepped closer, her tone firm.

“The CEO has already paid everything,” she said. “The arrangement is complete. You will marry him.”

The world tilted. For a second, I thought I might collapse where I stood, my knees nearly giving out as I stared at her, unable to process how easily they were saying it, as though I were not even part of the decision.

“I do not want him,” I cried out suddenly, louder now, my voice breaking completely. “I do not want that life. Please, I do not want to marry him…”

My father finally looked at me then, but his eyes were cold.

“This is not about what you want,” he said.

That sentence destroyed something inside me because it confirmed everything I had always feared. I was never part of the decision; I was only part of the outcome.

Tears spilled harder now, uncontrollable, my whole body shaking as I stepped back instinctively, but there was nowhere to go in the small room.

“I worked so hard…” I cried, my voice breaking into pieces. “I stayed here… I trained… I gave everything…”

My words turned into sobs before I could finish them.

“I cannot go back… please… I cannot…”

My stepsister stepped closer again, her voice soft but sharp.

“You already did everything you could,” she said. “And it was not enough. You should be glad a CEO wants you.”

Something inside me snapped completely.

I bent forward slightly, crying harder now, not caring how loud it was anymore, not caring who saw me, because the pain was too heavy to hold inside.

I felt hands grab my arms. My father grabbed one of my arms, and I gasped sharply, struggling immediately as panic rose through me and I tried to pull away.

“Please let me go,” I cried, my voice breaking into pieces. “Please… I do not want this…”

My stepmother grabbed my other arm.

“Stop resisting,” she snapped.

I shook violently now, tears blurring everything as I tried to free myself, but their grip only tightened.

“I am begging you…” I cried again, my voice losing strength. “Please…”

They started pulling me toward the door, and that was when everything inside me collapsed completely.

I could not hold it anymore.

I could not breathe properly anymore.

I could not even think anymore.

“Someone, please help me…” I sobbed.

The words came out broken and helpless.

And then a voice cut through everything.

“Stop.”

One word, but it was calm and firm.

It froze the entire room instantly.

Every sound faded.

My head turned slowly, still crying, still shaking.

Jordan Carter stood at the entrance.

He was still in his gear, still carrying the weight of the match on his shoulders, but his eyes were not on the crowd.

They were on me.

For the first time that night, I did not feel completely invisible.

They all turned toward him immediately.

My stepmother’s face tightened.

“This is a family matter,” she said firmly.

My father pulled me closer.

“Stay out of it,” he added.

Jordan did not move.

“Not when you are forcing her,” he said calmly.

My stepsister scoffed.

“You do not understand anything. She is coming home with us.”

Jordan looked at them.

“I understand she is crying,” he said. “And she said no.”

My chest tightened again.

My stepmother stepped forward.

“A CEO has already paid for her marriage. Everything is settled.”

My stomach dropped.

My father added, “She has no choice.”

Jordan’s eyes shifted briefly to me, then back to them.

“She does now,” he said.

My father pulled my arm again.

Jordan stepped in front of him immediately. He was not aggressive, just firm, blocking him from reaching me.

“She is not going anywhere with you,” he said.

My stepmother’s voice rose.

“You have no right.”

Jordan’s tone stayed calm.

“She does not want to go.”

I shook my head quickly behind him.

“No…” I whispered.

He heard it, and that was enough.

Jordan turned slightly toward me. “Do you want to go with them?” he asked.

I shook my head harder.

“No…” My voice broke as I forced the words out. “I do not want to go with them.”

Jordan faced them again. “She is not leaving.”

My father looked angry now. “You cannot stop us.”

Jordan did not move. “I already am.”

He reached his hand back to me, not forcing me, just waiting.

My hand shook as I took it.

The moment I did, he gently pulled me behind him.

My father called out again, but Jordan did not turn back.

And I followed him, even though I did not know where he was going or what would happen next.