All Chapters of Captain's Ice Slave : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Ethan closed the door to his room and stood there for a moment in the dark. He pulled his phone out again before he even turned on the light. The message was still on the screen.‘You don’t know what really happened between Jax and Marcus.’He sat on the edge of the bed and read it twice more, slower each time. The easy feeling from the theater was already gone. What had felt like a simple night out now sat under the weight of that single line.He copied the number into a search bar. Nothing useful came back, no name, no profile, no trail. He checked if it matched any old contacts or team numbers but It didn’t. The sender had stayed hidden.Ethan locked the phone, set it face-down, then picked it up again almost immediately. The words were the same. They still landed with the same quiet force. He thought about Marcus’s calm return at practice, the way his attention had stayed on Eli instead of the old targets, and how little any of it matched the version of the past Ethan thought he a

....FlashbackLater that night Ethan sat on the edge of his bed with the phone in his hand, the anonymous message still open.He stared at it long enough that the screen dimmed, then woke it again. The single line hadn’t changed. After another minute he gave up trying to sleep and called Tyler.Tyler answered on the third ring, voice rough with sleep. “Ethan? It’s late. You okay?”“I got a message during the movie,” Ethan said. “I didn’t show you then. I need a second opinion.”“What kind of message?”“Anonymous.” Ethan put it on speaker and read it out. “‘You don’t know what really happened between Jax and Marcus.’”There was a short silence on the other end.“That’s it?” Tyler asked.“That’s it, and it's from an unknown number. Nothing else.”Tyler exhaled. “And you’re just telling me now?”“I didn’t want to dump it on you in the parking lot. I kept thinking it might be nothing but right now It’s not sitting like nothing.”“Yeah, I can hear that.” Tyler’s voice was clearer now, more

A few days later the team filed back into the rink under a quieter tension than usual.Coach was already waiting at center ice. He didn’t let them spread out. “Everyone in. Helmets off.”The group closed ranks. Ethan stood near Tyler. Marcus stayed on the edge. Jax watched from his usual place in the stands with Gerald. Coach’s voice was flat and controlled. “I’ll keep this short. The review of the missing junior-league material is still active at the administrative level. What I can tell you is this: there is no evidence that any current player on this team removed or took those files.”A low shift moved through the group.“The materials in question have been incomplete or missing for some time, longer than the recent questions that were being asked. That part is confirmed. Until the broader process is finished, no one is to speculate, dig, or treat this as internal team business. Clear?”A few players answered at once. “Clear.”Coach scanned the faces in front of him. “Practice resu

The next afternoon the team gathered on the ice for practice. Coach blew the whistle early and called everyone in.“Listen up. We’ve got a home match against the school across the river next week. They’re physical and they capitalise on turnovers. I want us prepared.”A few players nodded. Coach’s eyes moved to Ethan, then to the stands where Jax sat with his tablet.“Kane. Rivera. Over here.”They stepped closer. Coach kept his voice low enough that the rest of the group only caught the tone, not the words. “After practice I want both of you to stay. Watch the remaining sessions and the cool-down drills. Note every player’s strengths and weaknesses — skating, decision speed, positioning, habits under pressure. Write it down. I need clear observations we can use for pairings and match-ups next week.”Ethan glanced at Jax, then back at Coach. “Just observation and notes?”“That’s it. No coaching on the ice, no corrections. Watch and record. When you’re done, leave the notes with me. Cl

Marcus sat with the phone still in his hand, the Phase Two message glowing on the screen.He didn’t answer it, Instead he opened a new thread, selected three names from the team roster — players who talked, who listened, and who had already shown curiosity about old stories — and began typing.To the first: ‘Heard the junior-league stuff with Rivera never actually got cleared. Scholarship mess, quiet deals. Makes you wonder how much of that followed him here.’He sent it, waited a moment, then opened the second chat. ‘People keep treating Rivera like the past is finished. From what I know, it isn’t. Ask around about the year the offer disappeared. Interesting reactions.’Send.The third message was shorter: ‘Some histories don’t stay buried just because the team moved on. Rivera’s is one of them.He reviewed the three threads once, made sure none of them sat in the main group chat, then locked the phone.’No mass blast or open accusation. Just quiet, targeted lines desi