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Todos los capítulos de The Hockey Star Regret : Capítulo 131 - Capítulo 140

154 Capítulos

131

COLEENI woke up to the soft glow of Christmas lights reflecting off the windowpane. Outside, the world was blanketed in white snowflakes drifting lazily from the sky as if time itself had decided to move slower for the holidays. The smell of pine and cinnamon drifted from the living room, where Hayden was currently doing a terrible job of wrapping presents.He’d been banned from using tape after he’d somehow managed to glue two rolls together, but he was too stubborn to give up. I watched him from the couch, fighting back a laugh as he tried to wrangle the wrapping paper into submission.“Need help, Michaels?” I teased, sipping my hot chocolate.He looked up, grinning sheepishly, a bit of tape stuck to his hair. “No, no. I’ve got this. I’m basically a professional now.”“Uh…huh. Sure.”“Don’t mock the artist at work,” he said, tearing another strip and sticking it, accidentally… onto his sleeve.“Artist? You’re wrapping socks,” I said.He turned to me, mock offense written all over h

132

HAYDENThe cold hit me like a slap the moment I stepped onto the rink. The air inside the arena always carried that sharp edge. A mix of ice, sweat, and determination that felt like home. For the first time in weeks, I breathed a little easier just being here.Practice had officially resumed that morning, and even though I hadn’t been sure how the team would react after everything, the familiar scrape of skates and slap of pucks against the boards brought a strange kind of calm.Jason skated past me, bumping my shoulder. “You planning to just stand there and look broody all morning, or are you actually going to shoot something?”I snorted, shaking off the nerves that had crept up the back of my neck. “You’d miss me if I wasn’t broody.”“Yeah, right. The team’s been peaceful without you and your drama,” Logan called from the goalpost, smirking as he blocked Jason’s shot. “I was starting to think I’d forgotten what chaos sounded like.”“Give it five minutes,” Jason added. “He’ll remind

133

COLEENThe first thing I saw when I woke up that morning was the dozens of notifications lighting up my phone. Instagram tags. Direct messages. Mentions. I frowned, still half-asleep, rubbing my eyes as I swiped the screen.Then my stomach dropped.Jessica’s face filled my feed. It was a perfectly staged selfie with red, puffy eyes and a caption that made my blood run cold.“Some girls will do anything to climb. Even seduce brothers and destroy families. I guess loyalty means nothing when attention is the real goal. I hope your conscience keeps you warm, sweetheart.”My name wasn’t mentioned, but it didn’t have to be. Every comment underneath it did the job.“Isn’t she talking about Hayden Michaels’ girlfriend?”“Wow, that Coleen girl? Typical.”“Didn’t she hook up with Jared first? Gross.”My hands shook as I scrolled through the comments, each one slicing deeper than the last. The room suddenly felt too small, too suffocating. I tossed the phone onto my bed like it had burned me and

134

COLEENThe morning of the hearing felt like stepping into a storm I couldn’t see but could already hear rumbling in the distance. My stomach was in knots, my heart drumming too fast for someone who hadn’t even had coffee yet. The sky outside was gray, fitting for the day ahead.Hayden offered to drive me to the student affairs office, but I refused. I didn’t want him to see me fall apart, not before I even had the chance to defend myself.As soon as I stepped outside, the cold wind slapped me across the face. I walked toward the administration building slowly, letting the chill steady my nerves.Alicia was already waiting outside, clutching a folder full of documents. “You ready?”“No,” I said honestly.“Don’t worry, you got this,” she replied.We entered the glass building together, our footsteps echoing through the nearly empty hallway. The disciplinary committee office was at the end, a door I had passed dozens of times before but never imagined I’d have to enter like this.A panel

135

HAYDENI couldn’t sit still. The second she leaned against me and whispered that they’d frozen her scholarship, something in me snapped.She didn’t deserve any of this.That’s what kept echoing through my head as I sat in my apartment, phone in hand, scrolling through Jessica’s Instagram account. The one where she’d called Coleen a manipulative liar.I clenched my jaw, pulled up her father’s contact number from an old sponsor directory my family still kept from charity events. The Michaels and the Walters had always moved in the same circles. Our parents smiled for the same photographs and toasted to the same meaningless shit.I’d never called the man directly before, but I didn’t hesitate now.The call rang three times before a deep, weary voice answered. “Hello? Who’s speaking?”“Mr. Walter,” I said evenly, trying to keep the venom out of my voice. “This is Hayden Michaels.”There was a pause, then a polite surprise. “Ah, Hayden. It’s been a while. How are your parents?”I ignored t

