Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 81 - Chapitre 90

CHAPTER Eighty One – I Am Not LeavingJaxon’s POVThe words stayed between us long after Stella said them.“This is my home.”I looked at her, hoping she would say something else.Anything.Instead, she stood quietly with the hockey stick still in her hand as the wind moved gently through the open field.The silence was heavier than any argument we had ever had.I had imagined this moment so many times while searching for her.I thought I would find the right words, I thought I would know exactly what to say but now that she was standing in front of me, nothing felt enough.No apology could erase what I had done, no promise could return everything she had lost.Still, I couldn’t leave not now, nof after finally finding her.I took a slow step toward her. “Stella.”She looked at me without saying a word. “I’m not asking you to forgive me today.”Her eyes remained calm.“I know I don’t deserve that.” I took another breath before continuing. “But come back with me.”She frowned.I hur

CHAPTER EIGHTY Three – A Place of Her OwnStella’s POVThe journey back was quieter than I expected.Jaxon drove without trying to fill every moment with conversation, and somehow I was grateful for that because my mind was already crowded with too many thoughts to deal with another long explanation.I watched the road through the window as the village slowly disappeared behind us, and with every mile that passed, I felt something inside me becoming heavier.I had spent so long trying to convince myself that I wanted to leave everything behind, yet now that I was actually leaving my mother’s hometown, I couldn’t stop thinking about the little wooden house, the old field, and the hockey goal that had been there since I was a child.That place had been my escape.It had been the place my mother had promised would always be there whenever I needed somewhere to call home.And now I was leaving it again.Jaxon glanced at me several times during the drive, but he didn’t ask what I was think

CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR – Fifty PercentStella’s POVHe looked at Jaxon, then back at me.“You really think you can come back here after everything and simply continue as if nothing happened?”I opened my mouth, but before I could answer, Jaxon stepped slightly forward.His hand was still close to mine, although he hadn’t touched me yet.“She didn’t come here to pretend nothing happened.”My father looked at him. “Then why is she here?”“Because she earned her place here.”My father’s expression hardened. “I am the one who decides who stays.”Jaxon remained calm. “You can make decisions about your side of the organization.”My father gave a cold smile. “My side?”I noticed several people looking at each other.My father folded his arms. “You seem to be forgetting who you are speaking to.”Jaxon looked at him without changing his expression. “No, I know exactly who I am speaking to.”There was something different about his voice now.He wasn’t angry, he wasn’t shouting.He didn’t need to.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX – My TeamStella’s POVThe moment practice started, I knew I had to make one thing clear.I was not going to treat being the team leader as a title that simply sounded good when someone introduced me, because if I had accepted the position, then I had to take responsibility for the people under me and make sure we were ready before the championship began.I stood at the side of the rink with the players gathered around me while I explained the plan Coach had given me.“We are going to work on passing first, then we will move into formation practice, and after that, I want everyone to work on speed because we cannot afford to lose control of the puck during the championship.”Everyone listened.I pointed toward two players on the left side of the rink.“You two need to stay closer together when you move forward, because if one of you goes too far ahead, you are leaving a gap that the other team can use.”They nodded.I turned toward another player. “And when you rece

CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT – The Final GameStella’s POVSeveral weeks had passed since the day I was injured during practice, and although the pain had taken some time to disappear completely, I had refused to let it stop me from returning to the ice because I knew how much this championship meant to me and how hard I had worked to earn my place again.Every morning, I trained.Every evening, I practiced.There were days when my body felt tired and there were moments when the memory of falling against the boards came back to me, but I never allowed myself to stay afraid of it because I had already spent too much time believing that one bad moment could take everything away from me.Today was the day.The championship had finally arrived.I stood inside the changing room with my hockey stick resting against my shoulder while the noise from the rink came through the walls, and I could hear the crowd becoming louder as people filled the seats.My teammates were getting ready around me, checki