Lahat ng Kabanata ng SHATTERED ICE:One rink, bound by betrayal : Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

Samantha’s POVI pasted on the biggest smile I could manage and waved, walking toward the group like I hadn’t just been sulking in the car minutes ago. Cameras clicked immediately, shutters firing in bursts, reporters circling along the edge of the boards to get the perfect shot. Their lenses followed me like hawks. I could practically hear the headlines already: Golden Pair Brings Skating to the Next Generation.“Hi, everyone!” I said brightly, crouching down a little so I wasn’t towering over the kids. My voice was cheery enough, but I could hear the faint edge of strain in it. “You ready to skate today?”“Yes!” they shouted in unison, the sound bouncing off the arena walls.I laughed, though it sounded a little forced to my ears, and clapped my hands together. “Good! That’s the spirit. Then let’s get on the ice.” I muttered.Anthony was already beside me, kneeling down with effortless ease to help a boy tighten his laces. His cap was pushed back, his focus entirely on the child’s

Samantha's POVI swallowed hard, forcing my expression to stay neutral. The cameras were still flashing, the children were still laughing, and if I gave away even an inch of what I was feeling, the world would have it plastered across headlines by morning.So I smiled. I smiled until my cheeks hurt, until I thought my teeth would crack, and I focused on the little girl in front of me who needed her helmet adjusted. I pushed down the twisting knot in my chest, shoved aside the sting of betrayal and curiosity and everything else I didn’t want to name, and forced myself to care about chin straps and laces.Professional. I was a professional. That’s all that mattered.It had worked for about five minutes.Then chaos broke loose.It happened in the space of a heartbeat.From the corner of my eye, I caught the smallest blur of movement, a boy on my side, Max, I think his name was. He’d been clinging to the railing with shaky determination just moments ago, lips pressed tight in concentrat

Anthony’s POVShe caught me staring once, snapping her gaze up. Her eyes narrowed into sharp slits. “What?” she said sharply, flicking her eyes to Jaden to check if he heard her.I smirked, leaning back in my chair like I had all the time in the world. “You keep checking the time like Graham’s some prince riding in on a white horse. Should I be jealous?” I muttered.Her scoff was immediate, her laugh sharp enough to cut. “You?” She tilted her head, mocking. “Not even close.”“Good,” I said smoothly, lifting another spoonful toward Jaden, who was practically vibrating with sugar and excitement. “Because you’d look terrible in shining armor.”Jaden snorted through a mouthful of ice cream, nearly spilling half of it down his shirt. “Uncle Ant’s right! You’d look funny in armor.” He said.Samantha rolled her eyes so hard I thought they’d get stuck. “You’re both impossible.” She fired at us.But her lips twitched, barely, quick as a blink, and I caught it. A crack in the armor she worked s

Anthony’s POV I sighed. “When I said no, when I refused again and again, he still insisted it had to be you. Only you.” I said.I could still remember arguing with Isaac the night he told me his decision, me pacing his office like a caged animal, listing every reason why choosing her was reckless, unfair, impossible. Not that she wasn’t good; she had talent, promise, and plenty of room for growth. But I didn’t want the baggage that came with her, the constant reminder of what we were and what we weren’t. We already had a history, one I’d buried deep and sworn never to revisit, so the idea of skating side by side with Samantha again felt like walking back into a fire I’d only just escaped. It was a no, a hard no, but with Isaac, no never seemed to matter.She blinked at me, confusion flaring across her features.“I didn’t twist his arm, Samantha,” I added quietly. “He’s not the kind of man you twist.”Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. Her disbelief was written all over her f

Samantha’s POV For days, I had convinced myself he didn’t. That the blank way he’d looked at me in Isaac’s office, the cool nod, the businesslike greeting, the threats, meant I had been erased. Like those nights, those smiles, that kiss, had been swallowed whole by time and meant nothing to him. But now? Now I wasn’t so sure. He had acted like I was a stranger the first time we’d seen each other again, sitting across from Isaac’s desk. Hell, like he didn’t recognize me at all. Like I was just another name on a contract, another body on the ice to fill a spot. But I wasn’t. I was the girl he had kissed eight years ago. The girl stupid enough to believe in the softness of his touch, the heat in his eyes, the unspoken promise lingering between us. And I was also the girl whose heart he’d broken without so much as a goodbye, left standing there with nothing but questions. I tried, God, I tried, to push that thought out of my mind. To pretend it was just a blip, a mistake from whe