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Lahat ng Kabanata ng FORBIDDEN ICE: CLAIMING THE CAPTAIN'S SISTER: Kabanata 221 - Kabanata 230

250 Kabanata

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CHAPTER 221WHEN SILENCE BREAKSELLISI had never wanted to hit someone so badly in my life. Not in a game, or in a fight, or even in those stupid hallway confrontations that usually ended with threats and bruised egos. This was different.I stood near the foot of Isla’s hospital bed, hands shoved so deep into my jacket pockets my knuckles hurt. If I took them out, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to control what they would do. Asher stood closest to her. His voice wasn't raised, neither was he pacing, he was just angrilly still and that posture was enough to tell you all hell was about to break loose. And mine too was on its last thread. “Who is behind all these?” he asked her with a final tone that had no room for deflection. The beeping monitor beside her bed filled the silence as every eyes in the room focused on her.She looked smaller in that hospital bed. She looked pale, her lips were dry and there was a faint tremor in her fingers resting over the blanket.The image of someone h

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CHAPTER 222CERTAIN LINES YOU DON’T CROSSROWAN Asher didn’t raise his voice when he said those words, his face carved from something that was harder than anger. And I couldn't agree any less with him. They were either getting expelled or serving jail time. This wasn't theatrics, it's fucking certainty. And I believed him.I'd never seen that expression on his face before, not even when someone fouled him hard on the ice. This was very personal and we didn't need to debate it. Within thirty minutes, we were back on campus heading straight for the administrative building. It was late, but the security desk was staffed, and Asher made it clear this wasn’t something that could wait until morning.I walked beside him, my hands clenched so tight my knuckles ached. Every time I blinked, I saw Isla's pale face against the hospital pillow, the faint bruises aloner her neck and the way her voice trembled when she said they held her head under water.I swallowed hard and forced myself to fo

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CHAPTER 223THEY ASKED ME TO SPEAKISLAI didn’t expect to feel numb. I thought I would feel victorious, or relieve. Or even free. Instead, when Asher walked into my hospital room two nights after and told me Jade and Lara had been suspended pending expulsion, and that the case was being forwarded to the police, I just stared at him.His last words didn’t settle immediately, they hovered above me like something too heavy to land.Rowan was standing by the window, Noah leaned against the wall with his arms folded and Ellis sat in the chair beside my bed, elbows on his knees.All of them looked like they had just walked out of a war room.“It’s done,” Asher said quietly, and that was when I allowed myself to feel relief. I was discharged two days later.The fever had broken, but my chest still felt tight when I inhaled too deeply. The doctor warned me about lingering inflammation and prescribed antibiotics. He also said something that stuck with me more than anything else:“You surviv

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CHAPTER 224FOR THE AIR YOU TOOKISLARelief hit me so hard my knees almost gave out.When the board member said they would be cooperating fully with local authorities as the matter proceeded legally, something inside my chest finally loosened. Not completely, not enough to undo what had happened, but enough for my lungs to expand without that phantom pressure of something unknown closing in.Tears gathered in my eyes before I could stop them, but I didn't let them fall. At least, not there and definitely not in front of them anymore. I blinked once, slowly, and forced back the tears. I had cried enough over this— in the hospital when no one was watching, in the shower when the water masked the sound. I wasn’t giving them tears in a room full of witnesses.The heating room felt tensed with an air of finality as papers shuffled and chairs scraped softly against the floor. Jade and Lara stood stiffly near their seats, waiting for whatever administrative protocol came next.And before I

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CHAPTER 225ONE PROBLEM LEFTROWANCampus felt different without them. It was quieter and more peaceful because with those 2 around, there was a bit more chaos than there was now. There was no Lara lingering near my locker when practice ended. No calculated “accidental” run-ins by the rink doors. No perfume cloud hovering too close when I was tying my skates.For weeks, I had gotten used to spotting her out of the corner of my eye, leaning against walls, pretending to scroll through her phone while watching me. It had been irritating at best, suffocating at worst.Now? There was nothing. Just empty hallway space. I didn’t realize how much that constant presence had grated on me until it was gone.Noah noticed it too.“Feels weird,” he muttered one afternoon as we walked toward the rink. “Not having them around like vultures.”“Good weird,” Ellis replied.I didn’t say anything. Because while Jade and Lara were gone, the air wasn’t completely clear. There was still one name sitting hea

