The Hockey Star’s Remorse

Chapter 13

Chapter 13 Evie

“Did you just throw her stuff in the trash?” asked Timothy, his tone laced with venom. His grip tightened on Jasper’s wrist and Evie could hear the bones shifting under his grip.

Jasper gasped, his face growing an unflattering pink as he attempted to pull his arm away.

“O-Of course not!” Jasper stuttered. “I was just-”

“| saw you,” Timothy seethed. “And you were going to toss her laptop too, right?”

| could feel the tension rising between them. As much as it felt good to see Jasper being the one to get spoken down on for once, it wouldn’t look so good to have fights in the firm.

Before Jasper could open his obnoxious mouth, | rushed over and stepped in front of Timothy. | cleared my throat as Timothy tried to get around me.

“We'll go to the VIP room to take care of business,” | said, nodding to the door to the right with the golden plate engraved with “VIP” in bold letters. “Shall we?”

Finally, Timothy began turning away, but not before giving Jasper a warning look. “Trust me. We're not finished.”

Right as he turned to follow me, the boss walked into the office right then with a folder shoved under his arm. He stopped in his tracks once he saw me standing there beside Timothy. It looked like he was starting to understand the situation. after finding Jasper standing disheveled in the middle of the room.

As Jasper massaged his aching wrist, the boss marched up to him with a grimace. He raised the folder over Jasper’s head, as if he was prepared to hit him with it.

“You are such an idiot!” he spat, keeping his voice low. “Do you not know who this man is? You could have cost me a big client!” Jasper shook his head. “I didn’t even touch him. | swear!”

“| don’t want to hear it!” the boss growled, jamming a finger into Jasper’s bewildered face. He then turned to Timothy, his expression softening as he

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clasped his hands behind him.

“I'm sorry about that, sir. He was clearly acting out of turn.”

Timothy removed his sunglasses and tucked them in the collar of his shirt. His face became eerily calm as he looked Jasper up and down. Then he turned his attention to the boss and twisted his lips.

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“Hmph. I’m disappointed with the standards you've set for your firm's practice,” he said, his voice low. “I have to say, are you allowing lawyers of just any quality to practice here?”

“So sorry, sir. Truly!” The boss said hastily, bowing his head in apology. “We didn’t train the newcomers well enough. Our mistake.”

Timothy clicked his tongue, his harsh gaze sliding back to Jasper. Jasper flinched, as though the look cut him deeply. He cowered away as Timothy pointed in his direction.

“If you fire him,” Timothy began, “I may just forgive your negligence. Otherwise, I'll feel obligated to discontinue my business with your firm.”

Slightly taken aback, my eyes widened at his request. | hadn’t expected Timothy to come in and usher his way into my work life. He looked determined, however, giving Jasper a daring look as the boss struggled to fix his own loosened tie.

| huffed, stepping in front of Timothy. This forced his attention back to me. As he peered down at me, | felt the sweat start to bead on my forehead under his instance stare.

want

“| don’t you to do this,” | stated, keeping my voice even and out of earshot from Jasper. “The competition between Jasper and | is my business. You promised

you you wouldn’t cross the line.”

Timothy narrowed his eyes. “Evie, this had nothing to do with you. | want him to be fired. He deserves it with all the crap he’s done.”

It was clear that the matter had been disturbing him for a while. His muscles were tense, and his hands were balled dangerously into fists. Before, he looked like he was ready to break Jasper’s arm off if | hadn’t interfered.

“And I’m not crossing the line. Trust me. If | wasn’t considering you this whole time, | would have settled this matter with my fists instead of getting him fired.

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That’s my decision and I’m sticking by it.”

| went still, seeing the determination in his strained expression. He wasn’t going to back away, no matter how much she pleaded against it. There was a feeling deep inside me that stirred alive with this realization.

There was something unfamiliar—-something strange about this man. Perhaps the change from a popular boy to a real star athlete changed his temperament. This man was like a fierce beast, exuding majesty.

Even Jasper hadn't fought back. He was quick to disregard me and my belongings, but he knew better than to fight someone who could fight back. Timothy had him at his mercy now, dangling his future career in front of him with little remorse.

| couldn't decipher which version was really Timothy. Was it the one now, willing to fire a man for disrespecting me, or the one who wanted to apologize to me? It felt like | was losing sight of who he truly was. All | could grasp at that moment was that he was interfering with my affairs.

| could lie to myself and say that | wasn’t grateful for the opportunity he’d given me. He was the only person willing to give me a job at my time of need, even if it was unexpected. | also had the pleasure of seeing Jasper get knocked down a peg.

Still, Timothy was turning our business relationship into something far too personal. He was willing to get physical with Jasper, which is an offense that even he couldn't just walk away from. One civil case was enough.

He was making it blatantly clear that, he wanted to invade my world. That overshadowed any sincerity | felt toward the job he gave me. The bubble | had formed around myself was straining under his weight.

And he seemed all too prepared to burst it. “Timothy, no.” | said, brushing strands of hair away from my eyes. | tried to make my next words sound as reasonable as possible.

“If you pressure my boss to fire my co-worker, that would be a violation of the boundaries between us,” | explained. “After that, | would have to give up this job because | wouldn't feel comfortable. Please, respect that.”

| bit my lip, watching as his expression intensified with each second. His nostrils flared and his cool eyes settled on me almost accusingly. | took a step backward,

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frighteningly aware of the powerful man that Jasper had encountered previously.

The veins in Timothy's neck began to pulsate. As if to restrain himself, he clutched the material of his jacket and turned away. A moment passed and | almost expected him to turn back and fight harder.

However, Timothy shook his head and started charging toward the door. He nearly collided into Jasper, who was still standing to the side shaken up by their

confrontation.

He let the door slam behind him, causing the room to rumble. 4/4

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