All Chapters of Breaking Up With The Hottest Man On Ice : Chapter 131 - Chapter 140

200 Chapters

Derek's Retaliation

Jake's POV Derek struck back within forty-eight hours. Not with evidence. Not with defense. With attack. Lawsuit filed Monday morning. Against Sullivan Sports. Against me personally. Tortious interference with business relationships. Defamation. Conspiracy to harm. Derek claimed we deliberately sabotaged his business. Filed false reports. Destroyed his reputation out of jealousy. Seeking ten million dollars in damages. Our lawyer called immediately. "This is retaliation. Derek has no case. But defending it will cost you." "How much?" "Hundreds of thousands. And it will tie you up in court for years." Another legal battle. Another financial drain. Another weapon against us. Then Derek went public. Social media posts across all platforms. Professional. Calculated. Devastating. "Disappointed to announce I am being targeted by competitor Jake Sullivan. After failing to compete legitimately, Sullivan has resorted to false accusations and legal harassment. This is what desperat

The Partnership Offer

Emma's POVThe emergency board meeting was scheduled for nine AM Saturday.Jake was ready to walk. Ready to burn it all down rather than let them fire me.I loved him for it. But I could not let him do it.We arrived together. The board was already seated. Serious faces. Tense energy.Marcus started immediately. "Jake, we need to discuss your ultimatum. You cannot threaten to resign every time we make difficult decision.""I am not threatening. I am stating reality. Emma and I are partners. In life and in business. You fire her, you lose me.""That is emotional thinking. Not business thinking.""Maybe. But it is my decision."David spoke up. "Jake, we understand your loyalty. But the numbers do not lie. Revenue is down. Clients are leaving. We cannot afford sentimentality.""This is not sentimentality. This is recognition of value. Emma has worked harder than anyone to save this company.""But has she succeeded? That is the question we must answer.""She has not had enough time—"I st

The Campaign

Jake's POVSixty days to land three major clients or Emma loses everything.One hundred thousand dollars. Her entire savings. Our future.No pressure.We sat in my office Sunday morning. White board covered in names. Prospects. Possibilities. Long shots."We need a strategy," Emma said. "We cannot just cold call athletes. We need to make them want us.""How?""Story. We tell our story. Why we fight. What we stand for. Make them see us as more than just another agency."She spent the entire week creating content. Video series called "Why We Fight."First video was about me. My journey. Building Sullivan Sports from nothing. Fighting for my son during custody battle. Understanding what it means to stand for something bigger than yourself.Second video was Emma. Her story. Hiding for eight years. Coming back. Fighting Margaret in court. Proving that courage is not about never being afraid, it is about being afraid and doing it anyway.Third video featured our small clients. Athletes we s

The Breakthrough

Emma's POVThirty days left and I had zero signed clients.Verbal commitments meant nothing to the board. I needed signatures. Revenue. Proof.Waiting for contracts to expire was not going to work.I needed a different approach entirely.That weekend, I dove deep into research. Free agent market. Athletes currently without representation. Why were they available?Most fell into categories. Injury. Age. Performance decline. Behavioral issues.High risk. That was why big agencies avoided them.But high risk also meant high reward if you picked correctly.Monday morning, I found him. Kyle Rodriguez.Former top baseball player. All-star three years running. Then shoulder injury derailed everything. Two surgeries. Eighteen months of recovery.Now he was attempting comeback at thirty-two years old. Older for baseball. Question marks about whether his shoulder could handle major league pitching again.Big agencies would not touch him. Too risky. Too uncertain.But I saw something else. Someo

The Buyout Offer

Jake's POVFifteen million dollars.That was Derek's opening offer. Formal. Legal. Delivered by his attorneys Tuesday afternoon.Full acquisition of Sullivan Sports Management. All assets. All clients. All intellectual property.The board was ecstatic."Fifteen million is more than the company is worth right now," David said. "We would all make significant profit.""After years of struggling," Marcus added. "This is our exit. Clean. Profitable. Done."I looked at the offer letter. Read it carefully. Something was wrong."Derek is under investigation by the licensing board. His agency is in trouble. Why would he want to buy us now?"Emma saw it immediately. "Because he is trying to buy us to shut us down.""What do you mean?""If he owns both agencies, he can merge them. Dissolve Sullivan's identity. Eliminate the competition. We disappear and he controls everything that is left."Marcus frowned. "That is speculation. Maybe he genuinely wants to expand.""Derek does not expand by buyin