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CHAPTER 226ALMOST NORMALISLAFor the first time in what felt like forever, I walked across campus without looking over my shoulder.The air felt crisp that morning, the kind that made you breathe a little deeper without thinking about it. Students moved around me in clusters, laughing, arguing about assignments, complaining about professors.No whispers followed me.Or maybe they did, and I just didn’t care anymore.I adjusted the strap of my bag and headed into my first class. My chest still tightened sometimes if I inhaled too sharply, but it was manageable. Class went smoothly.The professor lectured about exams expectations. A girl behind me tapped her pen absentmindedly, someone’s phone vibrated faintly in a backpack. There was no chaos. Just notes and highlighters and the scratch of pens against paper.It felt almost foreign.By the time my second class ended, I felt lighter than I had in weeks. I stepped out into the corridor, blending into the current of students heading in

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CHAPTER 227SHARP EDGESISLAMy scream echoed louder than I would have liked because it drew attention to me that I didn't want. A few students turned at the far end of the courtyard, glancing in our direction before losing interest when they saw it was just two people standing too close.Victor didn’t even flinch—of course he didn't— he just watched me. “Relax and stop screaming like you just saw a murderer,” he said again, quieter this time.Well… I can bet my life that you're capable of murder.“Don’t tell me to relax,” I snapped, my pulse still racing. “You don’t materialize in front of people like some kind of horror movie villain.”His mouth twitched faintly, but it wasn’t amusement. It was that his usual trademark.“You’re dramatic,” he said flatly.My heart was still slamming against my ribs. “You were standing two inches from my face.”“You were too busy laughing at your phone to notice.”“That doesn’t give you the right to loom over me.”His jaw ticked as he kept his gaze o

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CHAPTER 228LURKING SHADOW ISLABy the time I got to my dorm, the adrenaline had thinned into something colder. Awareness. The kind that settled at the base of your spine and refused to move.Sonia was sprawled across her bed when I walked in, her laptop propped up in front of her. She had one earbud in and was twirling a strand of her hair around her finger.“Hey!” she mouthed dramatically when she saw me, covering the microphone with her hand. “You’re back.”I gave her a small smile. “Yeah.”She angled the screen slightly and I caught a glimpse of a guy laughing on the other end. Her boyfriend.“Five minutes,” she whispered to whoever she was talking to, then looked back at me. “You good?”“Fine,” I said automatically.She studied me for half a second like she didn’t fully believe it, but her boyfriend said something that made her grin, and she turned back to the call.I dropped my bag on my chair and sat on the edge of my bed. Everything felt normal like it had no idea I had been

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CHAPTER 229SHADOWS THAT BREATHEISLAI was still picking up the girl's phone when I caught the image from the corner of my eye. A hooded figure standing too still near the edge of the path, watching. I couldn't see their face but I knew they were watching. My fingers tightened around the girl’s phone as I tried to force myself not to snap my head in that direction. I forced myself not to rest. “Can you give me my phone?” the girl asked, irritation crossing my face. “Yeah,” I said quickly, handing her the phone. “Sorry again.”I stood, heart pounding so hard it felt like it was echoing in my ears. I whispered to myself countlessly not to look too obvious and not panic. I adjusted my bag strap and resumed walking, trying to calm myself and not walk too fast. Three steps in, I glanced casually across the walkway. The hooded figure had moved closer, but far enough to maintain distance. My chest tightened regardless. Okay. I was definitely not imagining it. I turned right instead o

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CHAPTER 230WHEN WILL IT END?ISLAAsher’s eyes landed on me the second he stepped fully into Ellis’ apartment. The moment I laid eyes on him, my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach, but I tried not to let it show on my face. He took in the room slowly. Ellis was by the door, Rowan was standing too close to me, and Noah was near the couch. Then finally his gaze returned to me.Confusion flickered first, then it shifted into something I couldn't read. Stay calm Isla. “What are you doing here?” Ellis asked carefully, breaking the silence, but Asher didn't bother to answer him, his attention remained on me. “What are you doing here?” he directed at me instead, the shift in his tone subtle but unmistakable. His usual protective and suspicious tone. My heartbeat stuttered as I forced my voice to stay even. “Someone was following me.”His brows pulled together, confusion still written on his face. “So you came here?”“Yes.”The look on his face remained unchanged. “Why here?”Becau

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