Chapter 10
Carter
Everything is perfect for exactly sixteen days.
Then my father shows up at practice.
I'm running drills when Coach Davis calls me over.
"Lynch. Visitor."
My father stands by the boards, dressed in his usual expensive suit, looking like he owns the place. Which, given his donation history, he kind of does.
"We need to talk," he says without preamble.
"I'm in the middle of practice."
"This can't wait." He looks at Coach. "Give us a few minutes?"
Coach nods, of course he does, because my father is Richard Lynch and no one says no to him and I follow him to an empty corridor.
"What do you want?"
"To give you one more chance to fix this situation before I do it for you." The tone in his voice makes me worry about what he has planned.
"Fix what situation?"
"The journalist. This... relationship." He says the word like it's distasteful. "It's affecting your game, your focus, your draft prospects. Scouts are asking questions about your judgment."
"My judgment is fine." If scouts are thinking I can’t play my game because of Lennox, they are crazy.
"Is it? Because from where I'm standing, you've let a woman who publicly attacked you manipulate you into defending her. That's not judgment. That's weakness." I feel like we are going to argue about the same thing over and over again.
"She didn't manipulate me. She wrote a fair article—"
"Fair? She exposed private team issues to the public. Made you look incompetent as a leader." He steps closer. "And now you're dating her. Do you understand how that looks?"
"I don't care how it looks."
"Then you're a fool. The NHL is watching.
They want players who are focused, disciplined, who don't get distracted by relationships that make them look weak.
" He pulls out his phone, shows me a series of texts.
"Look. Scouts commenting on your 'emotional instability.
' Teams questioning whether you can handle the pressure of professional hockey if you're this easily influenced. "
My stomach drops. The texts are real. I recognize the names, scouts I've met, coaches who've shown interest.
"That doesn't mean—"
"It means exactly what I'm saying. You're sabotaging your career for a girl you barely know." He pockets his phone. "End it. Publicly. Make it clear it was a distraction you've corrected. Then focus on hockey like you're supposed to."
"No."
"No?" He looks genuinely shocked.
"I'm not ending things with Lennox because you're afraid of what scouts think. If they want a robot who only cares about hockey, they can find someone else."
"You're throwing away everything we've worked for—"
"Everything YOU worked for. Not me. You." My voice rises. "You pushed me into hockey. You designed my training. You controlled every aspect of my development. I went along with it because I thought that's what I was supposed to do. But I'm done being your puppet."
"I made you what you are—"
"You made me miserable! I hated hockey until I figured out how to make it mine.
How to lead my way, not yours. How to actually care about my teammates instead of just using them to win.
" I'm shaking now. "And Lennox? She sees me.
The real me. Not the player you manufactured and I'm not giving that up for your approval or NHL scouts or anyone else. "
He's very still. Very quiet.
"If you continue this relationship, I'm cutting you off. Completely. No more financial support. No more connections. No more family backing."
"Is that supposed to scare me?"
"It should. You're still in school. You have expenses, obligations. Without my support, you'll struggle. And your sister—" He pauses meaningfully. "Maya's private school, her therapy, all of it comes from family money. Money I control."
My blood runs cold. "You wouldn't."
"Try me. End things with the journalist, refocus on hockey, and everything continues as normal. Continue this rebellious phase, and I cut off support for both of you."
"Maya has nothing to do with this—"
"She has everything to do with this. You want to be the hero who chooses love over duty? Fine. But understand the cost. Your sister loses everything because you couldn't put your family first."
He walks away before I can respond, leaving me standing in the corridor feeling like I've been punched.
He's using Maya. Using my sister's mental health and wellbeing as leverage to control me.
I pull out my phone and call her immediately.
"Hey!" She sounds happy. "I was just thinking about you. How's practice?"
"Maya, I need to tell you something."
I explain everything. Dad's ultimatum. The threat to cut off her school and therapy funding. The impossible choice he's forcing me to make.
She's quiet for a long time.
"Carter, you can't let him do this."
"I won't. I'll figure something out. Find a way to pay for everything myself—"
"That's not what I mean." Her voice is firm. "You can't let him manipulate you into breaking up with Lennox. That's exactly what he wants. Control through fear."
"But your therapy—"
"I'll figure it out. There are community resources, sliding scale options. I'm not going to be the reason you give up someone you love."
"Maya—"
"No. Listen to me. I've watched Dad control you my entire life. Every choice, every path, every decision filtered through what he wants. This is your chance to break free. Don't give it up for me."
"You're more important than any relationship—"
"Then prove it by not letting Dad use me as a weapon. He's counting on you prioritizing my immediate needs over your long-term happiness. Don't let him win."
We talk for a few more minutes, and I listen to everything she is saying, mainly because she won’t let me get a word in.
After we hang up, I'm left staring at my phone, torn between impossible choices.
If I stay with Lennox, Maya loses her support system. Her school. Her therapy that's been keeping her stable.
If I break up with Lennox, I'm letting my father control my life. Proving him right that I can't make my own decisions.
There's no good answer.
I drive to Lennox's dorm without thinking. I need to see her. I need to figure this out together.
She opens the door in pajamas, clearly about to go to bed.
"Carter? What's wrong?"
I tell her everything. My father's visit. The ultimatum. Maya's response. The impossible choice.
She listens without interrupting, and when I finish, she's very pale.
"So he's threatening your sister?" She questions.
"Essentially, yes."
"That's..." She takes a breath. "That's abusive. You know that, right?"
"I know. But it doesn't change the fact that if I don't do what he wants, Maya suffers."
"And if you do what he wants, you suffer. And so do I." She sits on her bed. "What do you want to do?"
"I want to tell him to fuck off. But I can't risk Maya's wellbeing for my happiness." I have to be honest with her, I care too much for my sister.
"So you're going to break up with me."
"No. I don't know. I—" I run my hands through my hair. "I need time to figure this out. Find a way to support Maya without his money. But that takes time I don't have. He wants an answer by tomorrow."
She's quiet for a long moment. "Maybe we should take a break."
"What?"
"Just until you figure out the Maya situation. Until you can support her without your father's help." She won't look at me. "That way you're technically doing what he wants, but it's temporary. And once you have a plan—"
"No. Absolutely not. That's exactly what he wants. For us to break up, for him to win—"
"This isn't about winning! This is about your sister's safety and mental health!" Her voice cracks. "Carter, I care about you. So much, but I can't be the reason Maya loses her support system. I won't be."
"You're not the reason. He is—"
"It doesn't matter who's at fault. What matters is keeping Maya safe." She finally looks at me, and there are tears in her eyes. "So we take a break. You figure out finances and when you can support her without his money, we revisit this."
"And if that takes months? A year?" I can't believe she’s thinking about this.
"Then it takes that long." Her answer hits me way harder than I thought it would.
I want to argue. I want to fight this, but she's right and I hate it.
"This isn't fair."
"No. It's not." She wipes her eyes. "Nothing about this situation is fair."
We sit in horrible silence.
"I love you," I say finally. "I should have said it before now, but I love you. And this…taking a break, letting him win even temporarily, it's killing me."
"I love you too. That's why I'm doing this." She stands. "Now go. Before I change my mind and we make this even harder."
I want to stay. Want to hold her and tell her we'll figure it out together. Want to do anything but walk away.
But Maya's face is in my head. Her voice saying she won't be the reason I give up someone I love.
And the truth is, if being with Lennox means Maya loses her therapy, loses her stability, potentially spirals again.
I can't live with that.
So I leave. Walk out of her dorm. Drive back to my apartment in a daze.
And hate my father with an intensity that scares me.