Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains (Victoria and Elijah) novel Chapter 183

After Everything?

Elijah’s POV

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The moment the question left my lips, her composure shattered completely. Her bottom lip trembled violently, her hands coming up to cover her face as a loud, wrecked sob burst from her chest.

I froze, caught off guard by the intensity of her breakdown. I stood there staring at her, entirely out of my depth. Comforting people had never been my strong suit.

Victoria was the only person who had ever managed to pull down my icy walls and teach me how to handle someone else’s emotional mess.

Except for Victoria, and maybe my siblings and dad, I didn’t do emotional support.

She stood there, her shoulders shaking hysterically as tears streamed through her fingers, looking so entirely broken that a unexpected pang of sympathy hit my chest.

I pushed off the couch and took a few slow steps closer to her.

The second I was within arm’s reach, Lexi collapsed forward, wrapping her arms around my torso and burying her face against my shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.

My arms stayed stiff at my sides for a second, completely paralyzed by the weirdness of the moment.

But seeing her like this–so far removed from the girl who used to rule the hallways–I slowly raised my right hand and gave her back a few clumsy, comforting taps.

“Hey,” I said quietly, waiting until her heavy breathing began to slow down.

I gently stepped back, using my hands to hold her by her upper arms until she looked up at me.

“Lexi. Look at me. What happened?”

Lexi wiped her face with the palms of her hands, her breath coming in shallow hitches.

“My dad,” she choked out, her voice barely recognizable. “He’s… he’s critically ill, Elijah.”

I stayed silent, letting her speak.

“Two months ago, everything just fell apart,” she whispered, her eyes glossy and unfocused as she recalled the

memory.

“His company… the business went bankrupt. Almost overnight. We had to sell the house, the cars, literally everything we owned just to settle the debt. And then, as if that wasn’t enough, he suffered a massive stroke. It’s really bad, Elijah. He’s in intensive care, and the medical bills are… we can’t afford them. We can’t afford anything.”

I listened, and the tension in my chest slowly gave way to an uncomfortable understanding. Suddenly, the pieces started fitting together.

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Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains

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The plain clothes she’d been wearing since she arrived. The frightened look in her eyes.

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The way she’d disappeared when Caleb needed her most. Why she hadn’t returned for finals… It all made.

sense now.

I had so many questions.

Why hadn’t she told anyone? Why had she carried all of this alone? Why had she let everyone believe she’d simply walked away?

But she was standing in front of me, trembling as she tried to hold herself together. Whatever had happened, she’d clearly kept it to herself for a reason.

Now wasn’t the time to feed my own curiosity when she was already barely holding herself together.

Life had forcefully dragged Lexi Greyson down into the dirt, forcing her to walk in the exact same shoes as the people she used to look down on.

It was karma, plain and simple. But I didn’t say that out loud. Some thoughts were meant to stay inside your head, especially when the person in front of you was already bleeding on the floor.

Right now, she was just a terrified girl watching her family drown.

“Stop crying, Lexi,” I said softly, my tone losing its harshness. “Take a breath.”

She wiped her nose with her sleeve, nodding pathetically.

“Look,” I continued, rubbing the back of my neck. “I know things are mess right now, but… I can try to help

out.”

Lexi’s eyes snapped up to mine, widening in pure shock. “What?”

“Our families go way back,” I reminded her, keeping my voice practical.

“My dad still has connections in the medical sector, and he knows your father. I’ll call my dad tomorrow morning and see what he can do about the hospital arrangements and the bills.”

Lexi stared at me, her mouth slightly open, fresh tears pooling on her lashes.

“You… you would really do that for me? After everything I did to you and Victoria?”

“If Victoria knew the full story, she’d be asking me to do the exact same thing,” I told her honestly.

“Probably faster than I am. You might have been terrible to her, Lexi, but Victoria doesn’t have a vengeful bone in her body. She’s an angel. She doesn’t like watching people suffer, no matter who they are.”

A soft, sad smile touched Lexi’s lips as she bit her bottom lip, nodding gently.

“Yeah. She really is. You’re lucky, Carter.”

“I know I am,” I said quietly.

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11:33 Tue, Aug 25

Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains

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Lexi took a deep breath, wiping her eyes one last time. “Thank you, Elijah. Truly. For listening to me… and for not kicking me while I’m down.”

“I’m glad you’re taking steps to be better, Lexi,” I told her, my voice sincere. “Even if it took life beating you over the head to make you realize it.”

She let out a small, self–deprecating laugh, shrugging her shoulders weakly.

“I guess the universe has a funny way of teaching lessons.”

“At least you learned,” I shrugged back. “Go get some sleep. Hopefully your dad gets better soon.”

“Goodnight, Elijah.”

I watched her walk slowly back toward the guest wing, her footsteps silent against the wooden floorboards.

I stood in the center of the quiet living room for a few minutes, soaking in the complete silence of the house, letting my mind process everything that had transpired over the last few hours.

Finally, I turned off the television, leaving the space in darkness, and made my way back upstairs to our room.

I turned the brass handle softly, stepping into the quiet warmth of the bedroom.

The room was bathed in the soft, silver glow of the moonlight streaming through the window. Victoria was fast asleep, curled up on her side in the center of the large mattress.

A small, genuine smile touched my lips as I walked closer. She was holding onto my pillow, her arms wrapped tightly around it, her face soft and relaxed in her sleep.

The leather–bound diary was still sitting on the edge of the bed where she’d left it.

I reached out, picking up the notebook. For a brief second, I looked at the dark cover, temptation flickering in my mind.

A part of me wanted to open it and read every single word, to understand every piece of her past.

But I had already preyed on her vulnerabilities once before, back when we were still figuring each other out, and I promised myself I would never invade her vulnerability like that again.

She had given me her trust, and I wasn’t going to break it.

I closed my hands over the leather, quietly setting the book back down on the nightstand.

I stripped off my shirt and unbuttoned my jeans, sliding under the heavy duvet beside her.

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