The Final Battle

Emma's POVDerek's lawsuit was vicious. Fifty million dollars in damages for corporate espionage.But worse than the money was the injunction. He filed emergency motion to freeze Sullivan Sports' operations entirely during the lawsuit.If the judge granted it, we would have to shut down. Immediately. No clients. No revenue. No business.Everything we fought for would be gone while we defended ourselves in court.Emergency hearing was scheduled for Friday. Forty-eight hours to prepare.Our lawyer worked around the clock. So did we.The defense was straightforward but risky. We did not steal information. A whistleblower came forward voluntarily. We gave that information to the licensing board, not used it commercially.But Derek's lawyers had a counter argument. The whistleblower stole proprietary information. We benefited from that theft. We knew it was stolen and used it anyway.Legally gray area. Could go either way depending on the judge.Friday morning, we entered the courtroom. Pa

The Victory and The Question

Jake's POVOne week after Derek's arrest, Sullivan Sports was unrecognizable.Phones ringing constantly. Emails flooding in. Athletes who left us months ago wanting to come back. Titanium's former clients desperate for new representation.David Thompson was first to re-sign. Then six others followed. All major athletes. All apologetic. All admitting they made mistakes leaving."Derek promised everything," David said. "You delivered what mattered. I should have stayed."We welcomed them back. No judgment. No resentment. Just professionalism.By Friday, we had signed twenty-three new clients. Mix of Titanium refugees and completely new athletes who heard our story and wanted in.Revenue projections went from barely surviving to thriving. Five year profitability guaranteed if we maintained current trajectory.Board meeting was celebration. Unanimous praise.Marcus actually smiled. "Emma, Jake, I owe you both an apology. You saw something we did not. You refused to quit when we wanted to

The Family Divide

Emma's POVJessica called back with the family breakdown.Not good news."Okay, here is what I found out. Dad wants to meet Alex properly. He testified for you in court so he is already on your side. I obviously want to meet my nephew without lawyers present.""That is two," Jake said on speaker."Michael refuses. He thinks Emma kept Alex away deliberately. That you were happier before she came back. He will not meet her or Alex."Jake's jaw clenched. Michael was his older brother. They had been close once."What about Sarah and David?" Our other siblings."Sarah is neutral. She wants to meet Alex but she is scared of Mother's reaction. David is the same. They will come around eventually but they need time.""And extended family?"Jessica hesitated. "Mother has been busy. Aunts. Uncles. Cousins. She has told them all her version. That Emma is gold digger who trapped you. That she hid Alex out of spite. That she is only back because you got successful.""None of that is true," I said q

The Ambush Dinner

Jake's POVMargaret stood in Jessica's living room. Uninvited. Unwelcome. But there."I heard my grandson would be here. I have every right to meet him."Jessica looked mortified. "Jake, I swear I did not tell her. I do not know how she found out."Margaret smiled thinly. "I have my sources. And Jessica, you should have invited me. This is family gathering.""You tried to take Alex away from us," I said. "You do not get to show up and pretend everything is fine.""I wanted what was best for my grandson. The court disagreed. But that does not mean I cannot have relationship with him now."Emma stood up. "We are leaving."But then Alex appeared at the top of the stairs. Sophie and Lucas behind him.He saw Margaret. Recognition crossed his face."That is Grandma Margaret. From court."The room went silent.Alex came down slowly. Cautious. Remembering.Margaret's face changed when she saw him. Softened. Something almost human flickered there."Hello, Alexander.""Hi."Awkward pause. No on

Setting Boundaries

Emma's POVWe needed to talk about Margaret. Really talk.Not just survive her ambushes or react to her moves. Actually decide what relationship, if any, she would have with Alex.Jake and I sat at the kitchen table after Alex went to bed. Coffee between us. Serious conversation ahead."Alex wants to see her," I said. "He asked. Directly.""I know.""But I am not comfortable with unsupervised visits. Not after everything.""Neither am I. But Emma, we cannot keep them completely apart. He is asking. That matters.""So what do we do?"Jake thought for a moment. "We set boundaries. Strict ones. And we enforce them absolutely.""You think Margaret will accept boundaries?""She does not have a choice. Either she follows our rules or she does not see Alex. Period."We made a list. Concrete. Non-negotiable.One: No speaking negatively about Emma. Ever. Not directly, not subtly, not at all.Two: No expensive gifts designed to buy Alex's affection. Reasonable birthday and holiday gifts only.T

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