Chapter 14 #2
"He might not," Mia said. "But Victoria Vance is retweeting it. And tagging the official team account."
"Bitch," I whispered.
"Just... be careful," Mia said. "And maybe come back to the apartment tonight. Just to show face. If you disappear for two nights in a row, people will start doing the math."
"Okay," I said. "Thanks, Mia."
I hung up.
I looked at Liam. The happy, ice-cream-eating boyfriend was gone. The Wall was back.
"She tagged the team account," he said. "That means the PR department sees it. Which means your dad sees it."
"It's just a photo," I said, trying to stay calm. "We can spin it. I was helping you. You were hurt. It was a medical necessity."
"With my hand on your ass?" he countered.
"Maybe you were delirious from pain," I suggested. "Maybe you grabbed me for stability."
"Stability," he scoffed. "Right."
He ran a hand through his hair, agitated.
"You should go," he said. "Mia is right. You need to be seen on campus. If we're both missing, it confirms everything."
"I don't want to leave you," I said. "You can't even walk to the bathroom."
"I have crutches," he said. "I'll be fine. Go, Sofia. Do damage control."
"I'm not leaving because I'm scared," I said fiercely. "I'm leaving to fix this. So I can come back."
"I know," he said. He looked tired. "Just... go."
I grabbed my bag. I kissed him quickly—a frantic, worried peck.
"I love you," I said.
"Love you too," he muttered. "Drive safe."
I walked out of the apartment, down the metal stairs, to my truck.
I felt sick.
The bubble hadn't just popped. It had been punctured by a sniper rifle.
I drove back to campus in a daze.
I parked the truck and walked to my apartment. I kept my head down, avoiding eye contact with anyone I passed.
I got into the elevator at the Kensington.
Just as the doors were closing, a hand stopped them.
My father stepped in.
He wasn't alone. He was with two men in suits. Lawyers.
"Sofia," he said. His voice was calm. Terrifyingly calm. "Perfect timing. We were just coming to see you."
"Daddy," I said, clutching my bag. "What's going on?"
"We need to talk," he said. "About your future."
He pressed the button for the penthouse.
"And about Mr. Vanner."
My heart stopped.
"What about him?"
My father pulled out his phone. He turned the screen toward me.
It wasn't the photo from the tunnel.
It was a photo of The Beast parked in the faculty lot.
"We ran the plates," he said. "Registered to Liam James Vanner. But you've been driving it for three days. You drove it to the grocery store. You drove it to the hospital."
He swiped the screen.
A photo of me entering the auto shop garage with a grocery bag.
"And you've been sleeping there," he said. "In a garage. With an employee."
I stared at the photos. I had been watched. Followed.
"Daddy, I—"
"Silence," he commanded. The doors opened.
He stepped out into the hallway.
"Inside," he pointed to my apartment door. "Now."
I walked inside. The lawyers followed. My father closed the door.
"Sit down, Sofia," he said.
I sat on the white velvet sofa. I felt like I was staining it with my guilt.
"Here is the situation," my father said, standing over me. "You have breached your contract. You have fraternized with a player. You have engaged in a relationship that compromises the integrity of this organization."
"We're in love," I whispered. It sounded childish in the face of his anger.
"Love," he scoffed. "You are infatuated with a charity case. And he is using you to secure his spot on the roster."
"That's not true!" I shouted, standing up. "He loves me! He didn't even want the money!"
"Everyone wants the money, Sofia," my father said coldly. "Especially people like him."
He nodded to one of the lawyers, who placed a folder on the coffee table.
"This," my father said, tapping the folder, "is a transfer order. For Vanner."
"What?"
"I'm trading his rights," he said. "To a team in the ECHL. In Utah. Effective immediately. He loses his scholarship here. He loses his degree. He packs his bags tonight."
"You can't do that!" I screamed. "He's hurt! He just had surgery! He can't move to Utah!"
"He can," my father said. "Unless..."
He let the word hang.
"Unless what?" I asked, trembling.
"Unless you fix it," he said. "Unless you end it. Tonight. You break up with him. You tell him it was a fling. You tell him you're done. And you never speak to him again."
"And if I do?" I asked, tears streaming down my face.
"If you do," my father said, "he stays. He keeps his scholarship. He rehabs here. And when he's healthy, I'll make sure he gets a look from the Blackhawks."
He leaned closer.
"But if you don't? If you try to fight me? I will destroy him, Sofia. I will bury him in legal fees for the breach of contract. I will blacklist him from every league in North America. He will be fixing cars in that garage for the rest of his miserable life."
I looked at my father. I saw the absolute resolve in his eyes. He wasn't bluffing. He would burn Liam to the ground just to teach me a lesson.
I thought of Liam’s face in the hospital bed.
I promised myself I would never be him. The guy who peaked at twenty-two.
If I stayed with him, I would ruin him. My love would be the thing that turned him into his father.
"Okay," I whispered. The word broke my heart into a million pieces.
"Okay what?" my father asked.
"Okay," I said louder. "I'll do it. I'll end it."
"Tonight," he said.
"Tonight," I agreed.
"Good," he said. He straightened his tie. "Smart business decision, Sofia. You're learning."
He walked out. The lawyers followed.
I stood alone in the penthouse.
I looked out the window at the snow falling on the city.
I had to go back to the garage. I had to look Liam in the eye. And I had to lie to him.
I had to break his heart to save his life.
And I knew, with a sickening certainty, that it was going to kill me too.