Chapter 16
814words
I saw him coming from a mile away.
It was hard to miss Liam Sterling. Even in a tailored suit, he walked with a limp he tried desperately to hide. He looked thinner, haggard. His eyes were wild, burning with a manic energy.
Sophia was trailing behind him, looking like a silver disco ball, struggling to keep up in her heels.
"He's coming," Noah said. He didn't turn around; he was watching my reflection in the plexiglass. "Do you want me to have security intercept him?"
I looked at Liam. I saw the arrogance on his face. He didn't look like a man coming to apologize. He looked like a man coming to collect a lost possession.
"No," I said, adjusting the cuffs of my blazer. "Let him come."
Noah stepped closer to me, his shoulder brushing mine. A solid wall of muscle and support. "I'm right here."
Liam breached the perimeter. The cameras swung toward us instantly. The producers knew drama when they saw it.
"Elena!" Liam shouted. His voice cracked. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
The music in the arena seemed to lower. The players on the bench turned around.
I turned slowly to face him.
"Hello, Liam," I said. My voice was calm, amplified slightly by the acoustics of the tunnel. "You're interrupting my team's warm-up."
"Your team?" Liam scoffed. He stopped three feet away, his chest heaving. "You don't have a team! You're my wife! You're supposed to be in New York!"
He reached out to grab my arm, the same arm he had let break under the scaffolding.
"Come with me," he demanded. "Now. We're going home."
Before his fingers could graze my sleeve, a hand shot out.
Fast. Brutal. Unyielding.
Noah caught Liam's wrist in mid-air.
"Don't," Noah said. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a menace that made the nearby security guards take a step back. "Touch. Her."
Liam tried to yank his hand back, but Noah's grip was iron.
"Let go of me, Blackwood!" Liam snarled. "This is between me and my wife!"
"She's not your wife, Sterling," Noah said, releasing Liam's wrist with a shove that sent him stumbling back. "She never was. Remember?"
Liam's face turned a shade of crimson. He glanced at the cameras surrounding us. He realized, too late, that this was live.
"She's wearing my ring!" Liam pointed a shaking finger at me. "She's using my visa! She's a fraud!"
I laughed. I couldn't help it.
I stepped out from behind Noah. I held up my left hand.
The arena lights caught the massive, deep blue sapphire on my ring finger. It blazed like a star. It made the cheap diamond Liam had given me look like a piece of glass.
"I returned your ring, Liam," I said clearly. "I left it in the hospital room. You know, the one you never visited?"
The crowd gasped. Murmurs rippled through the stands.
"As for the visa," I continued, taking a step toward him. "I don't need your sponsorship anymore. Because I found a team that values my brain, not just my womb."
I turned to Noah. His eyes were soft, focused entirely on me.
"Noah," I said.
He smiled. He took my hand, raised it to his lips, and kissed my knuckles. It was a gesture of worship, performed in front of millions of viewers.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the press," Noah announced, his voice booming. "Allow me to introduce the secret weapon behind the Titans' winning streak."
He put an arm around my waist, pulling me flush against him.
"My fiancée," Noah said. "And the Titans' new Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Elena Vance."
Fiancée. Chief Medical Officer.
The titles hung in the air.
Liam stood there, mouth agape. He looked from the ring to Noah, then to me. The realization hit him like a physical blow.
He hadn't just lost his wife. He had handed his greatest asset directly to his greatest enemy.
"You... you can't," Liam stammered. He looked pathetic. "Elena, please. My knee... it hurts. You have to help me."
It was the most honest thing he had said all year.
I looked at his knee. I could see the inflammation even through his suit pants. I knew exactly which nerve was pinched. I knew exactly how to fix it.
"I recommend ice and rest, Mr. Sterling," I said coldly. "And maybe a better lawyer."
"Dr. Vance?" Noah asked, offering me his arm. "Shall we? We have a game to win."
"Let's go," I said.
We turned our backs on him.
Behind us, I heard Sophia screeching at the cameramen to stop filming, and Liam shouting my name.
But I didn't look back. I walked into the light, hand in hand with the man who would burn the world for me, leaving the man who burned me for the world in the shadows.
