All Chapters of Divorced by the Hockey Captain: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Brad, do you remember what everyone in your social circle said after your grandfather officially announced our engagement at the summer gala?They said I was the luckiest girl in the world. They said I had hit the jackpot, like an obscure girl winning an unearned financial lottery. Some people even had the nerve to walk right up to me with champagne glasses, pat my arm, and congratulate me for 'marrying into the legendary Norwood fortune.' I smiled politely every single time. I nodded, thanked them for their kind words, and kept my head held high.Not because they were right, Bradley... but because standing in a room full of flashing camera bulbs trying to correct them felt… pointless.The truth is... if your grandfather had introduced me to literally any other wealthy, powerful man in that room that evening…I would have turned around and said no without a second thought.I didn't give you my heart because of your penthouse. I didn't say yes to your proposal because of the champions

Tabitha's POVThe little dining table was a disaster — takeout containers everywhere, napkins balled up next to plates that didn't match anything, my chopsticks abandoned halfway through a dumpling I was one hundred percent coming back for."I am simply saying, as a matter of civil architectural fact, that a velvet armchair inside a walk-in closet is a design crime against humanity," Darlington announced, waving his plastic fork around like a gavel while he leaned over and stole a dumpling right off my plate.Ava didn't even look up. She just snapped her chopsticks against the back of his hand.Clack."Ow! That's assault on a licensed professional!""That's basic table manners, architect," she shot back, tugging her sleeve down with a very smug little huff. "You do not steal food off a pregnant woman's plate. Keep your hands on your own side."I laughed so hard I had to put my water down before I spilled it. Honestly this had become my favorite part of the day, the two of them going a

Tabitha's POVThe door clicked shut, the deadbolt sliding home with a small, metallic thud.I leaned my back against the firm paneling, my head falling against the frame as a ragged breath escaped me. I looked down at my hands. They were trembling, my fingers twitching against the fabric of my sweater like they belonged to someone else.It wasn't a tremor born of hidden longing. It wasn't some secret, desperate urge to throw the bolt back, open the door, and run down that dark corridor into his arms. God, no. It was shock — plain shock. Seeing Bradley standing on my threshold, seeing the disheveled hair and the bloodshot eyes and the aching remorse written across a face I used to know better than my own, had torn straight through a scar I'd spent weeks carefully learning to close. He was a ghost from a life that had nearly finished me off, stepping uninvited into the one quiet, safe place I had left.He doesn't get to do that. Not anymore.===My phone chimed softly from the kitchen

Tabitha’s POVI hadn't left my bed in two days.Ever since Bradley had shown up uninvited outside my door, looking like a shattered ghost from a past I had almost managed to survive, a suffocating cloud had settled right back over my head. My soul felt depleted, drained of whatever fragile light I had built up over the last month.I lay curled on my side under the duvet, staring blankly at the wall, wishing the world would just hit pause.BAAAAAAAAANNNNN! BRRRRRA-TA-TA-DAN-DAN!A deafening, hilariously out-of-tune trumpet blast ripped through the quiet bedroom, shattering the silence into a million pieces.I bolted upright with a gasp, clutching the blanket to my chest.Ava kicked my bedroom door wide open, marching inside like a drill sergeant while banging two metal pot lids together like cymbals. Right behind her, Darlington stood proudly in my doorway, puffing his cheeks out as he blew another ear-splitting note on a cheap plastic brass trumpet.I pressed my palms against my ears,

Bradley’s POV"Shut up. Just... shut up right now," I hissed under my breath, looking wildly around the concrete garage to make sure no lurking paparazzi or arena staff were hovering near the security cameras.Before the pint-sized girl with electric-blue hair could fire off another unhinged remark, I reached down, grabbed the back of her oversized black hoodie like a stray kitten, and opened the rear door of my SUV. I tossed her onto the plush leather backseat, slammed the door shut, and practically dove behind the steering wheel.I fired up the engine and tore out of the private underground facility, taking every back alley and side street I knew to ensure no vultures with long lenses were tailing us.The entire twenty-minute drive across the city was dead silent, save for the occasional, loud pop of her grape lollipop. Every time I glanced into the rearview mirror, she was just sitting there, swinging her small legs off the leather cushion, staring back at me with those eerily calm