Chapter 36

EMILIA

I don’t realize I’m shaking until Liam gently rubs his thumb over my knuckles. The anger, the fire—I felt invincible a second ago, but now? Now, my hands feel ice cold.

“You okay?” Liam asks, voice low.

I nod. Then I lie. “Yeah.”

But when he tugs me closer, when I feel the warmth of him against me, something cracks deep inside my chest.

It’s not just the name-calling. It’s not just being labeled the hockey slut or called a puck bunny. It’s the way that’s all I’ve ever been treated like.

Wanting to stay by Zane’s side turned into years of watching my autonomy slip through my fingers, piece by piece. And I let it happen—because I was so convinced that the ring on my finger, his last name next to mine, would make it all worth it. That losing myself would somehow be worth it.

I didn’t want to be just Zane’s pocket girlfriend, always by his side, on every plane to his games, tucked away in every hotel room in case he needed a release.