Semua Bab Second Chance on the Rink: Rebirth of the Ice Queen: Bab 61 - Bab 70

Scarlett's POV“Every player on that ice today got here because they were good enough to be here. That's not a small thing.I believe the next great player might be someone nobody has heard of yet. Someone who has been training in a rink with bad lighting and no sponsor and zero media coverage, who keeps showing up anyway because they love this game. That's exactly why I put my money behind this event.Now let's all sit back and enjoy one hell of a game.”The applause started before I even finished my last sentence.I stepped back from the podium, and the room kept going. People were on their feet near the sponsor wall. A few journalists had their phones up. I kept my expression steady, but my chest felt tight in the best possible way.Cole came up first. He shook my hand with both of his and said, "Ms. Huntington, I have to be honest with you. When we first sat down, I wasn't sure you could pull this off. Today you proved me completely wrong.""Thank you," I said. "That really does m

Preston's POVNobody in the building thought we were going to win.I knew that before we even hit the ice.I could hear it in the crowd noise, the way it flattened when our name came over the PA. A few scattered claps, mostly silence, and somewhere up in the second level somebody actually laughed.The team we were facing, the Northgate Wolves, had won their regional three years running.They had two players with AHL call-up history and a defenseman who'd been named to the all-tournament team at every circuit event he'd entered for the past four seasons.We were a team that most people in this building had never heard of two months ago.I pulled my helmet on and looked at the guys lined up beside me in the tunnel.Tyler was rolling his shoulders. Jake had his eyes closed. Cody was tapping his stick against the boards in a steady rhythm, Jett and Daxen were quiet about it, but they believed it too,the same thing he did every time before a game.They looked ready. They were ready."Let's

Scarlett's POVI heard Madison's voice before I fully turned around.She was still somewhere in the crowd, the same sharp, disbelieving tone she'd used when the final buzzer went off.I found her near the glass, Pierce at her side, both of them watching the Silver Reapers celebrate on the ice with expressions that didn't know what to do with themselves.I walked over.Madison saw me coming and pulled herself together fast. Her chin went up. Her expression shifted into something cooler, more composed.I stopped a few feet away and looked at her calmly."Congratulations to the Silver Reapers," I said. "Must be disappointing.""They got lucky," she said. "That's all that was.""Was it?" I kept my voice even. "Or did you tamper with their equipment and mess with the ice surface and they still won anyway?"Madison's mouth opened. Then closed."I don't know what you're talking about," she said."Sure you don't." I tilted my head slightly. "Because you were so certain they'd lose. You said i

Scarlett's POVIt took less than ten minutes for everything to hit the trending page.I was still in the arena when Sarah texted me the first screenshot. The Silver Reapers' win was trending.The video was trending. Pierce's name was trending, and not in any way that was going to help him. By the time I got to my car, Madison's name had climbed above his.Sarah sent another update twenty minutes later. Pierce Sterling's company stock had dropped eleven percent in after-hours trading. The drop was still moving.I pulled up my own company's numbers.They were going the other direction. The Silver Reapers' win had something to do with it, the investment narrative had shifted fast once the final buzzer went off and people started connecting the dots.But the rest of it was the video and everything that followed, the confrontation, the screen, Pierce standing in the middle of a packed arena trying to win me back in front of several thousand people and a few hundred active phone cameras.I

Scarlett's POVIsla wasn't done."Preston deserves someone who actually belongs in this world," she said. "Someone who understands what this family is. There's already a person who's right for him. Someone who's been there for years. Not some agent who showed up six months ago and decided to make herself useful."She didn't say the name. She didn't have to.Someone who's been there for years.Something cold settled in my chest. I opened my mouth and then closed it again.I had a response ready a second ago and now I couldn't find it. The words were just gone."Isla."The voice came from behind me. Quiet, even, and completely cold.I turned around.Preston had come down the side path, his wheelchair moving at a pace that made it clear he hadn't been strolling.He stopped a few feet away and looked at his cousin with an expression I hadn't seen on him before. Not angry exactly. Something past that. Something contained and very deliberate."What are you doing?" he said.Isla's whole post