All Chapters of I Was His Wingman, Never His Man: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

Claude's POVThe entire room fell silent as soon as the words were out of my mouth.One of our team members suddenly chuckled and quipped, "Come on, Claude. Everyone here knows that you've had a crush on Katie for years. Why does your congratulations sound so forced now that Captain got her instead?"There's no point being jealous. You can't ever beat him anyway," he added with another chuckle.The team then burst into knowing chuckles. They thought that my cold expression was simply because I was jealous of Ian Bradford because of my crush on Katie Terrell.Ian's grip on the wine glass tightened until his knuckles turned white. Then, he patted the empty seat next to him."Stop making a fuss and come sit here, Claude Manning."In the past, the spot next to him was always only reserved for me. But now, Katie was seated next to him too.I didn't move toward him. Instead, I just went straight over to my elder brother, Cale Manning, and sat down next to him.Ian's eyes turned dark

Chapter 2

Ian glared at me intently, his eyes blazing with anger.Katie picked up the necklace smugly, glanced at it, and said with a look of disdain on her face, "But now that I'm looking at it properly, it's such a hideous design after all. It's worse than the one you bought for me, Ian. How could you give such a cheap thing to someone else as a gift?"Then, she dropped the necklace into the trash can, which was filled with greasy food scraps.I felt my blood freeze instantly.Ian saw my horrified look and said coldly, "Stop spacing out. We are celebrating my marriage tonight, and nobody is allowed to leave sober. Nobody is allowed to leave early either. Let's drink till we're completely wasted!"I stood up shakily, my face pale. "I'm good. You guys go ahead. I have somewhere else to be."Ian's complexion turned as black as thunder when he heard what I said. However, I ignored him and walked out without another backward glance before he could go berserk on me.I went back to my car. The

Chapter 3

News of the Yorkson Bears' management agreeing to my trade request came back the next day, and I returned to the team's office to pack up my things.Along the way, many other teammates and staff members gave me mocking looks."Did he really think he could play Center just by changing teams? Don't you dare come crawling back to us if you fail next time.""Didn't you see how sarcastic he was with Captain the other day? No wonder Captain looks down on him that much."I pretended not to hear a thing and continued packing up my stuff."Wait a minute."Ian's cold voice sounded from behind me.Katie was leaning into his embrace as she smirked at me. "The playoff tactics, defense, and personnel deployment information were leaked this morning. I heard that the Claston team offered you a high salary to join their team. Could it be that there's a shady deal going on between you and them?"I turned to Ian. "You think I did it?""We'll find out the truth after checking your phone," he repl

Chapter 4

I felt numb as the laughter continued incessantly in the room.After the technicians and security guards left, I looked at Ian coldly and said, "Captain, now that it's proven that the leak had nothing to do with me, don't you think you owe me an apology?"Everyone around me immediately began cursing and yelling at me the moment they heard that."He's crazy. Did he just demand an apology from the captain? Who does he think he is?""Captain's already been merciful enough not to kick him out of the team straight away. We just don't have the proof. Nobody knows if he was actually the one who leaked it."Ian frowned impatiently at me."I was only following regulations by checking your personal assets in your locker before the transfer request. And yet, you're asking me to apologize to you instead?"Who's the one going crazy here? Me? Or you?"I replied calmly, "You know better than I how the hundreds of intimate photos in my phone came about. It's been five years. The only thing I'm

Chapter 5

The next time I opened my eyes again, all I could see was just a blinding white.I struggled to reach for my phone with my working left hand. As soon as I turned it on, hundreds of various social media post notifications flooded in.Some of them were from a post Katie had made two hours ago.The photo showed Ian gently feeding her in the hospital bed, his eyes filled with the lingering fear and deep affection of someone who looked like he'd almost lost someone dear to him.Her caption read, "I'm the happiest person with you by my side, even if I only have one month left to live."The comments below her post were mostly from my ex-teammates. Many of them liked the post and called them "star-crossed lovers", "each other's soulmate", and even praised Ian for being so devoted to her.I laughed self-deprecatingly, feeling the last of the feelings I had for him disappear like smoke.The ward door was slid open, and Cale walked in with a container of warm soup. His eyes turned red when

Chapter 6

Ian's POVI purposely booked a private room at the most upscale fine-dining restaurant in Yorkson to ease the tension between Claude and me, thinking of making it up to him with this meal.I informed everyone on the team and also sent Claude a text message.I thought that since I had actually humbled myself and taken the initiative to give him a way out of this, it was time for him to stop making a scene after such a long time had passed.However, the room was already filled with our teammates and other guests, but Claude's seat remained empty."Why isn't Claude here yet, Captain? We've all been waiting for him for half an hour," one of the teammates said impatiently while checking his watch. "Exactly. He used to always be the first to arrive. Why is he acting like a diva this time?"My face turned dark as I tightened my hold on my wine glass. I took out my phone and called Claude's number."Sorry, the number you have dialed is not available," the cold robotic voice said in my

Chapter 7

Claude's POVAfter arriving in Claston, I didn't give myself room to breathe and straight away threw myself into a high-intensity training that was closed off to the rest of the world.When the new season started, I completely unleashed my offensive attacks and abilities on the ice. My performance improved steadily, and the doubts the fans and the media had about me gradually vanished.My name kept appearing frequently in major sports sections. I proved my worth with my own strength and capabilities, and I was the most promising star player of the season.Finally, the finals arrived. Our opponent was none other than the champions of the last season, the Yorkson Bears, led by Ian Bradford.Public opinion was almost unanimously pessimistic about us.The media predicted we still wouldn't stand a chance against the experienced, star-studded Yorkson Bears, despite our team having performed brilliantly all season. However, they didn't know that I knew the Yorkson Bears better than anyo

Chapter 8

Golden ribbons danced in the air above my head and my teammates' heads as we stepped onto the podium side by side.The heavy championship trophy was handed to me, and the applause and cheering from the fans in the arena nearly deafened us.The host handed the microphone to me, gesturing for me to give a mini-speech as the MVP star player of the season.I looked at the sea of faces in the audience, then at my proud coach and teammates beside me. Finally, my gaze settled on Cale, who was standing not too far away from me. He was waving frantically at me, his eyes slightly red-rimmed.I inhaled deeply and spoke into the microphone."Firstly, I want to thank the Claston Hawks for trusting me during my most difficult time. Thank you to my coaches and my teammates. It's thanks to everyone's hard work on the ice that we have earned this honor."I would also like to thank the setbacks that tried to drag me down in the past. They made me realize that I didn't have to continue staying as s

Chapter 9

I led the Claston Hawks to another league championship in the late winter of the following year.I felt nothing but a profound calm as the final whistle sounded, and the ice rink was strewn with golden ribbons and confetti that poured down around me.This was the second championship that we'd won since I came to Claston.Now, I hadn't only just firmly established myself as the team's core Center player. I had also become one of the most prominent ice hockey stars in the entire league.However, the Yorkson Bears weren't among our final opponents in this championship. In fact, they hadn't even made the playoffs for the season.After the finals of the last season, Cale publicly released the compiled CCTV footage online, and the revelation trended on social media for an entire week.Ian was suspended indefinitely by the league for allegedly intentionally injuring a teammate in the locker room. He was also formally investigated by the police.His sponsors all announced the terminatio

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