All Chapters of The Girl He Never Knew : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

NOAH'S POV I walked into the Ridgewood Athletic Gala expecting cheap beer, awkward coaches in wrinkled polos, and maybe a sad chessboard. What I got instead was crystal chandeliers, black-tie bullshit, and the kind of crowd that screamed old money mixed with university donors who could end careers with one signature. Fuck. I should’ve read the invite closer and probably dressed more. The gray shirt and navy blue pants felt really inappropriate for this event. I should have taken the tux Bryant had handed. I tugged at my tie, already scanning for the quickest exit, when the entire room tilted sideways. There she was. Standing near the far windows like a goddamn fever dream wrapped in midnight silk. The dress was black, dangerously low-cut, and clung to every curve like it had been poured over her body. It dipped between her breasts, hugged her waist, then flared just enough to tease the tops of her thighs. Her hair was down, falling in soft waves that made my fingers itch to fist

NOAH'S POV I was done pretending.Across the crowded gala, Jax leaned in close to Elena, his mouth right next to her ear. Whatever the fuck he said made her tip her head back and laugh, really laugh. Not the sarcastic little chuckle she threw at me, but a bright, genuine sound that hit me straight in the chest like a cheap shot. Her red lips curved, eyes sparkling under the chandeliers, that sinful black dress riding higher on her thighs as she shifted.Something inside me snapped clean in half.I’d spent the entire night watching other people touch her. Smile at her. Dance with her and now Jax — my own goddamn friend — was pulling that sound out of her like it was easy. Like he had any right.Fuck that.I slammed my empty glass on the bar and cut through the crowd, ignoring the coaches trying to flag me down. The balcony doors were open to let in cool night air. I stepped outside, the noise of the gala fading behind me.There she was.Elena stood at the stone railing, backlit by str

NOAH'S POVThe game had ended nearly two hours ago, but Elena had stayed behind for her so-called “interview.” My muscles burned from the brutal session, but that was nothing compared to the storm raging inside my chest.Her brother had cornered me again right after showers. Got in my face with that protective big-brother shit, warning me to stay the hell away from Elena if I knew what was good for me. Like I was some kind of threat. Like I hadn’t spent the last three years trying to forget her.And yet here we were.Elena stood a few feet away, arms crossed, recorder gripped tight like a weapon. Her eyes were steel, daring me to keep dodging her questions.“You keep saying the past is dead, Noah, but you flinch every time I bring it up,” she pressed. “Why? What are you so scared I’ll find out?”“Drop it, Elena. I’m not doing this tonight.”“No.” She stepped closer, chin lifted in that stubborn way that always set me off. “You’ve been punishing me for three years for something I didn’

NOAH'S POVThe hospital room smelled like antiseptic and exhaustion. The only light came from a small lamp on the side table and the faint blue glow of monitors tracking every heartbeat and breath of Noah. Ethan had finally fallen into a restless sleep after another round of pain meds, his face pale against the white pillow. His injured leg was elevated, wrapped heavily, looking foreign and wrong on the guy who had always moved like the court belonged to him.I hadn’t left. I couldn’t.Hours had blurred together since they brought him up from the ER. Coaches had come and gone. Teammates had texted nonstop. But I stayed planted in the stiff chair beside his bed, elbows on my knees, hands clasped so tight my knuckles ached. Every time Ethan shifted or winced in his sleep, something sharp twisted in my chest. Ethan had been my brother for years. He was the real brother I never had. He saw me in my best and worst days, been there for me in my darkness and abuse. The one who called me out

NOAH'S POV The second Elena pulled that envelope from the bottom of Ethan’s locker, the entire world narrowed to a single white rectangle in her hands.I felt it before I even saw the name. That familiar sick twist in my gut. The one that never really went away no matter how many points I scored or how loud the crowd cheered my name. Darren Hale. State Correctional Facility.My stepfather’s handwriting stared back at us in block letters. Elena didn’t open it. She didn’t even turn it over. But her face, oh my, her face betrayed everything. The slight parting of her lips. The flicker of surprise mixed with something that looked dangerously close to pity. For one raw second, I saw myself through her eyes: the guy who acted like he had it all together, suddenly reduced to the boy with a convicted criminal for a father figure.My chest tightened so hard I had to remind myself to breathe.We had come here to do something simple as pack up Ethan’s locker and bring his things to the hospi