The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback (Astra and Zayne) novel Chapter 128

Chapter 128

ASTRA

The drive back to the Ashton estate stretched like a held breath.

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I sat rigid in the back seat, fingers knotted so tightly in my lap the knuckles blanched. My pulse hammered against my ribs, refusing to settle.

Through the rearview mirror, Zane’s gaze kept finding me, searching, and intense but I refused to meet it.

Every time my eyes closed, Maya’s sneaker flashed behind my lids. Her laughter rang like a broken stereo in my head.

“…the hospital remembered its policies.”*

My stomach twisted.

The black sedan purred through the wrought-iron gates and eased beneath the portico. The engine died and silence rushed

Mr. Ashton stepped out first. He circled the car and opened my door himself.

“Come with me.”

He led me into the formal living room.

“Sit.”

I perched on the edge of the sofa, fingers twisting together before I could stop them.

Mr. Ashton studied me for a long moment, then excused himself with a quiet, “One moment.” He stepped a few paces away and pulled out his phone.

It rang once.

“Eli,” he said. “I need you home.” His eyes flicked to me. “It’s Astra.”

He ended the call without waiting for a reply.

Before the weight of that could settle, Zane crouched in front of me, bringing his face level with mine.

“Trouble…” His voice was quieter than I’d ever heard it. “What really happened?”

I stared at my hands and said nothing.

He tried again, gentler. “Talk to me.”

Still nothing.

His fingers flexed like he wanted to reach for me but held back. “You disappeared after school. I looked everywhere. I wanted to go to the hospital because I thought that’s where you’d be.” His jaw tightened. “I can’t fix it if you won’t tell me.”

“I don’t need you to fix anything.”

The words came out flat and hollow. He flinched anyway, like I’d slapped him.

“Astra”

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Chapter 128

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1 finally lifted my gaze. His green eyes were wrecked-stormy, desperate-and for a second the pull between us sharpened. dangerous and familiar.

But then I remembered everything.

“They were right,” I whispered.

Confusion flashed across his face. “Who?”

I looked away, throat burning. “I should’ve stayed away from you.”

The air between us grew thick. His expression shuttered, then hardened.

“Who said that to you?”

I shook my head, already pulling back even though he hadn’t moved. My voice cracked. “I don’t want to speak to you right

now.”

Mr. Ashton crossed the room and lowered himself into the armchair opposite me. He didn’t rush or pressure me. He simply folded one leg over the other and waited, hands resting lightly on the armrests.

“Astra.” His voice was steady. “Start from the beginning.”

The words stuck in my throat. For a moment I wasn’t sure I could force them out. But slowly… painfully… I did.

The hospital. The visit to the Whitmore estate. Every humiliating second I wished I could erase forever.

When I finished, the room fell deathly quiet.

Mr. Ashton sat perfectly still, face unreadable except for the faint tightening of his jaw. Zane stared at the floor, shoulders rigid. When he finally looked up, his green eyes had gone terrifyingly empty.

“They made you get on your knees.”

His voice was unnervingly calm. He pushed to his feet. “I’m going over there.”

“Zane.”

His father’s voice stopped him cold.

“Sit down.”

“They made her…”

“I heard what she said.”

“They humiliated her.”

“I heard.”

“They had her mother thrown out of the hospital.”

“I heard all of it, Zane.”

Zane turned, fury rolling off him in waves. “And you’re just going to sit there?”

Landon held his gaze. “I’m going to think.”

“I don’t give a fuck about thinking!”

15:46 Tue, Jul 14

Chapter 128

“I know,”

The room fell silent again.

“Sit down.”

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For a long, charged moment, neither of them moved. Then Zane dragged both hands through his hair and dropped heavily onto the sofa beside me, one leg bouncing with barely contained rage.

A heartbeat later, the front door opened.

“Astra?”

Elira’s voice echoed through the foyer. She hurried in, handbag still slung over her shoulder. The moment she saw me, all the color drained from her face.

“Oh, my darling.” She crossed the room without hesitation and knelt in front of me, hands hovering near my face as if she were afraid I might shatter. “What happened to you?”

Zane looked away.

He couldn’t say it.

Landon did-quietly, methodically-recounting everything I’d told them.

Elira listened without interrupting. By the end, her hands were clenched into tight fists, her eyes blazing.

“That woman.” The words left her in a furious whisper. “Catherine Whitmore has finally crossed a line.”

She stood, voice sharpening. “I don’t care how long our families have known each other. No grown woman has any business tormenting a child. And Maya…” Disbelief twisted her features. “I knew she was spoiled but I didn’t realize she’d become cruel.”

She turned to Landon. “This cannot go unanswered.”

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