Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 21 - Chapitre 29

*Kael POV*I took another drag from the cigarette in my hand before blowing the smoke into the air. This was already the sixth cigarette I had smoked tonight, and I was beginning to realize how addicted I had become. Smoking was the only thing that seemed to stop me from thinking about my problems, even if the peace it gave me never lasted. I had spent the entire day at the training field preparing for the competition this Saturday. As the captain, I needed to work harder than the rest of the team, especially with scouts coming to watch us play.After training, I didn't want to go straight home because I couldn't stand the thought of seeing her face. The truth was that I had spent the entire day thinking about Elara, no matter how hard I tried to push her out of my mind. I kept remembering the way she had bumped into me, the surprised expression on her face, and how my arms had instinctively wrapped around her waist to stop her from falling. The closeness between us had stirred someth

After sitting in the living room for a while, I picked up my pack of cigarettes and started walking upstairs. As I passed Elara’s room on my way to mine, I paused in front of her door and leaned closer, listening for any sound. I couldn't hear her crying anymore. The room was completely silent, which made me wonder if she had finally fallen asleep.Slowly, I pushed the door open and peeped inside. She was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, tears still staining her cheeks. It seemed she had fallen asleep while crying. I pushed the door wider and stepped inside, making sure not to make any noise that might wake her. Walking quietly towards the bed, I stopped beside it and glanced down at her. A small amount of blood was still coming from the wound on her head, and I couldn't help wondering how stubborn she could be to fall asleep without even bothering to wipe the blood away or treat the injury.I frowned at her, wishing I could simply throw her out of the window and be done with he

But the guy didn’t step aside. Instead, he closed the last bit of space between us and drove his palm hard into the center of my chest, the impact sharp enough to rock me back half a step. I stared at him, the question already forming behind my teeth—what the hell was wrong with him—when he spoke again, voice low and tight.“Why did you do that to her?”The look he threw me was pure, unfiltered anger. I dragged a rough hand through my hair, forcing the rising heat in my blood back down before it decided to put him on the ground.“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” I said, “so get the hell out of my way before I lose it.”“Don’t act like you don’t know. It’s about Elara. Why do you keep hurting her?” He almost shouted the last part.A short, humorless sound left my throat. I pinched the bridge of my nose, then dropped my hand and looked straight at him again.“Whatever I did to her is none of your business. Stay the hell out of it. She lives under my roof, and I have eve

In another part of the city, Rose walked home with two heavy bags hanging from her hands. Every step showed how tired she was. After she had finished cooking the meal for Elara and Kael, she left a short note on the table and went straight out to buy food items. She needed to get back as fast as possible so she could prepare something for her little brother. Ryan was only five, maybe younger. If she didn’t feed him, the boy would starve. Their father never cared enough to do it himself.Rose Cole had been sixteen when her mother, Abigail, died giving birth to Ryan. After the funeral, Mr. Cole only got worse. Even while Abigail was still alive, he used to come home drunk and beat her almost every night. Rose had always believed the endless blows during the pregnancy were part of what killed her mother in the delivery room.From sixteen, she started working part-time, taking any shift she could find just to keep herself and Ryan alive. Their father never gave them money. Instead, he too

Kael POV.The moment Coach blew the final whistle, I dragged the blade of my stick across the ice and came to a stop, lungs dragging hard under the soaked jersey. Sweat tracked down the side of my face and under the rim of the helmet until the only thing I wanted was to rip the thing off and breathe air that didn’t taste like rubber and effort. We had been grinding the same drills for hours—thighs burning, calves locked tight—while Coach kept barking from the boards like Saturday’s game was already lost if any of us dared ease up.“That’s enough for today!” he shouted. “Get some rest, boys. We start tomorrow morning again.”A few of the guys let out rough cheers. Others just folded forward with hands on their knees, chests heaving. Jaxon skated up beside me, helmet crooked, face flushed dark from the last set of sprints.“I swear that man is trying to kill us before Saturday,” he muttered, yanking the helmet free and dragging a gloved hand through hair still dripping. “What kind of co