Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains novel Chapter 83

My Peace

Elijah’s POV

My dad let out a long, ragged sigh, leaning his head back against the sofa cushions. “We just have to give her more time, Sophie. Time to accept the reality of what happened, or… time to finally let it go. We can’t force her mind to heal before it’s ready.”

“But it’s clearly affecting all of you!” Sophia countered, a single tear escaping and rolling down her cheek as her gaze locked directly onto mine.

“It’s draining you, Dad. It’s draining Elijah, and now Alex is starting to notice it too. How much longer are we supposed to sacrifice our own happiness just to wait for a reality that might never come back?”

My dad stood up, walking over to her with a sad, gentle smile. He reached out, his thumbs tenderly wiping the tears from her face as he pulled her into a brief hug.

“Don’t you worry about us, sweetheart. We are going to go through this together, just like we always have. We’ve been handling it for years, and we will keep handling it. I truly believe your mother will get well soon. We just can’t lose hope.”

Standing near the fireplace, I kept my mouth shut, but a familiar, dull bitterness settled behind my ribs.

It hurt. It had always hurt. Before everything happened, my mother and I had been incredibly close.

She used to be the loudest person in the room, full of laughter and light, and then… it was just gone.

I understood the psychological reasons behind her sudden change, but there were dark moments where I wished I could bring the perpetrator back to life just to inflict every ounce of pain they had caused our family.

But I knew it wouldn’t change the past. It wouldn’t bring back the sister we had lost, and it wouldn’t patch the broken pieces of my mother’s mind.

Seeing Sophia still looking miserable, I decided the room had suffered enough emotional weight for one night.

I let out a loud, dramatic groan, crossing my arms as I looked at her.

“You know, Sophie, if you keep getting this worked up, you’re going to lose your edge before your big hearing on Tuesday,” I teased, leaning my shoulder against the wall.

“I don’t need your boss calling Dad to complain that the firm’s star attorney is showing up to court looking like a swollen, tear–stained raccoon. It’s bad for the family brand.”

Sophia rolled her eyes through her tears, a reluctant, amused huff escaping her lips as

1.4

My Peace

she swatted a hand in my direction.

“Shut up, Elijah. You’re deflecting, and you’re terrible at it.”

“Hey, I’m just looking out for your professional reputation,” I shot back, a genuine smirk returning to my face.

My dad caught on to the shift in energy, letting out a faint chuckle as he stepped between us.

“Alright, don’t you two start up with your bullshit tonight. It’s been a far too long day for me to play referee. Go get some rest, both of you.”

An hour later, I was finally alone in my bedroom. I had taken a long, scalding shower to get the stiffness out of my muscles, and now I was lying flat on my back on the mattress, the room entirely cold and dark with the lights switched off.

The silence of the house was starting to make my mind wander back into dangerous territory, so I reached onto the nightstand, grabbed my phone, and dialed Victoria’s number.

She picked up on the very second ring.

The screen flickered to life, and the familiar interior of her bedroom back at her apartment came into view.

Victoria was sitting cross–legged on her bed, her dark hair tossed up into a messy, unstructured bun with a few loose tendrils falling down the sides of her face.

She was wearing an oversized grey t–shirt–one of mine that she had conveniently‘ borrowed‘ and never returned–and as always, the sight of her swallowed up in my clothing tickled my fancy in a way I couldn’t quite explain.

From the looks of it, she was in the middle of a serious study session.

Her laptop was resting precariously on her thighs, and there were textbooks and highlighters scattered all over the duvet around her.

“Let me guess,” I murmured, a lazy smile touching my lips as I adjusted the phone above my face. “You’re trying to memorize the entire library before tomorrow morning?”

Victoria looked up at the screen, a bright, genuine smile instantly breaking across her features as she set her highlighter down.

“Some of us actually have to study to keep our grades up, Carter. We can’t all rely on athletic scholarships and luck.”

She laughed softly, but then her expression shifted, her eyes narrowing slightly as she scanned my face through the video feed.

“How are you doing? How is everything at home?”

“I’m doing all right.”

24

My Peace

My response immediately got her full attention. She closed her laptop, setting it aste on the mattress so she could focus entirely on the phone.

“I don’t believe you. I can hear the tension in your voice from here, Elijah. Did

something happen with your mom?”

I let out a quiet chuckle, shifting my weight against the pillows.

“It’s nothing, Zhen. Really. I’m just wiped out from the emergency flight and the long day. Don’t overthink it.”

Victoria let out a dramatic groan, rolling her eyes at the screen.

“That is always your default excuse, Carter. You are incredibly lucky I can’t reach through this digital screen and choke you like I did back at my parents‘ house.”

A loud laugh escaped my chest, the sound echoing loudly in the quiet bedroom.

My mind instantly traced back to that night in her room, remembering the sheer shock and amusement I had felt when her tiny fingers had clumsily wrapped around my neck out of nowhere, thinking it would actually intimidate me.

It had been the most adorable, ridiculous thing I had ever experienced, and just thinking about it now made the lingering bitterness in my chest completely vanish.

“I’d like to see you try, Toria,” I teased. “Besides, your technique needs a lot of work.”

“Hey, it worked enough to make you smile,” she shot back, her lips curling into a bright, beautiful smile that made me realize just how much I wished I was back in that tiny twin bed with her right now.

We kept talking for the next hour, the conversation shifting effortlessly between her classes, Nate’s ridiculous antics in the minivan, and completely random topics that

didn’t matter at all.

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