All Chapters of Knotted By The Bully Hockey Star: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

ELLA'S POVThe moment I step inside my apartment, I slam the door shut behind me.I press my back against the door, finally allowing myself to breathe, my hands tremble uncontrollably.“Ella?” Sophie’s voice comes from the kitchen, then I begin to panic.I quickly wipe under my eyes just before she comes into the living room, holding a pile of folded laundry.The older woman, Mrs. Chen frowns immediately. “Sweetheart, are you alright?”I force a smile on my face. “Yeah… I’m just tired.”She looks at me closely, like she doesn’t believe me.Sophie has basically raised me since I was young. She notices everything about me.“You look pale,” she says softly.“I’m fine,” I lied to her.Sophie sets the laundry down slowly. “Did something happen at the Alpha house?” My stomach begins to twist again.“No,” I say quickly. “Nothing happened.” I see the concern in her eyes, but she doesn’t pressure me.“You should eat something,” she says instead. “You barely touched your breakfast this morning.

JAX’S POVAfter the heated argument between me and Jane, Ella’s mother, I stand silently in the living room and feel something inside me slowly grow cold.She can barely look at me. Her eyes burn with anger as she continues talking, her voice filled with frustration.One thought keeps repeating in my mind, the one she boldly says that she sends Ella to me because they needed help.Not because Ella wants to come, or trusts me, or chooses me. She sent her in exchange for the sixty thousand dollars I paid for her surgery.Without that operation, she could have died.Her words hurt me badly, not because I didn’t pay for her surgery, but because Ella never says anything like this to me directly. I am sure she is also aware of it.I still keep holding on to the belief that there is something real between us, even if it is small. Something that exists beyond all the arguments we have.Yet here I am, standing in this cramped living room that smells of medicine and old wood, and I suddenly feel

Jax's POVIt is a beautiful sunny afternoon after the chaos, the environment is calm and peaceful, there is loud music playing. It is a good day to celebrate my baby mama, people are laughing and celebrating in every part of the pack house.I lean back on the lounge chair with a bottle of whiskey hanging loosely in my hand, looking across the noisy crowd without really paying attention to any of it.It is Vanessa’s birthday party, Sophie’s mom. Our relationship has been on and off these past days, but I still need to celebrate with her.My father had done too much for the celebration, he prefers Vanessa to Ella, I don’t know why, maybe because Ella is an illegal immigrant, or because they don’t belong to any pack.Golden lights hang around the palm trees, making the whole place look expensive. Costly decorations cover every corner of the garden. Some of the guests are from nearby packs trying to get close to Alpha Steele, my dad, while the rest are my hockey teammates drinking heavily

(Tense switched) Ella’s POVLife outside here wasn't easy at all. Mom and I traveled for three good days across, sleeping in public school verandahs at night. We thought there were nearby packs but we were mistaken. On our third night, we were already close to our first pack after departure. Yonkers Pack. My entire world seemed to collapse. The rain was pounding the streets. Mom and I snuggled into the available blanket. We stayed in here the next morning before mom whispered to me. “If we stay here, how can we find help?” I decide to step out with her to the roadside, which is already busy with cars and pedestrians. We hopelessly stayed for hours receiving a meagre amount from people until an idea came to head. Getting a placard, buying a marker with the money we received. IN SEARCH OF A LOYAL, HARDWORKING NANNY? We're Available. I wrote in bold letters. Mom supported me. We'd gathered some tangible sum from begging, now we needed to find a job. We waited in hope that someone

Ella’s POVThree months without Lucien felt like waking up every morning with a piece of my soul missing. I’d lie in the beautiful Manhattan apartment he’d gifted me, staring at the ceiling, hugging my little boy so tight whenever he wasn't in school, aching for the sound of his deep voice asking me to be his good, naughty girl. I hated myself for how desperately I needed him.Opening my account, everything was perfect.But in reality, I was slowly sinking low, refusing to move on.I missed him with a violence that scared me.I missed the way he looked at me like I was his priciest gift. I missed the weight of his hand on the back of my neck when he guided me to my knees. Missed the sting of his palm on my skin, followed by the softest kiss on the welt he’d just created. Missed falling asleep with his arms around me after he’d taken me apart and put me back together again.Most of all, I missed the safety he provided us. The way he never pushed, never took, never made me feel small. W