All Chapters of My Fake Boyfriend Is a Single-Dad Hockey Star: Chapter 51 - Chapter 55

SIENNA'S POVThe moment Marissa reached inside her coat, every officer in the building reacted at once."Don't move!""Hands where we can see them!"The commands echoed across the old showroom, overlapping until it was impossible to tell who was shouting what. Ethan lunged toward the staircase on pure instinct, but Mason caught him around the shoulders before he had taken more than a few steps."Ethan, wait!""Let me go!""My daughter is right there!"Lily stood frozen halfway between Marissa and the officers. Her small face was streaked with tears, and she looked from one adult to another as though she no longer knew who she was supposed to trust. Every second she hesitated made my heart ache. I knew if she turned back toward Marissa now, everything could become dangerous again."Lily," I called, keeping my voice as calm as I could. "Sweetheart, don't look behind you."She didn't move."Lily, look at me."Slowly, she lifted her eyes.Through the gaps in the staircase railing, our gaz

SIENNA'S POVI couldn't answer Lily straight away.Every response that came to mind felt too small, too simple, or too close to the kinds of half-truths adults had already surrounded her with. She lay between Ethan and me, her tired eyes searching my face with an expression that no six-year-old should ever have needed to wear. She had only just come home after being taken from school, yet she was already trying to untangle contracts, lies and promises that grown adults had failed to handle honestly.Ethan reached for her hand first. "Sweetheart," he said gently, "the money was never paying Sienna to love you."Lily looked at him, unconvinced."But Marissa knew about the contract."Neither of us spoke."She knew Sienna came to live here because you helped Hart Events." Lily's voice was quiet, but every word was painfully clear. "She knew you asked Sienna to pretend to be your girlfriend."Ethan drew a slow breath."What else did Marissa tell you?"Lily looked down at the blanket before

SIENNA'S POVThe room fell completely silent after I asked the question.No one spoke.Even Mason, who usually had an opinion ready before anyone else finished a sentence, simply looked from Ethan to me without saying a word.Ethan's expression caught me by surprise.He looked as though the possibility had never truly occurred to him.Only a few hours earlier we had both admitted that the contract no longer reflected the life we were living, yet neither of us had taken the next logical step.If the arrangement was ending, eventually the truth would have to exist outside the walls of the penthouse too.My thoughts were interrupted by Ethan's attorney."I need to answer that carefully."I shifted the phone slightly closer."What happens if people learn the engagement wasn't real?"The attorney took a moment before responding."It could create a serious sponsorship dispute."Ethan folded his arms but remained silent."The company continued negotiating because Mr. Hayes' family image stre