The Truth Arrives Too Late

POV: Noah Callahan

"Noah, the legal team left these boxes of old contract transfers on your locker bench, and they said you need to sign off on the personal releases before Ava's team finishes the audit tonight," Dylan said as he walked past me, tossing a pen on the bench beside me.

"I will look through them right now, Dylan, thanks," I muttered, setting my water bottle down on the floor and pulling the top box closer so I could start flipping through the folders.

As I sifted through the old documents, a thick red folder labeled 'Private Legal Correspondence - Sterling Era' fell out, and a small USB flash drive slipped out to the floor between my feet.

I picked up the drive, walked over to my desk near the wall, plugged it into my laptop, and opened the files, expecting to see routine financial reports from the previous owner.

Instead, my screen filled with dozens of saved emails, bank receipts, and text messages sent between Vanessa and several private gossip websites six years ago.

"What is all this?" I whispered to myself, opening a folder that contained direct bank transfer records from Vanessa's account to internet accounts paid to flood Ava's bakery page with hundreds of fake one-star reviews.

My hands started shaking as I clicked on another document, which showed text messages between Vanessa and the reporters who harassed Ava outside the stadium on the night we won the Cup.

'Make sure you put the camera right in her face and ask her how it feels to lose him, and I will wire you another five thousand dollars after the broadcast goes live,' one message from Vanessa read.

"Hey Noah, are you alright over there?" Dylan called out from across the room, noticing how still I was sitting at the desk.

"Dylan, come look at this right now," I said, my voice barely working as I pointed at the screen while my hands shook. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Dylan walked over, leaned down to read the emails, and gasped, asking, "Is that Vanessa's personal email address on those payment slips?"

"She paid them to destroy Ava's business, Dylan; she hired people to ruin her life so she would leave the city," I said, opening a separate saved audio file from the night before the championship game six years ago.

The audio file played through my laptop speaker, and the voice of Vanessa's father, the former team owner, filled the quiet room.

'You have two choices before tomorrow night, Noah, because if you marry my daughter, I will make you the face of this entire league for the next ten years, but if you refuse and stay with that poor girl, I will make sure no team in this country ever signs you again,' the old owner's voice spoke clearly through the speaker.

"I remember that conversation," I muttered, staring blankly at the wall while tears finally spilled out of my eyes and ran down my face, because six years ago I had chosen my hockey career, convincing myself that Ava would understand why I had to do it and that we could fix things later once my position in the league was safe.

"Noah, I had no idea Sterling threatened you like that," Dylan said quietly, placing a hand on my shoulder, "but you left Ava to face all of those people alone."

"She lost her bakery, her savings, and her home because I was too much of a coward to tell her the truth," I sobbed, dropping my head into my hands right there at the desk while the weight of my choices crushed me.

I did not just break her heart by proposing to another woman for my career, but I allowed Vanessa and her father to strip away every single thing Ava had built with her own two hands while I sat back and watched it happen.

I pulled the USB drive out of the computer, stood up from the desk, and ran out of the locker room without listening to Dylan calling my name from behind me.

I sprinted up the stairs, ran down the hallway, and stopped right in front of Ava's private office door, where two security guards immediately stepped forward to block my path.

"I need to see Ava right now, please let me in," I begged, holding the flash drive out in my palm while breathing heavily.

"Miss Bennett is in a meeting with the board, Mr. Callahan, and she gave explicit orders that she does not want to be interrupted by anyone," the guard said, keeping his hands on his belt.

"Please, just tell her I have the files, tell her I know everything now!" I shouted toward the closed wooden door, hoping my voice would carry through the wood.

The door did not open, and no sound came from inside the room, so I dropped down onto my knees right on the carpet outside her door, just wishing she would answer me. Even if she did, would she forgive me? I spent five years thinking she sold me out to reporters, while that was just another scheme Vanessa used. How could I have trusted someone else over the girl who paid for my surgeries and even skipped meals just so I could buy training gear?

"I am not leaving this hallway until she speaks to me," I told the guards, wiping my face with my sleeve while staying right there on the floor.

Four hours passed while the lights in the hallway dimmed, and several staff members walked past me in silence. I stayed on my knees outside her door, refusing to move even as my legs grew completely numb.

Finally, at nine o'clock that evening, the door opened, and Ava stepped out into the hallway carrying her purse and coat, looking down at me kneeling on the floor with total calm in her eyes. Those eyes used to have more spark; now it was just empty, cold.

"Ava, please, I found the emails. I know what Vanessa did to your bakery, and I know why everything happened," I pleaded, reaching up toward her while tears kept falling from my eyes.

Ava looked down at me without a single trace of pity on her face, adjusted her purse on her shoulder, and walked straight past me down the corridor, saying to her guards, "Make sure he clears his belongings out of the building before the cleaners arrive tomorrow morning."