All Chapters of OFF LIMITS: HIS BEST FRIEND'S MOTHER : Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Olivia's Pov No reporters outside today. No calls from the arena. No knock from Maya. Just the hum of the refrigerator and silence. I should have felt relief.Instead, it felt like the kind of silence you only get after a funeral.I’d spent the night staring at the ceiling, watching the light shift from black to gray to gold. When morning came, I made coffee I didn’t drink and stared at the mug until it went cold.My phone sat face-down on the table. It hadn’t stopped buzzing since sunrise. I didn’t need to check the screen to know whose name was flashing again and again.Xander.I turned it over anyway.Fifty-seven missed calls.And five new voicemails.The first time it rang, I almost answered. The second time, I turned the phone off. By the tenth, I stopped pretending it didn’t hurt.Maya had texted once: “Please eat something.”I hadn’t replied.I told myself ignoring him was mercy. For him. For me. For the ruin we’d become.But every time his name lit up the screen, my chest pu

Olivia’s POV I wanted to believe things couldn’t get worse. But when Maya’s name flashed on my screen before sunrise, I knew they already had. “Liv..... things are bad, like really bad.” That was all she said before hanging up. The headline rolling across the bottom of the screen read: “Cassandra Blake Speaks Out After The Engagement Scandal : The Truth Behind the Hockey Scandal.” My stomach twisted. There she was—perfect hair, perfect makeup, tears glistening in just the right places. Cassandra always knew how to perform heartbreak. The host leaned forward with practiced sympathy. “Cassandra, you’ve been silent after the engagement annulment. Why speak now?” She sighed softly, gaze lowered. “Because people deserve the truth.” And then she began to talk. She talked about betrayal, about “a woman who took advantage of trust,” about “using affection to manipulate success.” I stood frozen, mug of untouched coffee cooling in my hands. The host nodded gravel

Olivia’s POVThe thought kept circling, moving away.Leave the city, leave the gossip, start over where nobody knew my name.Somewhere I could be someone else.Maya showed up before noon, arms full of groceries as usual, she has being so much help.“You’re not eating again,” she said, dropping the bags on the counter. “You can’t disappear on me.”“I’m not disappearing.”She gave me a look. “You’re looking up bus routes and rental listings in other cities. That counts.”I tried to smile, failed. “I just want quiet, Maya.”“This isn’t quiet; this is running.”I sank onto the couch. “Maybe running’s the only thing left. Everywhere I go, I see what I’ve lost....Ethan, my job, him.”Her voice softened. “Leaving won’t erase the hurt, Liv.”“No,” I whispered. “But maybe it’ll stop people from recognizing me every time I buy groceries.”She sat beside me, hands clasped. “You don’t deserve to hide. You did nothing wrong.”I looked at the floor. “The world disagrees.”Maya reached for my hand.

Olivia’s POVEverywhere I looked, my phone, my email, even the news ticker on the muted TV, my name crawled across the screen beside words that made my stomach twist.Leaked Tape.Team Therapist Scandal.Predator. Maya had texted a dozen times, begging me not to look online. But curiosity is a cruel thing; it drags you into the fire just to see how bad it burns.Every post was worse than the last.People debating, dissecting, mocking.Some said it couldn’t be me. Others said it had to be.I’d lost count of how many times I’d whispered, It’s not real, to an empty room.A knock startled me. For a moment, my chest froze, a part of me expecting a reporter, another expecting the police.But when I looked through the peephole, the sight almost made me forget how to breathe.Coach Miller.He stood in the hallway, hat low, eyes scanning around like he didn’t want to be seen.I hesitated, then opened the door.“Coach?”“Can I come in?” he asked quietly.I stepped aside.He moved into the livi

Ethan’s POVThe locker room was too quiet for a room full of men.Only the sound of the TV filled the space—Olivia’s voice, calm and steady, coming through the speakers like it was echoing from another world.Most of the guys were standing, arms folded, faces pale under the harsh light. The broadcast had started only minutes ago, but it felt like an hour.On-screen, she stood behind the podium, eyes shining. “I did fall in love with him,” she said.The words hit like a slap.Someone muttered, “Holy hell,” under his breath. Another turned the volume down a notch.But it was too late. The words were already burning through my chest.I was frozen in place, staring at the screen, heart pounding so loud I could barely hear her next sentence.She didn’t deny it. She didn’t hide it. She just—said it.Like it was noble. Like she was proud.Coach Miller was off to the side, arms crossed, his jaw tight.When the broadcast cut to reporters shouting questions, I grabbed the remote and shut it of