My Hockey Alpha Neighbor

Aiden’s physical therapy and recovery regimen pick up in speed shortly after the semifinals match. I can’t help but marvel at

his incredible resilience. The X-Rays showed that Aiden’s injury was incredibly serious, but he still managed to make incredible progress,

I help Aiden with any

at-home exercises that I can. I help him regain the muscle in his leg and help him with icing and heating when necessary. He always tells me that I shouldn’t have to do anything for him, but I insist.

Wer

fall into a comfortable routine. With Aiden able to move a lile bit more, I feel better about returning to work. I come in and out of the rink on a looser schedule than I did before his injury, but I’m happy to at least be productive again.

The team seems to be holding up better without Aiden, although his absence is still obviously felt. Aiden was typically the leader within the team. Without him, practices feel a bit more aimless and less urgent. Coach Henry does what he can to push them nonetheless,

Mr. Whitlock is grateful for my presence, although he still insist that I spend extra time back at home. He asks about Aiden’s physical state frequently and provides healing recommendations whenever he can.

“I’ve seen a lot of bad injuries in my days as a hockey administrator,” he explains. “An injury like this could put a regular man out of hockey for the rest of their life. Not Aiden, though. I know that he’ll push through whatever life throws at him. Just remind him to take it easy too, okay?”

I’m incredibly thankful for Richard’s wisdom during such a hectic time. I happily report back what I learn to Aiden, who is happy to hear anything he can from the outside world.

Aiden is completing some low-impact physical therapy in the pool one day when I decide we should probably look at the bigger picture. As I sit at the edge of the pool, my pants rolled up and my feet in the water, I call Aiden over to speak to me.

“There’s a month and a half until the championship, remark. I keep my voice light and as filled with optimism as I can manage. “That gives you plenty of time to recover fully before the game against the Wildcats”

The Silverbrook Wildcats were last year’s champions. They come from a wealthy city several hours away from Statford.

although none Everything about them oozes class and status. Their team has even more celebrities on it than the Freeze quite as popular with the public as Aiden.

The Wildcats have been a famously competitive team for years now, and they have plenty of championship victories under their belt. Aiden has spent some time watching their recent gameplay clips in preparation for the championship. The videos even made me feel intimidated, and I wouldn’t be the one on the rink

Aiden nods, a determined glint in his eye. He leans against the edge of the pool and smiles. “I’ll be ready,” he promises, his voice filled with conviction. I smile back at him and kiss him on the forehead. When he speaks like that, I believe that anything could be possible.

Our good spirits are unfortunately short-lived. One evening as Aiden’s driver drops me off at the villa, I’m an unfamiliar car in our driveway. I step out of the car and scrutinize the stranger’s vehicle. It’s a nice car decided to stop by is clearly of high status. But who could it be? wonder.

surprised to see

whoever

An answer quickly presents itself. As I turn toward the front door, I’m just in time to see Aiden’s father and mother striding out of the front door. His father is wearing his signature slicked-hack hair and navy blue suit, and his mother wears a conservative but expensive-looking black dress. Both of them look more like they’re going to a fancy dinner than seeing their injured son.

The moment Mr. Cruz’s eyes lock onto me, his gaze turns sharp and accusatory. The two of them halt a few meters away from me. I freeze, too, uncertain what to do.

Before I can even greet them, Mr. Cruz crosses his arms and snorts. “Well, would you look at that. My son’s little girlfriend, leaving him at home to suffer alone.”

1 feel myself bristle at the unfair accusation. At the same time, my frustration is accompanied by a layer of fear. Could he have really sent all of those people to hurt me? I wonder nervously. Seeing the contempt in his eyes makes me almost believe it

I half expect Mrs. Cruz to stand up for me again in the face of such wild statements. Last time I saw her, she was quick to defend me. When I glance at her, however, her eyes are firmly fixed to the ground. Her body is stiff and her face is lined with

nervousness.

What happened to her? I wonder. And why does she look afraid Is she afraid of Mr. Cruz?.. or is she afraid of me?

I decide that it’s best not to engage with this and raise tensions any further. Instead, I dip my head respectfully. “It’s good to see you too. Mr. and Mrs. Cruz,” I say politely, forcing my expression to seem unbothered.

Aiden’s father seems to realize he won’t get to me today and huffs. The two of them walk past me briskly and don’t acknowledge me again. Lignore the displeased reaction I feel and head to the door.

As I enter the door, I find Aiden sitting at the table with a defeated expression on his face. The weariness he clearly feels tugs at my heartstrings. 1 approach the table and settle in beside him.

“So, your parents decided to drop by, huh?” I say, rubbing his shoulder gently. His shoulders are tense with clear unhappiness.

“Yep,” he sighed. “No warning, either, of course! At least they waited until after the semifinals match.”

1 nod, although Aiden doesn’t look particularly grateful. “Is everything alright?” I prod gently.

Aiden has a complicated expression on his face. He looks hesitant to speak about what their conversation was about. Normally. Aiden is very forthcoming and honest when it comes to his family- this must be something different than normal.

“It’s the family business, he finally admits. “My family relies on each member collaborating and committing to the mission, of the company. If anyone is out of line, it can cause serious problems.”

“And someone is out of line now?” I ask gently. Aiden shrugs one shoulder.

“Or so my father says,” he mutters. “He wants me to come home and deal with the issue. He says only I can bring this family member back to his senses. Of course he wants me to show leadership’ and ‘support the family”.

“Do you believe him?” I murmur.

“I’m not sure, Aiden admits. “My father has deceived me and manipulated me so many times, it’s difficult to say. I can’t be sure either way. He really does care about the family, in his own way, He wants them- us to be strong.”

“But that doesn’t involve you chasing your dreams, does it?” I guess. He nods solemnly,ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

I hate to see Aiden feeling such turmoil. Still, I can’t help but wonder which member of the family is causing so much trouble and why Aiden is so attached to this person. His hesitance is uncharacteristic of him

This person must be really important to him, I think. I can only imagine the guilt and stress Aiden feels being away from his family, not knowing what’s happening with them behind closed floors. I don’t want to push Aiden any further on the matter, so I distract the both of us with a homemade dinner and a movie.

Later that night, after Aiden has already fallen asleep, I slip out of our bed. I pull out my laptop with a mission: I need to learn more about the Cruz family.

I delve into every piece of information I can find. For such a famous family, their history is surprisingly secretive. All I can find are mentions of public appearances and huge deals that they have secured in the Capital. Everything I read indicates the slicer power and wealth that they hohl.

It seems like the Cruz family is connected to everything. Paparazzi photos show them with influential businessmen, celebrities, even politicians. Their connections clearly reach far and wide. Still, I don’t know what exactly they do with these

connections.

-no news outlets

Aiden’s family is even larger than I thought it was. That means the person causing issues could be anyone seem to have picked up on any issues just yet. Aiden has plenty of siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles-it could be anyone. And that’s assuming Mr. Cruz is even telling the truth.

It seems like everything that I find only raises more questions. The world of the wealthy and elite is so far beyond my understanding, it’s hard to believe that families like this even ext. It seems like they could do or get anything they would ever want. A shiver goes down my spine, Just what exactly are they capable of?

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