Chapter Thirty-Eight
It Happened to You
Ariana
Present
“I wish I could crawl inside your mind right now.”
I blinked, turning toward the deep voice that grounded me.
Shane was rolled on his side, his eyes searching mine, fingers sliding up under his t-shirt that I wore and hooking around my hip.
His touch was so different than the one I’d had there earlier in the night.
Where Nathan’s had been possessive and cruel, Shane’s was tender and assuring.
He was rooting me in a time I could so easily be knocked over.
“It’s not a pretty place,” I muttered, the corner of my lips rising and falling again.
“Tonight was a lot.”
I nodded, rolling toward him and linking our legs together.
We’d left the party with all the chaos still happening.
Maven and Grace had stopped me long enough to give me a big hug and promise they’d take care of everything in my absence.
They assured me they’d send a full update, but insisted I go and get away from the noise.
I was so thankful for their friendship, even if I was still amazed I had it at all.
We’d taken Georgie to a hotel before coming to Shane’s.
We would spend Christmas together tomorrow, and then he was flying out on the first flight the following day to get back to school.
Of course, he tried to change it after everything happened, insisting he needed to be here, but I assured him the best thing he could do for me was to get back to his life and not worry about me.
I was his older sister, the closest thing he had to a parental figure, and the thought of him missing out on school for me was unthinkable.
I promised him I’d be okay, and that I’d come visit him soon.
“I’m proud of you,” he’d whispered in my hair during our last hug, one I held tight and didn’t want to break.
It had made tears flood my eyes in an instant.
“I’m sorry I let it get here.”
He’d shaken his head. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
I wished I believed him. I wished I didn’t feel just as much guilt and shame as I did relief lying in Shane’s arms right now.
We’d come back to his place after dropping Georgie off, Shane running me a hot bath and playing my favorite music as he helped me undress and lower into the steaming water.
He’d offered me food, but I couldn’t eat.
I did drink the water he gave me, though, and accepted his t-shirt.
When I slipped it over my head, I sighed, content.
It smelled like him — elemental, all ice and metal and pine.
“Do you want to talk about any of it?” Shane asked, his fingers toying with mine.
I sighed. “I know I should. I just…” I bit my lip.
“Shane, I feel so ashamed I ever let it get to this point, that I ever found myself in this position. When he grabbed me tonight, when he threatened me…” I held back tears, shaking my head.
“I just couldn’t believe I didn’t see it, that I didn’t realize how bad it was getting. ”
Shane nodded in understanding, his eyes falling to where our fingers danced together. “Can I walk you through something?”
I nodded, swallowing past the lump in my throat.
“People like Nathan don’t pick their partners randomly,” he said. “They’re observant. They clock patterns. They notice who’s learned to survive by being agreeable, who’s used to carrying responsibility, who mistakes consistency for safety because they’ve never had anything steady.”
My chest tightened.
“He didn’t hurt you right away,” Shane went on. “He made you feel seen. He chose you when I had walked away. He provided steady when you had been living in an earthquake. That wasn’t an accident. That was him mirroring what you needed most — because it bought him trust.”
I swallowed. “So I was… groomed?”
His jaw flexed, not in anger at me — but at the word itself. “I think you were studied,” he said carefully. “And then slowly boxed in. That’s not the same thing as being stupid or blind. It means he used empathy as a weapon.”
Tears slid down my temples, soaking into his pillow.
“I keep thinking I should’ve known,” I whispered. “I’m educated. I’ve read the studies. I’ve worked cases like this. More than that, I watched my mom.” That had my chest squeezing so tightly I curled in on myself. “How embarrassing, to walk right into the situation I judged my mother for being in.”
“Knowledge doesn’t protect you when someone’s working on your nervous system,” he said gently. “Especially when they’re offering the thing you’ve been taught to crave — peace.”
I let out a shaky breath.
“And when it started to feel wrong,” he continued, “your brain did what it always does. It tried to make it make sense. That’s survival, Ari. Not failure.”
I turned my face into his chest, my fingers fisting in his shirt.
“You didn’t let this happen,” he murmured into my hair. “It happened to you.”
The words cracked me wide open, and finally, I found permission to break.
