In my bravest and most foolish year,I spent 99 days making the man I was obsessed with—the“Ice God”and captain of the New York hockey team,Damian Knight—finally fall for me. Back then,I was the team's intern physical therapist,in charge of his conditioning. At night,I was his lover. Until the day I stood outside his mansion's wine cellar and overheard him laughing with his teammates. “Damian,I heard you broke your season's celibacy for that little intern?Weren't you waiting for Chloe to come back?Giving up just like that?” Damian sipped his whiskey,the ice clinking in the glass.His voice was just as cold. “She's just an intern.Is she even worthy?The moment Chloe's back in New York,I'm proposing to her.” The cellar erupted in laughter. “Great!Hey,Captain,when you're done with her,let the rest of us have a taste.I hear she's good at taking care of people.” A contemptuous smirk played on Damian's lips.“Whatever.Do what you want.” I instinctively touched my still-flat stomach and vanished from his world that very night. Five years later,at a grand New York charity gala,Damian Knight was about to bid on a legendary blue sapphire necklace called“The Queen's Heart”for his recently returned love,Chloe. But a clear child's voice cut through the room: “Sorry,my mommy likes that necklace.My bid is…no limit!” … The entire hall fell silent. Damian,fiddling with an expensive watch on his wrist,shot a cold glare at the little boy standing on a chair.His tone was sharp.“Kid,do you even know what'no limit'means?Where are your parents?” The little boy,Leo,put his hands on his hips and tilted his head up proudly.“Don't you dare mention that idiot who took too many pucks to the head!It's bad luck!” The auctioneer on stage looked troubled.“Young man,the starting bid is five million dollars.Are you sure you want to participate?” Guests started whispering. “Whose kid is this?Talks big.If his dad knew he was bluffing here,he'd probably have a heart attack!” For some reason,Damian's nose itched,and he let out a loud sneeze. Chloe Vanderbilt frowned,walked over,and shoved Leo off the chair.“Where did this brat come from?No manners at all!This is a charity gala,not your playground!” Caught off guard,Leo screamed as he fell backward.“Mommy,save me!” The instant before he hit the floor,I pushed through the crowd and rushed toward him. The heel of my stiletto snapped,and I fell hard,shielding the child with my arms. Thankfully,I held Leo tightly,and he was unharmed. When I stood up with him in my arms,a flash of shock crossed Damian's eternally calm blue eyes.His signature icy voice wavered for the first time.“Ava?What are you doing here?”
Before I could speak,his teammates started jeering. “Captain,isn't that the intern from back then?” “Five years,and now she's shacked up with some old geezer from Wall Street,playing mistress!” Chloe immediately wrapped her arm around Damian's,possessively.“So you're the therapist who harassed Damian and got kicked off the team?Like mother,like son.This kid is already a little liar,trying to bid on a five-million-dollar necklace!” Leo curled up in my arms,hurt.“Mommy,I wasn't lying.Grandpa gave me a card and said today is your birthday,and I could buy you a present.” As he spoke,he fumbled in his pocket.“Grandpa said this black card can buy anything.He can afford it!” All eyes were on his pocket. The next second,he pulled out…a shiny,limited-edition Superman trading card. The crowd erupted in sharp,mocking laughter. “Ha,a Superman card?Does he think this is Gotham City?He wants to buy The Queen's Heart with that!” “She must be desperate for money!” As the sole grandson of the Wall Street legend Marcus Thorne and future heir to the Thorne Group,Leo had never been so humiliated. He burst into tears in my arms.“Mommy,I'm not lying!The black card must have fallen out in the car.” I stroked his hair,comforting him softly.“It's okay,sweetie.Tell Mommy,which one did you like?” Leo pointed to the dazzling blue sapphire necklace on the stage. The next second,I calmly raised my bidding paddle and said to the auctioneer,“I bid ten million dollars.”
The jeers around me were almost deafening. “A disgraced intern trying to show off.How shameless!” Chloe sneered.“Can you even afford it?This is a Sotheby's auction,not the sporting goods store you work at!” Damian's brow furrowed,and he stopped fiddling with his watch.“Ava,how long are you going to keep making a scene with this kid you picked up from God knows where?I don't care whose child he is,but you've clearly taught him badly!” I looked at him,my eyes filled with nothing but cold indifference. What right did he have to judge my child? Seeing my silence,Chloe fanned the flames.“If your sugar daddy finds out his trashy mistress and her bastard son are embarrassing him here,do you think you'll still get your allowance next month?” His teammates joined in. “Exactly!Can your bald old man handle the consequences of pissing off our captain?” “Don't come crawling back to us,begging the Captain and Chloe for forgiveness when you two get kicked to the curb!” Through all of this,Damian's gaze locked onto me,filled with a mix of probing and disgust. “Ava,you left without a word back then.Was it because you couldn't wait to find your next meal ticket?”He glanced at Leo in my arms and demanded,“And this child,who did you have him with?”