136

HAYDENThe morning the story broke, the campus was already buzzing before I even stepped outside my apartment. My phone wouldn’t stop vibrating.The headline was everywhere.“Michaels Family Scandal: Hockey Star Hayden Michaels Exposes Family Corruption.”Underneath, screenshots of my public statement and the attached voice recording filled every newsfeed, every blog. It was happening… finally, it was happening.I sat on the edge of the couch, elbows on my knees, staring at the muted TV where a panel of news anchors was dissecting every second of my press conference from the previous night.I remembered the way my heart had hammered against my ribs as I stood in front of that microphone at the local station, surrounded by reporters and blinding flashes. Jason had been there, standing off to the side like a silent anchor.When I told them the events that led to Jared pullling a gun on me, the room had gone still then, a kind of horrified silence falling over the reporters.I hadn’t sto

137

COLEENBy the time I stepped out of the athletic complex, the evening air was cool and soft, brushing against my skin like a sigh of relief.My legs ached, my hair was a mess, and I smelled faintly of disinfectant and coffee from the staff lounge but I didn’t care. It had been a long day, and for the first time in weeks, there wasn’t a storm hanging over my head.Then I saw him.Hayden leaned against his car in the half-empty parking lot, hands in the pockets of his black hoodie, hair tousled by the wind. The fading sunlight turned his skin gold, and when he looked up, his smile, the real one that I hadn’t seen in a while, made something warm bloom inside my chest.“Need a ride, beautiful?” he asked when I approached, his voice teasing but gentle.I rolled my eyes, fighting a grin. “You’re supposed to say that before I see your car. Kind of ruins the dramatic effect.”He laughed, pushing off the hood and holding the door open for me. “I’ll remember that for next time. Get in. I’ve got

138

COLEENBy the time Hayden’s car rolled to a stop outside my apartment building, the morning sun had already climbed over the rooftops, flooding the street in a pale golden glow. Hayden leaned over, brushing a soft kiss against my cheek before I unbuckled my seatbelt.“You sure you don’t want me to come up?” he asked, his voice low and warm.I smiled, fingers brushing his wrist. “You’ve got practice in a few hours, Mr. Hockey star. Go shower and sleep before Coach starts breathing down your neck.”He chuckled, catching my hand and pressing another kiss to my knuckles. “Fine, but only because you said it like that. Call me when you wake up?”“I will.”I stepped out of the car and waited until he drove off before heading inside, humming softly under my breath. My body still felt pleasantly heavy, like every cell was aware of Hayden’s touch, the echo of his lips on my skin. I hadn’t felt this content in a long time.But that peace evaporated the moment I opened my apartment door.It was q

139

COLEENTwo months passed faster than I expected. Winter had melted into the first hesitant signs of spring, and the campus buzzed with a new kind of energy. The hockey team was on fire. Every game, every goal, every victory, it was like Hayden was reclaiming a part of himself that his family had tried to break.And me? I’d finally found my rhythm again. Between classes, shifts at the athletic complex, and late-night study sessions, life felt almost… normal. Stable. I’d wake up, grab coffee with Alicia, rush to class, and text Hayden between lectures. It was the kind of balance I hadn’t realized I was craving until I had it.That morning, I was perched at my favorite table by the window of the campus café, reviewing my notes for my midterm when Alicia plopped down across from me with her usual chaotic energy.“Good morning to my overachieving, anxiety-prone friend,” she said, setting down her drink with a dramatic sigh.I arched a brow. “That’s an awfully long nickname.”“It’s accurate

140

COLEENIt was the final day of the trial. The last stretch of the nightmare that had started months ago in the snow.Jared sat just a few feet away from me dressed in a clean suit, his wrists cuffed, his face a mask of detachment. But I could see it now, beneath the calm exterior. the exhaustion, the bitterness, the quiet self-destruction.His lawyers spoke for him, but it didn’t matter anymore. The evidence was irrefutable, the testimonies powerful. Hayden and I had both taken the stand.When I’d stood there earlier, my voice trembling at first but growing stronger with each word, I hadn’t looked at Jared. I’d kept my eyes on the prosecutor, on Hayden sitting in the gallery, his gaze steady and warm, grounding me.I’d told the truth. Every painful, terrifying, humiliating detail. And for the first time, it didn’t feel like weakness. It felt like reclaiming control.Hayden’s turn had come after mine. His voice had been calm but tight, the kind of calm that comes from holding back year

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