All Chapters of COLD STEEL, BLEEDING HEARTS : Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

Maya’s ankle snapped—sharp and ugly, like a dry branch breaking in a storm.One moment, she was flying. The next, the world spun out from under her. The bright lights in Northwood Arena smeared into white streaks. She hit the ice hard, sliding across the frozen sheet like a rag doll, only stopping when she slammed into the boards at the rink’s edge.The music kept playing, some cheerful violin piece that sounded like a sick joke.Maya tried to catch her breath, but her lungs refused to work. She stared down at her left skate. Her foot bent the wrong way, twisted and wrong. Heat and pain shot up her leg, loud and relentless."Maya!" her coach shouted, running toward her.Up in the stands, Maya caught sight of her mom getting to her feet. She didn’t look worried. She looked pissed off. She checked her stopwatch, shook her head, and glared. For her, this wasn’t a disaster—just a wasted performance.Maya’s hands shook as she tried to push herself up. "I can finish," she gasped. "I just… I

Maya’s mom didn’t waste a second. She snatched Maya off the ice so fast, Maya barely kept her balance. The metal gate slammed behind them—a sound that felt way too much like a prison cell.“Get in the car,” her mom hissed, face burning red, eyes narrowed with fury. “Now, Maya. Don’t make me lose my temper in front of all these people.”Julian stepped off the ice with a heavy thud, his hockey boots pounding the floor. He moved between Maya and her mom, blocking out the overhead lights. “She’s not finished,” he said. “We have an agreement with the school.”Bianca just laughed—sharp and mean. She waved her phone in the air. “The deal was for doctor stuff, Julian. Not midnight dates. I already sent this video to the whole school chat. By tomorrow, everyone’s gonna know the Ice Princess is dating a criminal.”The world tilted under Maya’s feet. Her reputation was the last thing she had left. If the school saw her as just another rule-breaker, there went her scholarship. She glanced at Bian

Maya didn’t wait for sunlight. She couldn’t sleep anyway. Every time she closed her eyes, she pictured that scrap of black hockey jersey on her floor. She kept replaying those nasty comments on the school website. Her secret letter to her dad—now everyone knew about it. It was like the whole world peered straight into her soul and decided to laugh.She moved quietly through the dark. Her room was dead silent, but inside her head, it was chaos. She grabbed her thickest sweater and shoved her old tablet into her pocket. No crutches tonight. She leaned on the wall, hopped along on her good foot, jaw clenched tight because her ankle throbbed with every step.At the window, the broken lock rattled. She eased it open and climbed out, careful not to fall. Her heart hammered against her ribs, wild and trapped. When she landed in the wet grass, her ankle screamed—sharp and hot, like a needle—but she just kept going.“I have to know,” she muttered, voice barely a breath. “I have to know if he l