Fake Dating My Ex's Hockey Star Brother (Maya Scott) novel Chapter 232

Chapter 92

BRAYDON’S POV

The gavel comes down and most people in the room exhale.

“All rise.”

I stand, a second slower than the rest, my body stiff from sitting too long, and from thinking too much.

The second the door shuts behind the Judge, I sit back in my seat, rolling my stiff shoulders.

The proceedings dragged on longer than expected with both lawyers trading arguments, the judge asking clarifying questions, and my old man’s defense team trying every angle they had.

Now that it’s finally over, the verdict on bail is exactly what my lawyer had been predicting since last week:

denied.

My old man isn’t going anywhere. He’ll be sleeping in a cell tonight and tomorrow night. And the one after

that.

I should be on top of the world right now but for some reason, I don’t feel the rush of satisfaction I thought I would. I watch them cuff my father again and the only thing I actually feel is tired. He looks at me one more time before they lead him out and I hold his gaze this time. Even as they lead him away, he still has his eyes on me until he disappears through the door.

Another sigh tears out of me and I glance at the empty spot beside me. Bryan left to take a call and it’s quite a coincidence that he’s not back yet. I wonder if he’s angry because of the bail denial.

I grab my jacket off the back of the chair and make my way out, weaving through the slow-moving clusters of people still filing toward the exit. A few look at me but I ignore them, keeping my eyes forward.

Outside the courthouse, the cold hits immediately, I pull my jacket on and find a quieter corner near the steps where my lawyer is already waiting, his briefcase tucked under his arm.

“Next date’s set for a month out.” He says, scanning through something on his phone. “January twenty. I’ll have everything ready well before then. For now, just stay reachable and try not to-”

“Give anyone a reason to make this messier than it already Is.” I finish.

He smiles, a dry, practiced kind of smile. “You’re getting good at this.”

“Wish I didn’t have to be.”

He claps a hand briefly against my arm, says something reassuring that I half-hear, and then starts walking to the lot. I stand there for a moment, watching people filter out in clusters and wishing I didn’t have to do all these again next month. Is it really that hard to convict my old man already?

With a sigh, I glance around, shoving my hand in my pocket. My car is parked two blocks down and I

almost cuss at no one before I start walking.

1/37

Chantes 92

“Braydon.”

I don’t stop.

“Braydon.”

+25 Points

Heavier footsteps reach me as Bryan catches up. I slow down just slightly and he falls into step beside me, his breath clouding in the cold air.

“I’m heading to my car.” I say. “So unless you’re going to walk two blocks in silence, now’s a good time to

turn around.”

“I’m not here for Katy.”

1 glance sideways at him.

His jaw is set like he’s already bracing for pushback. “I know you think that’s what this is. That I’m running some angle, or trying to ride whatever goodwill you’ve still got left for me.” He exhales. “But that’s not it.”

“Then what is it?”

He’s quiet for a beat. “Dad reached out to me before all of this. When he first wanted to scare you away

from Pendant.”

I stop walking. “I already know that. You might as well tell me the sky is blue.”

Bryan stops too. He doesn’t look at me directly, his eyes somewhere on the pavement ahead.

“The point is that he wanted me in on it.” He says. “Not the kidnapping, I didn’t know about that part, I swear to you. But before it got that far, when it was still just about the money, he convinced me to do everything I did. He said we were family; said you’d had everything handed to you and I’d been left out.” He lets out a short, humorless exhale. “He knew exactly what to say.”

My fingers curl at my sides, something hot pushing through my chest. People talk like I got everything handed to me. Like I didn’t pay for it.

Like I didn’t lose the one person that actually mattered. Money? I’d burn all of it if it meant having my mom

back.

“And?” I finally ask, my voice flat.

“I did everything he asked. Everything.” His jaw tightens. “And the second things went wrong, he dropped me like I was nothing. You wanna know why I’m over here?” he asks, his voice quieter now. “Why I’m on

your side?”

My eyes narrow slightly. “Enlighten me.”

“Because I’m done.” He shakes his head once. “I’ve spent my whole life trying to buy care from people who were supposed to give it to me for free. Doing whatever it takes just to feel… safe. His gaze flicks away, then back to me. “And it never works. So yeah, I’m betting on you now. Call It repayment or whatever you

want.”

2/3

125 Points

I stare at him for a long second, many things going through my mind but the biggest one is why he’s telling

me this now.

I look away, my jaw working.

“Why now?” I ask. “Why are you telling me now?”

“I honestly don’t know.” He admits.

And maybe that’s the most honest thing he’s said this whole time. Because I don’t know either. Part of me

wants to dismiss him and file it under the long list of things he does that are self-serving, wrapped up just

well enough to look like honesty. But there’s something in the way he said it, without the smooth delivery,

without the usual careful packaging, that makes it harder to just wave off.

He’s always latched onto whoever’s holding the most at any given moment. First my old man, because he

offered him a reason to exist in my life. Now me, because the math changed and I’m the safer number. He

knows it too and he said it himself. You don’t admit something like that unless you’ve turned it over

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