Page 31 of College Hockey Bully

Mom shakes her head. “I have money, Aiden. Don’t you think I wouldn’t have already left if I wanted to? No. Your father and I have endured too much for me to walk away.”

“But—”

“I’m doing the right thing, so don’t try to change my mind,” she says defiantly. “Just do as I ask; that’s all I want from you.”

“Mom, I need to understand this; even if I start dating Casey again, there’s no guarantee her father will act in Dad’s favor, especially when Casey and I were together for a year and Dad had never exchanged a word with him.”

“Because you and Casey were only casually dating. Now that you’re almost done with college, you will consider something more serious.”

My brows lift at her.

“Like marriage,” she clarifies.

I shoot up from the couch. “How the hell did we go from dating to marriage?”

She stands. “What else would you be doing with a girl like Casey? Marry her, of course. When you propose, her father will see that you’re in it for the long haul. He won’t think twice to open doors for your dad.”

“You can’t be serious,” I mutter.

“I don’t understand why you’re upset. You were head over heels for this girl. You even mentioned wanting to marry her someday—”

“Beforeshe cheated on me,” I snap.

“A slight indiscretion you can forgive,” she replies casually.

“Yeah, I didn’t expect a different response coming from you. I’m not like you, willing to put up with anything. I’ve got standards, Mom.”

Her entire face goes red, eyes blinking wildly. The tears are coming.

I heave a deep sigh. “Look, I’m sorry, but I can’t date Casey again. I definitely can’t marry her, especially when there’s no guarantee it will fix your broken marriage.”

With that, I walk away, heading toward the stairs.

“Your birthday is in six months,” she says.

“Yeah, so?”

“Which means the lump sum of your trust fund will be paid out on that day.”

Money that I’ve been banking on to cushion me, just in case things don’t go according to plan. At the foot of the stairs, I turn as she approaches me. “Why are you telling me something I already know?”

“Because it will be easy for me to convince your dad to call the lawyers and change certain stipulations. The payout date, for instance. I could have it extended until you’re thirty years old.”

My heart drops like lead in the pit of my stomach. “You’re willing to sabotage the only person who has your back. Wow.”

“Don’t you dare make me out to be the villain,” she says, fresh tears forming in her eyes. “I’m doing what’s best for my family.”

“No, you’re only thinking of yourself.” I scoff. “You and Dad deserve each other.”

Her head jerks back like I just slapped her. She smiles anyway. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

She’s clearly delusional. Shaking my head, I resume climbing the stairs.

“Just do as I say, Aiden!” she calls after me. “Get back with Casey and you’ll get your money. It’s that simple.”

Ignoring her, I continue upward to my side of the house, where I collapse on the bed with a deep sigh. There’s so much to offload, I don’t know where to start. Not only does it feel like I’m losing control of the team, I can’t help suspecting they’re out to get me. If Scarlett had gotten violated tonight, that blame would rest on my shoulders. Someone—Noah, to be specific, was counting on that.

Add that to my mom’s obvious attempt to blackmail me, something I never saw coming. Her desperation makes her dangerous. Not only will I be watching my back at school, I’m now forced to be on guard while I’m home, too.

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