The Hockey Star’s Remorse

Chapter 156

With the day trip to the spa scheduled, I decided it was time to start packing, though my mind was weighed down by the heavy tension that had enveloped our apartment. Aria had been avoiding me ever since our fight, and I couldn’t help but feel like i was walking on eggshells.

I began folding clothes and carefully selecting toiletries to take with me when I heard a sharp knock at my bedroom door. Before I could answer, Aria barged in, a sheet of paper clutched tightly in her hand. The look on her face was a mixture of concern and anger, a storm brewing behind her eyes.

“What’s this?” Aria demanded, thrusting the paper toward me. I took it from her and my heart sank as I realized what it was the protective order Stella had filed against me.

–

“What are you doing with this?” I asked, my voice betraying my unease.

Aria’s voice was tight with frustration as she replied, “I found it on the kitchen counter, Evie. Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

I sighed, frustration bubbling up inside me. “It’s nothing. Aria. I didn’t want to bother you with my messy life anymore.”

Aria’s eyebrows furrowed as she studied me, clearly not buying my dismissive attitude. “It doesn’t look like ‘nothing. Evie. Stella filed a protective order against you. You should have told me.”

I turned away from her, feeling a mix of embarrassment and guilt. “I didn’t want to burden you with my problems, Aria, Besides, what could you have done about it?”

Aria’s voice grew exasperated. “What could I have done? Well, for starters, I could have been there for you, supported you. We’re supposed to be friends, Evie!”

I clenched my fists, my anger building. “Look, it’s my problem to deal with.”

Aria’s frustration boiled over, and she took a step closer to me, her voice rising. “I spoke to Lucas about the trip, and he told me that Stella had threatened you. You got him involved, but not me?

I threw my hands up in exasperation. “I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. I thought I could handle it on my own.

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Aria’s anger flared, and she practically shouted, “Well, you can’t handle it on your own! Stella is clearly dangerous!”

I was at my breaking point, exhausted from the constant turmoil that had my life. “Aria, I’m not in the mood to fight with you right now.”

consumed

Aria’s eyes bore into mine, but there was a hint of hurt in her voice when she spoke. again. “Is that how it’s going to be, Evie? You’re just not going to speak to me anymore?”

for this argument. My shoulders slumped, and I

I should have confided in her about the order, but I had been so wrapped up in my own fears and insecurities that I hadn’t considered how it might

finished packing, double–checking that I had everything I needed for the spa trip. It was supposed to be a day of

trip. I had arranged to meet Penny for a late–night breakfast at the nearby

and the scent of sizzling bacon and freshly brewed coffee enveloped me. Penny sat in a corner booth. nursing a cup of coffee,

weight of my worries.

me intently, her bright eyes filled with curiosity. “Spill it,

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just beneath the surface. “Stella framed me for tearing up her wedding dress, Penny. She made it look like I did it and then filed a protective order against

twisted into a scowl, her anger mirroring my own. “That

lowered my head, feeling a heavy weight on my chest. “May have something to do

on the table, deep in thought. “You know, Evie, Stella has made a lot of enemies

frowned, considering Penny’s words. “But who would hate her enough to go to such lengths? Tear up her dress, have her frame

right? And she was at the Hayes mansion that day when the dress was torn, and might have been there

always struck me as odd. She had shown up

feeling settling in

lowered to a conspiratorial whisper. “What if Scarlett had something to do with it? She might have a vendetta against Stella, and this would

my spine. Accusing her of something so serious

I replied, my voice uncertain. “She seems classier than

people are usually the messiest behind closed doors, but says it’s not her?

“Linda…I guess she would hate the woman marrying Timothy. She

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Chapter 156

rapidly, seeming

hash browns with a fork, more out of

the silence,

from her coffee, her eyebrows

if the very act of speaking the words aloud

set it down, her eyes, widening in

helping anyone, and looks so miserable. I can’t let him go

her expression a mixture of sympathy and concern. “Evie, are you sure you want to do this? I mean, telling Timothy… it’s a