Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Baller’s Hidden Son: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

JACE The dining room was already full when I walked in. Crystal glasses caught the light from the chandelier, silverware gleamed against the long mahogany table, and the familiar scent of my stepmother’s preferred floral arrangements hung in the air. My father sat at the head, as always. My sister, Claire, was beside him, laughing at something one of the aunts had said. Maya was already there, seated in the place that had somehow become hers over the past year—close enough to the family that no one questioned it anymore. She looked up the moment I entered and smiled the way she always did in rooms like this: soft, composed, perfectly timed. I managed a nod in return and took the empty seat beside her. “You’re late,” my father said, though there was no real edge in his voice. “We were beginning to wonder.” “I had an appointment,” I answered, unfolding the napkin across my lap. “It ran longer than expected.” Claire leaned forward, eyes bright with the kind of interest that always

JaceThe nurse finished the final checks and secured a proper sling around Ethan’s left arm. Mild sprain. Nothing broken. Ice, rest, and careful movement for the next week or two. I stood a few feet back the entire time, watching Heidi more than the medical process. The way she kept one hand on her son’s good shoulder, the way her eyes avoided mine, the faint, continuous tremor in her fingers when she signed the papers. She was holding herself together by sheer will.Ethan seemed more irritated by the restriction than the pain itself. He flexed his fingers repeatedly and announced that he could still throw a perfect spiral if someone would just take the sling off for thirty seconds.In the parking lot he talked without pause while Heidi buckled him into the back seat. He described the exact moment he fell, why it wasn’t really his fault, the spin move he had practiced all week, and how his coach said he had “natural vision on the field.” I answered every question, keeping my voice eas

HEIDI POVI stepped out of the taxi and immediately knew coming here had been a mistake.The building looked exactly the way I remembered it—too familiar, too polished, too full of memories I had spent years carefully refusing to revisit. Music drifted through the open entrance, and through the glass doors I could already see people moving around inside, laughing, hugging, and taking pictures with the easy familiarity of people who had never left this version of themselves behind. My stomach twisted. I adjusted the strap of my bag over my shoulder and glanced down at my phone.Tiara’s message was waiting.Where are you?I typed back quickly.Outside.Her reply arrived almost at once.OUTSIDE WHERE???The building.Three seconds later another message appeared.GET YOUR ASS IN HERE.I stared at the screen, then sighed. “Wonderful.” I slipped the phone into my bag and forced myself to walk inside.The noise hit me the moment the doors closed behind me—overlapping voices, sudden bursts of

HEIDI POVI woke slowly, body heavy and sore in places I hadn’t felt in years. Every shift of muscle reminded me of the night—of Jace’s hands gripping my hips, his mouth on my throat, the way he had taken me again and again until I stopped pretending I didn’t want it. My skin still carried the faint ache of his teeth and the heat of his palms.He was still asleep beside me, one arm thrown across my waist like he was afraid I might disappear. For a moment I let myself stay there, listening to his breathing, feeling the warm weight of him. Then reality returned.I slipped carefully out from under his arm. He stirred but didn’t wake. I gathered my clothes in silence—dress wrinkled, underwear somewhere near the couch, shoes by the door—and dressed in the bathroom with the light off so I wouldn’t have to look at myself too closely.When I stepped back into the bedroom he was sitting up, sheets pooled around his hips, eyes already on me.“Where are you going?”“Home.”He ran a hand through

THIRD POVJace’s hands were still shaking when he slid behind the wheel.He didn’t remember deciding where to go. He only knew he couldn’t sit still.He drove without destination, city lights smearing past the windows. His mind kept circling the same ugly loop—Adrian on that table, shirtless, gel still shining on his skin, looking at Heidi and that made Jace’s blood boil. The way the bastard had protected her.Adrian and Heidi are being too close lately and it made Jace worry. What if Adrian intends to pursue her and Heidi accepts? Wouldn’t that ruin his chance of getting back together with her?Jace’s grip tightened on the steering wheel until his knuckles went white.Last night felt like proof that something still lived between them. The way she had come apart under him, the way she had clung to him, the sounds she made when he was buried deep inside her—none of that had felt like nothing.But this morning she had looked at him like a stranger and walked out.And now she was letting