Fake Dating My Ex's Hockey Star Brother (Maya Scott) novel Chapter 231

Chapter 91

BRAYDON’S POV

It’s been a shitty week. Actually worse than shitty, if that’s even a thing.

I didn’t think things could flip this fast, but they do. One minute, you’re planning out your break, thinking about dumb little details that make someone smile, and the next… everything just changes. It makes you realize how fragile things are. How one decision, one moment, can either save someone or completely

mess things up.

Every time I walk into Justin’s hospital room and see him lying there, it hits me again. It’s like this weight pressing down on my chest, pulling me into this cold, quiet place I can’t shake off. I hate it. I hate how helpless it makes me feel.

This break was supposed to be good. I was looking forward to Christmas with Katy and I had everything planned out, down to the smallest details, because I know how much she loves that kind of stuff. And then the universe just decided to show up and wreck it.

Justin might never play again. Everything comes down to his body now and that’s something none of us can control. The whole thing messes with my head more than I want to admit. Every time I let myself think about it, it’s the same question on repeat: what if he can’t skate again?

Hockey is his whole life. Everything he’s worked for, everything he’s been building toward…it’s all tied to that. And the idea that it could just… be taken from him like that? It’s brutal.

And then there’s the part I hate even thinking about, the selfish part. The part that wonders if Katy would still look at me the same way if Justin quits. If she’d stay. If, at some point, she’d start resenting me for knowing something was wrong with her brother and not telling her.

Would she hate me for that? Would it build slowly, quietly, until one day it just… explodes?

“Mr. Cooper.”

I flinch. My gaze shifts to my lawyer, who’s watching me carefully, like he’s been trying to get my attention

for a while now.

I drag a hand over my face, shaking my head. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

“We’re about to start.” He says. “Just making sure you’re okay.”

I force a small nod. “I’m good.”

He gives me one last sympathetic look before moving toward the prosecutor’s table. But he’s not the only one. Everyone is looking at me with a specific kind of pity that sits heavy on your skin. And honestly? I get it. Getting kidnapped and almost killed by your own father isn’t exactly something that happens every day. The sympathy only compounds when word gets around that it all came down to money. My mom’s money. Money he was never even entitled to.

< Chapter 91

+25 Points

Then he turns slightly and finds me.

His eyes are cold, empty of anything human except anger and even that feels hollow. I scoff under my breath. Between the two of us, who’s actually earned the right to be angry here?

“He certainly hasn’t changed.” I mutter but Bryan catches it. He looks at me, and I can see him cycling through whatever he thinks the right thing to say is. I just wish he’d let it go.

My phone buzzes and I pull it out to see a text from Katy. A small smile pulls at my mouth before I can stop it. I type back quickly.

“Do you really think we could ever patch things up?” Bryan asks. “As brothers?”

“No.” I respond flatly. “I don’t hate you, Bryan or maybe I do, a little. But what I’d really prefer is if you just stayed out of my way. That’s it.”

He exhales slowly. “You should know-”

“All rise!”

The bailiff’s voice cuts through everything. A judge enters and the whole room rises to their feet. I stand

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify