All Chapters of The Hockey Star's Spicy Stripper: Chapter 161 - Chapter 165

Aria’s POVThere was a brief pause from my end. Not because I didn't know what to say, but because this felt like a nightmare unfolding in real time. I knew how much finding her baby's father meant to Maya. How she'd talked about it, wondered about it, and obsessed over it during late-night phone calls when the loneliness got too heavy.But if I were being honest with myself, I'd say I'd never actually wanted her to find him.The ultimate reason was simple. He was younger. Much younger. And this was an unplanned child, a one-night stand that had resulted in a pregnancy neither of them had anticipated. Bringing this young man into the baby's life would only cause chaos. More chaos than Maya needed, more complications than either of them could handle."Aria? Are you there?"Her voice jerked me back to reality."Yeah, I am. Sorry, my network was breaking up." The lie came easily, smoothly."Well, did you hear what I said?""I heard you, Maya." I rubbed my temple, trying to organise my th

Aria’s POVThe steady beep of machines was the first thing I registered, a rhythmic, monotonous sound that seemed to come from very far away. Then came the smell: antiseptic, bleach, and something metallic that made my stomach turn.Hospital.I was in a hospital.I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. My head throbbed with a dull, persistent ache, and when I tried to move, pain shot through my right arm.The accident, the car pulling out. The impact.Everything came rushing back in fragments: the crunch of metal, the explosion of the airbag, the warm trickle of blood down my face. The sickening realisation that I'd failed to reach the mansion in time.Damien. The security system. The verification check.I tried to sit up, panic overriding pain, but my body wouldn't cooperate. Everything felt heavy and sluggish, like I was moving through molasses."Easy, Miss Winters." A nurse appeared in my blurred vision, her hands gentle as she eased me bac

Damien’s POVIt was a difficult decision to make. Though I loved Lily, God knows I loved her with everything in me, I didn't want to do this. Part of me believed it was better for her to grow up with her biological father, that Fred should be the one taking responsibility, that I shouldn't have to carry the weight of someone else's lies.I'd bonded with her for five years as her father. This would be hard on her too, devastating even, but wasn't it better in the long run? Better to make the break now rather than continue living a lie?Though Fred was not particularly a father figure. Hell, neither was I, if I was being honest. But I was better than he was. At least I showed up. At least I cared. Fred was a scam and a scoundrel, and the thought of him raising the beautiful daughter I'd helped raise for five years made my stomach turn.And Vanessa? She was barely a mother figure at all. She'd left Lily with her younger sister Bailey more often than not, gallivanting around chasing her m