Chapter 40
CAYDEN
The printed paper of the Sunday edition rustles between my fingers.
The scent of coffee mixes with the smell of warm croissants.
I smooth the edge and read the text for the hundredth time.
Every word hits home. This journalistic cut dissected Hayes in public.
The SEC is breathing down Icarus’s neck.
Hayes is in custody, his lawyers rowing against a flood of hard evidence.
Eric Davis buckled after the first interrogation.
I fold the newspaper and set it on the oak table as the noise level around me surges.
The dining room feels like a busy train station.
Hailey laughs as she snags the last chocolate croissant before Noah or Liam can reach for it.
My father is debating the best routes through rush-hour traffic with Jade’s mother.
Her mom is a warm woman. She hit it off with my parents surprisingly fast.
The knot that crushed Jade’s family is untied.
I’m paying the bills for a private care facility in Westmount.
Her father is getting the best care there.
The dementia can't be stopped, but he has a sun-drenched room and is doing well, considering the circumstances.
Jade never has to sit crying in a kitchen at night again.
“Hey, Dad!”
Parker bursts in from the hallway. He’s wearing his Royals jersey and balancing a shaky stack of video games.
“I’m clearing the rest out of the trunk,” he yells as he passes. “Where should the box with my skates go?”
“Put it next to the bench in the garage,” I answer. “We’re building you your own locker there.”
He grins, nods, and disappears into the stairwell.
Jade and Parker are moving in today. The last moving boxes are stacked in the foyer.
On Friday afternoon, Jade dropped her resignation on Tom Collins’s desk.
The editor-in-chief fumed. He offered her an astronomical salary to keep her, but she just smiled and wished him luck.
She’s switching sides. Starting next month, she’s head of the Royals’ PR department. We’re a united front now.
I reach for my coffee cup. Jade is sitting diagonally across from me, talking to my mother, gesturing with her hands, laughing and throwing her head back. A warm feeling spreads in my chest. I want this sight every morning for the rest of my life.
I reach into my jeans pocket. My fingers brush the small box.
“Jade?”
My voice cuts through the chatter. She stops mid-sentence and turns to me. A questioning smile plays on her lips. “Yes?”
“You start at the Royals next week,” I begin, pulling my tablet across the table toward me. I tap the screen. “The IT guys already went live with the new website for the Montreal Royal Newsmagazine. We’re going online with our own reporting today.”
“I know,” she replies, leaning her elbows on the table. “I approved the plan. The first press release goes out tomorrow.”
“We changed the plan,” I say, sliding the tablet across the wood right in front of her. “The first article is online. I wrote it last night. The new PR head should take a look.”
She knits her brow. Hailey stops chewing and watches me suspiciously. The conversation between my father and Jade’s mom dies down. All attention focuses on us.
Jade lowers her gaze to the glowing display.
The headline of the article is in bold letters:
The Woman Behind the Headlines. A Portrait of Jade Sterling. By Cayden Miller.
She reads. Her eyes travel over the text.
Every hockey fan knows my name. You cheer for me, you wear my jersey, you read reports about my sponsor deals. But none of you know the person who actually upended my life. This text isn't about goals. It’s about Jade Sterling.
We met a long time ago in a small place called Thunder Bay.
From the first time I saw her, she had a pull that bypassed my brain.
She was incredibly sexy without even trying.
I acted like an arrogant athlete who owned the world.
She saw through my facade in seconds. She didn't let my status blind her.
Jade broke the fatal pact with my sister Hailey—the one about never touching each other’s brothers. But fate had other plans. We spent a night together that burned into my memory forever.
But after that night, our paths diverged.
And the unbelievable part: she raised our son completely alone.
She worked nights, studied days, fought like a lioness for her child.
I built my financial empire without knowing about Parker, while she shaped the true wealth of our lives.
She carried the entire burden on her shoulders because she thought she had to save us all from collapsing.
Fate has its own sense of humor, though.
A ruthless investor demanded a journalistic feature on me.
He looked for an incorruptible writer to destroy me.
This alleged doom brought us back together.
Jade walked into my house with her notepad.
She challenged me. She drove me crazy. And she tore down every wall I’d spent years building.
She risked her career to save me from a massive fraud.
She fights for the truth. She loves our son with every fiber of her being. She showed me that the greatest victory isn't won on the ice. The greatest victory is sitting at my breakfast table on a sunny Sunday morning.
You’re reading this article at exactly that wooden table, Jade. Now look at me and answer one question:
Will you marry me?
Jade’s lips part slightly. Her breathing thins. A wet trail gathers in the corners of her eyes. Her hands tremble as she grips the edge of the tablet. A single tear breaks free and drips onto the table.
I push my chair back. The scrape of the legs cuts through the silence. I stand up, walk around the table, and drop to one knee. I pull the velvet box from my pocket, snap it open, and present the ring. An elegant diamond catches the sunlight from the garden.
Jade’s hands fly to her mouth. A choked sob escapes her throat. She looks from the ring to me and back again.
My mother lets out a sharp cry. Hailey claps both hands over her face. Parker appears in the doorway and freezes.
“You said money doesn't fix broken things,” I say, looking directly into her watery eyes.
“You were right. You fixed us. You gave me my life back. I never want to have a secret from you again. I want to wake up by your side every day, argue with you over press releases, and watch Parker get better on skates than I ever was. Will you be my wife?”
She nods. She can't get a word out. She just nods hastily.
“Yes,” she finally chokes out between sobs. The word explodes from her chest. “God, of course I want to.”
I take the ring from the box, grab her trembling hand, and slide the metal over her finger. It fits.
In the same moment, Hailey throws her arms up and cheers loudly. My father claps. Jade’s mom wipes tears of joy from her cheeks.
Jade slides off her chair. She practically falls against my chest. I wrap my arms around her waist, lift her up, and spin us once before catching her lips with mine. The kiss tastes like salty tears, coffee, and the unconditional promise of the rest of our lives.
“Awesome!” Parker yells from the doorway. His voice almost cracks. “Do I get a bigger room now?”
I break away from Jade’s lips, laughing. She buries her face in my neck, shaking with laughter. I turn my head toward our son.
“You get the whole west wing if you want,” I answer, reaching an arm out for him.
Parker runs toward us. He slams into my side. I pull him into our hug. The three of us stand in the middle of the dining room, surrounded by the cheers of our family. The demons of the past are banned. The secrets are burned away. We’re just getting started.