I sobbed into Shane’s chest, his arms wrapping me up and holding me as I fell apart. I cried for my mother, for all she had to endure, for how her life ended. I cried for Georgie and what he had to go through. I cried for Ben tonight, for a young boy who was caught up in a broken system.
And I cried for myself.
I cried for that young, innocent girl I once was, for the child who had to grow up too fast. I cried for the one Shane left behind even though I understood why he did it.
I cried for the woman who raised a child when she was still one herself, for the woman who clung to a monster because it was the devil she knew.
Shane didn’t falter. He held me and kissed my hair and rubbed my back, letting me feel it all.
After a while, when my sobs had subsided, he added quietly, “And I think you already know this part — but I’ll say it anyway.
Talking to someone… a therapist who understands trauma and coercive dynamics…
it will help. Someone rewired the rules inside you without your consent,” he said.
“And you deserve help untangling that. At your pace. On your terms.”
I nodded slowly. “I know,” I whispered. “I don’t want to carry this into the rest of my life.”
“You won’t,” he said, brushing his lips to my forehead. “And you won’t do it alone.”
I sniffed, pressing up until I was on my elbows and looking down at him. “I’m so happy you’re here.”
“Oh, baby,” he said, sweeping my hair back and leaning up to kiss me. “I’m so happy you’re letting me be in your life again.”
He pressed his lips against mine, his hands in my hair, the kiss firm and comforting.
“What happens next?” I asked, wiping the last of the wetness from my cheeks. “With Nathan, I mean?”
Shane exhaled slowly, like he was choosing his words with care.
“Okay,” he said. “I’m going to tell you what I know — not to overwhelm you, but so this doesn’t feel like some dark, endless thing hanging over your head.”
I nodded, bracing myself.
“By tomorrow morning, the league will already have started the formal process,” he went on. “They don’t mess around with allegations like this — especially when there are witnesses, threats, physical intimidation, and potential abuse of power.”
My stomach twisted.
“They’ll assign an independent investigator,” he said. “Not someone tied to the team. Usually a former prosecutor or someone who specializes in workplace misconduct. Their job is to gather statements, review evidence, and figure out whether league policy was violated.”
“What kind of evidence?” I asked quietly.
“Everything we’ve already supplied and more,” he said. “Texts. Emails. Phone records. Security footage. Witness accounts. Anything from tonight. Anything from before tonight.”
I swallowed. “And you?” I asked. “What happens to you?”
“I’ll be questioned,” he said, his jaw tightening. “Probably early. And yes — there’s a good chance I’ll be placed on temporary suspension while they investigate.”
My heart lurched. “What? Shane—”
“Hey.” He lifted his hand, brushing his thumb gently along my jaw. “Listen to me. That part isn’t punishment. It’s standard.”
I shook my head. “But you didn’t do anything.”
“I know,” he said softly. “And they know that too. But when someone in leadership is directly involved — when I intervened, when I confronted him — it becomes about optics and due process. They freeze everyone in the immediate orbit until the facts are clear.”
Tears pricked my eyes again. “I hate that this affects you.”
“I don’t,” he said immediately. “If the cost of taking him down and getting you in the process is a few weeks on the sidelines, I’ll pay it every time. Without hesitation.”
“How long does all of this take?” I asked.
“Usually a few weeks. Sometimes longer if it’s complex. But you won’t be left in the dark. They’ll keep you informed. You’ll have support — legal, therapeutic, advocacy. You won’t be doing this alone.”
“And Nathan?” My voice barely held steady. “What happens to him if they… if they believe us?”
“If the investigation substantiates what we’ve reported and what has been accused tonight, he’s done.”
My breath caught. I almost felt bad for how giddy it made me, to know that this could be the end of his reign of terror. I wondered how many other people were caught up in it all, who would be impacted.
“Best-case for him?” Shane continued. “Permanent suspension. Termination for cause. His contract voided. He’ll never work in this league again.”
“And worst-case?”
“If criminal charges are pursued — and they very well could be — then that’s out of the league’s hands. That becomes law enforcement. Court cases. Consequences that follow him for the rest of his life.”
I stared at him, my chest rising and falling fast. “This is kind of wild.”
“I know. I mean, there’s no spinning it where he gets out of the situation without paying a price,” Shane said. “This isn’t something money or charm fixes. He crossed lines that can’t be uncrossed.”