Just My Hockey Roommate’s Filthy Desires by Esther Pen novel Chapter 196

Chapter 196

Chapter 196

JULIAN’S POV

The harsh, fluorescent stadium lights beat down on the ice, casting long shadows across the rink as the whistle blew, signaling the end of an exhausting, grueling hockey practice session.

Sweat rolled down my neck beneath my heavy pads, my muscles aching, but I barely felt the physical strain. My mind had been a chaotic mess for weeks, and the ice was the only place I could somewhat tune it out

“Bring it in, bring it in!” the coach barked, slamming his hockey stick sharply against the plexiglass boards as the team skated over to form a tight semi-circle around him.

He held a clipboard tightly against his chest, his sharp eyes scanning the exhausted faces of the players before they ultimately drifted over and locked directly onto me.

“Listen up, everyone. We have an incredibly critical, high-stakes game coming up this weekend. The scouts are going to be watching, the media will be out in full force, and I need every single one of you to be at your absolute best. No distractions. No off-ice drama. We need total, locked-in focus.”

I knew exactly what the man was doing. He was talking directly to me, throwing a subtle warning about the rumors and the high-society whispers that had been swirling around my family name lately.

But I didn’t comment on it at all. I kept my face blank, my jaw clenched, refusing to give him or the team the satisfaction of a reaction.

The moment we were dismissed, I unlaced my skates, grabbed my gear bag, and headed straight out toward the parking lot, bypassing the locker room chatter entirely. I just wanted to get into my car and escape.

As I opened the driver’s side door, my phone started vibrating violently in my gym bag. I reached in and pulled it out, seeing Blake’s name flashing across the digital screen.

I slid the bar to answer, tossing my bag into the passenger seat as I started the engine. “What is it, Blake? I just got off the ice.”

“Julian, thank God you picked up,” Blake’s voice came rushing through the speaker, tight and anxious. “Have you seen the news yet? Have you looked at the internet at all in days?”

I shifted the car into reverse, backing out of my parking spot. “No, I haven’t. I’ve been running drills on the rink for the last four hours. Why? What happened?”

Blake let out a sharp, heavy breath. “Man, your mother caused a massive, public scene at a high-end restaurant downtown a few days ago. Aria was right in the middle of a luncheon meeting with potential corporate board members and investors, and your mother marched right up to her table and started screaming at her. Someone recorded the entire explosive fight, Julian. The video leaked, and it’s trending everywhere right now.”

Hearing that, a rush of pure, unadulterated fury flooded my veins. I slammed my hand against the steering wheel, the car screeching to a sudden halt near the exit gates of the stadium.

I hadn’t checked the news because I had been buried under back-to-back training sessions, but hearing about my mother’s reckless behavior made me absolutely livid.

“Are you kidding me?” I growled, my grip tightening on the phone until my knuckles turned white. “I specifically spoke to my father about this! I told him to make sure that Aria’s company didn’t suffer any public backlash or damage because of this custody battle. I wanted this handled quietly, not plastered all over social media!”

“Well, clearly, your parents aren’t listening to you,” Blake retorted, his voice rising in frustration. “It looks like a coordinated hit on her reputation, Julian. Are you seriously not going to stop your father? Are you just going to let them destroy her?”

“No, I’m not stopping him,” I snapped, the anger blinding my judgment. “Why should I?”

“Have you completely gone nuts?” Blake yelled through the phone, sounding genuinely appalled. “Julian, think about what you’re doing!”

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Chapter 196

“Amelia is my daughter, Blake!” I shouted back, the raw desperation tearing at my throat. “She is a Vance She belongs with me, and Aria has no right to keep her hidden away from her real family!

“Amelia is your daughter, yes, but that little girl has grown up completely without you for five years Blake reminded me, his tone dropping into a hard, condemning register. “And whose fault is that, Julian? You pushed Aria aside the exact minute you saw those fake, manipulated videos of her and Professor Hensley five years ago. You didn’t believe her, you didn’t protect her, and you let her run away. What you and your family are doing to her right now is just plain cruel.”

“Aria is the cruel one,” I yelled, my chest heaving as tears of frustration pricked the corners of my eyes. “She’s the one trying to keep my flesh and blood away from me. She’s trying to erase me from our daughter’s life, and I am not going to let that happen at all.”

Without giving him a chance to argue further, I slammed my thumb against the screen, ending the call.

I threw the phone onto the passenger seat, my vision blurred with rage. I slammed my foot onto the gas pedal, the tires roaring as I sped out of the stadium parking lot.

I didn’t drive home to my parents’ mansion, and I didn’t go back to my own apartment. Instead, driven by pure impulse and a desperate need to see my child, I navigated the streets until I pulled up directly to the gates of Aria’s private estate.

When I reached the front of her house, my eyes narrowed. Parked right in the driveway was a sleek, towering luxury car-a vehicle I recognized instantly. It belonged to Brandon.

The sight of his car outside her house made my stomach twist into a bitter knot of jealousy. I threw my car door open, stepped out onto the pavement, and marched toward the front steps.

But before I could even reach the porch, two large, imposing men from a private security detail stepped into my path, their arms crossed as they firmly restrained me from moving any further toward the entrance.

“Step back, sir,” one of them ordered, his voice devoid of any emotion. “You are not permitted on this property.”

“Get out of my way!” I demanded, trying to push past them, my voice echoing loudly across the quiet neighborhood. “Aria. Get out here. I want to see my daughter. Aria.”

I kept shouting and yelling, my face flushed with embarrassment and anger. After a few agonizing moments of making a scene, the heavy front door finally clicked and swung open.

Aria stepped out onto the porch, looking beautiful but entirely cold. And right behind her, stepping out like an immovable wall, was Brandon.

My eyes turned bloodshot, red with pure fury as I looked at the two of them standing together on her territory. I pointed a trembling finger at him. “What the hell is he doing here, Aria? Why is Brandon inside your house?”

Aria crossed her arms, looking down at me from the top of the steps with an expression of utter disgust.” What are you doing here, Julian? You have absolutely zero right to come to my home unannounced and demand to know what Brandon is doing here.”

She stepped closer to him, her posture making their alliance entirely clear. “Besides, Brandon is my boyfriend. He has every right to be in my house, and he is allowed to be with me whenever he pleases.”

I let out a loud, bitter laugh, the jealousy tearing through my chest like poison. “Your boyfriend? Oh, that’s rich. So you two are just openly fucking now? Is that what this is?”

“Julian, what are you doing here?” Aria repeated, completely ignoring my vulgar jab. Her voice was steady, but her eyes were sharp. Brandon shifted his weight, stepping slightly in front of her, acting like a physical shield to protect her from my wrath.

The sheer sight of his protective stance caused an unbearable wave of irritation to wash over me. I took a step toward the security guards, raising my voice so she could hear me clearly over the distance.

“Where is my daughter, Aria? Just stop being so incredibly stubborn. You could end all of this drama right now if you just listened to reason. You could agree to come back to me. We could be a family again, raise our daughter together, and we wouldn’t even need to step foot inside a courtroom.”

Chapter 196

Aria looked at me, a cold, mocking smile touching her lips. “We are absolutely going to court, Julian Since your mother and your arrogant family are so fiercely determined to destroy my corporate reputation, lie about my past, and try to steal my daughter away from me, I am going to fight you with everything I have.” “You’re just being stubborn and blind.” I yelled back, my desperation rising. “Just let me see her. Let me see Amelia.”

As I screamed her name, my eyes accidentally drifted past Aria’s shoulder. There, standing just inside the doorway of the house, was a small, fragile frame.

It was Amelia.

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