I held Leo even tighter. Bastard son? Right.In the eyes of the high-and-mighty“Ice God,”I would always be the lowly intern,easily discarded. Five years ago,I only got close to him to win a bet with my father—that I could handle the coldest hockey player in New York and prove I was capable of handling any difficult problem.Why else would I have become his intern? After leaving him,I never regretted having Leo. If my father knew that his precious daughter and grandson were being humiliated like this,it would only take a single phone call for every one of these people's companies to go bankrupt tomorrow. The auctioneer confirmed again,“Ma'am,are you certain about your ten-million-dollar bid?” “I'm certain.” The moment I spoke,one of Damian's teammates snatched my paddle and threw it on the floor.“Can she afford it?A physical therapist couldn't make ten million even if she gave a Middle Eastern prince private service for a decade!” I was furious.To keep a low profile,I had left my security team and my phone outside,thinking I was just attending a simple dinner. A huge mistake.
Instantly,Leo clung to me,crying out at the group.“You bully my mommy,and my grandpa will never forgive you!My grandpa is Marcus Thorne!” His words were met with a brief silence,followed by an even louder roar of laughter. “Marcus Thorne?The'Ghost of Wall Street'who never appears on any magazine cover?You little liar,you might as well say your grandpa is Superman!” “This kid is full of lies.His mother must be a terrible influence!” Leo was overwhelmed by the vicious voices.He kept crying,“I'm not lying!I'm not a liar!” He had grown up surrounded by the love and protection my father and I had built for him.He had never seen how ugly people could be. He buried his head in my chest,his body trembling with sobs.“Mommy,I'm not a liar…Why are they saying that…?” Seeing the situation spiral out of control,I had to back down for Leo's sake.“I'm sorry,everyone.My son doesn't know any better.We'll pass on the necklace.” But as I tried to leave,Damian's teammates surrounded me. “Trying to leave now?Too late!” “Weren't you acting all high and mighty?Scared now?” One of them,a blond player,looked me up and down crudely.“Or,you could spend a night with each of us,and maybe we can chip in and buy you a replica of the necklace,hahaha.” Just as his filthy hand was about to touch me,there was a sharp snap.The lucky bracelet Damian had worn for years suddenly broke,its beads scattering across the floor. He stared at me,furious.“Ava,five years and you've fallen this low?You'll sell anything for money?And have a child with another man?”
He knew those words were meant to humiliate me. But he believed them. Our eyes met,and the disgust in his was like a blade of ice. The man who had been my lover every night five years ago was now speaking the most venomous words. I let out a cold laugh.“Yes,I had him with someone else.Is there a problem?” My words stung Damian.He grabbed my wrist,his grip so tight it felt like he would crush the bone.His eyes held a suppressed madness.“Answer me!Why did you even bother with me back then?You're so filthy,just how many men's beds have you been in?!” My heart sank. At that moment,Leo broke free from my arms and slammed his small body into Damian.“Don't you bully my mommy!You big bully!” Damian stumbled back.Chloe quickly steadied him,then yelled at Leo,“You little brat!If your mother can't teach you manners,I'll do it for her!” As she spoke,she raised her hand to strike Leo! “Leo,run!”I screamed in terror. But a player had already grabbed Leo from behind,lifting him into the air by his collar. Leo's feet dangled as he struggled.“Let me go!You're all bullies!My grandpa will get you for this!” The men only laughed harder,tossing him around like a toy. Suddenly,Leo's face turned deathly pale.He began to cough violently,and his eyes started to flutter shut. I lunged forward like a madwoman,all dignity forgotten,and screamed at Damian,“Leo isn't a bastard!He's your son!”
The air froze. A few seconds later,the crowd erupted in even harsher laughter. “She's lost it.The woman is completely insane!Trying to trap the Ice God himself!” “Doesn't she know the Knight family has a history of genetic problems?It's a known secret they have trouble having children.And she dares claim that mutt is the Captain's?” The blond player's hand went slack,and he dropped Leo onto the floor. Leo's head hit the cold marble,and his forehead was instantly a bloody mess. “Leo!”I scrambled over,pulling him into my arms,my heart breaking.“Sweetie,does it hurt?” The child curled up,whispering weakly,“Mommy…I don't feel good…I want to go home…” Tears I could no longer hold back streamed down my face. Damian watched this whole farce with ice in his eyes,his voice devoid of emotion.“Ava,I never thought you could be this shameless.If it weren't for my family's difficulty in having children,I might have actually believed your bullshit.” Just then,the child's health monitoring watch on Leo's wrist let out a shrill alarm.The heart rate on the display was plummeting. I struggled to pick him up and rush out.“Get out of my way!All of you,move!” But Chloe blocked my path.“Stop the act.He just took a little fall.Is it necessary to be so dramatic?”
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