By admin Fake Dating My Ex’s Favourite Hockey Player Novel CH 99
TESSA
It takes exactly three seconds for Anastasia to register me. She eyes me lazily, a grin spreading on her face. Lyle jerks away like he’s been tasered and scrambles to cover up what I can never unsee.
I just stare. Blank. Numb.
Then I slowly back out of the room, pulling the door shut with the same care someone might use to contain a wild animal.
I stand there for a moment, breathing.
And then I laugh.
Unhinged. Quiet. Maybe a little hysterical.
Because really–what else is there left to do?
So I open the door again.
And walk back in.
Lyle’s halfway into his boxers, clumsy and red–faced, muttering something no one’s listening to.
“Tess, please,” he says, rushing toward me. “It wasn’t–I didn’t think you’d get here this early-”
I step back, avoiding his touch by a fraction. “So to kill time you might as well fuck your date’s cousin? Wonderful.” He flinches like he’s been slapped. “I’m sorry, Tessie, I—”
I raise a hand. He stops mid–sentence like I’ve cast a spell on him.
Anastasia lounges on the bed, completely unbothered, silk sheet barely covering her. Her smile is dazzling. Vicious.
“О, кузен,” she purrs, thick Russian accent dripping with sugar and spite. “Смотри, кого я нашла. Разве он не красавчик? Мне просто пришлось с ним немного поиграть…”
(Oh, cousin. Look who I found. Isn’t he handsome? I just had to play with him a little…)
“Of course you did,” I say smoothly. “You’ve never had a personality, so you might as well collect mine.”
Her smile flickers, just slightly. She rolls her eyes. “God, you’re still so dramatic. You act like I steal the guys you see, but it’s not my fault they’re bored.”
My lips curl. “Right. Then they trip and fall into your vagina.”
Anastasia shrugs. “Men aren’t loyal, Taisiya. That’s not news. But at least I don’t pretend to be shocked when they want me instead.”
Lyle takes a step toward me again. “Don’t listen to her. It didn’t mean anything,” he says desperately. “I was stupid. Please, Tessa―can we just talk? Just us?”
I look at him – really look at him
–
and something in me goes ice cold.
“I’m not mad that you slept with her,” I say. “I’m embarrassed that you thought you could worm your way back into my life after fucking my cousin.”
He opens his mouth again. I don’t give him the chance.
I glance at him. Then back at her
“Congratulations,” I say coolly. “You can have him. Just like the men before him. They always crawl to you eventually.”
I lean in.
“But remember – they always crawl back when they realise you’re all pretty packaging and no soul.”
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Chapter 99
Her smile falls off, leaving a nasty scowl in its place. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“You can ask Akim, but I guess you’re in no position to do that, right?” I eye them both up and scoff. “Considering you’re two sides of a fucking coin.”
I turn. Pause at the door.
“Have fun. And try not to fake it too obviously.”
I smile as I close the door behind me
–
tight, final.
h
Then I pause.
Fuck it.
If today’s going to insist on being an unhinged soap opera, I might as well grab the popcorn. Or light the damn match and watch it/
burn.
I take the stairs. The elevator feels too slow, too calm. I need movement, air, anything
to outrun the static crawling under my skin.
CH
To ignore the sharp pang in my heart. The burning behind my eyes. The fucking satisfied look on her face. The miserable look on Lyle’s.
Fuck them. Fuck them both.
By the time I hit the lobby, the show’s already started.
I walk in just in time to see Dimitri’s fist connect with Akim’s jaw
–
a clean, vicious hit that snaps his head sideways.
A collective gasp ripples through the crowd.
Phones are already out. Cameras rolling. Of course.
Akim’s entourage scrambles to separate them, but they’re useless dogs with a bone.
a tangle of hands and useless yelling while the two men snarl like
egos and poor
decisions.
Honestly, I’m hoping they just let them go. Let them tear each other apart in a fountain of bruised
Would save me the secondhand embarrassment of watching two grown men treat me like a prize pig at auction.
The woman beside me lets out a strangled gasp, wringing her hands and begging someone second, but then I clock the expensive pearls, the tight bun, the tragic look of helpless nobility.
–
anyone
–
to break
up the fight. It takes a
Ah. There she is.
Mrs. Sokolova Akim’s mother.
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And just like that, a plan blooms. Rotten and exquisite.
The real reason I dated Akim for so long? His family deals in precious stones and my mother would have killed to get her hands on diamonds.
The plan now? Ruin Anastasia. Humble my mother. Maybe even get home in time to finishiy paperwork while I’m at it.
I gently touch her shoulder, masking glee with concern. “Aunty? Is that… you?”
She spins toward me, eyes red–rimmed and frantic. “Taisiya? Oh, darling girl! Thank God you’re here! He’s going to get himself killed! I don’t know where his bride has gone, everything is falling apart-” Her voice collapses into hiccuping sobs.
I nod solemnly and pat her arm, the picture of calm. A steady hand. A composed future in–law. Not at all the woman about to blow her entire family to hell.
“Aunty,” I say gently. “I tried to speak to Akim, but he’s beyond reasoning. I even went looking for Anastasia, thought maybe she could talk him down…”
I lean in.
“But what I found-”
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IN
3:33 PM P P .
Chapter 99
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“Whatever it is,” she cuts in, panicked, “it can wait! Nothing’s more important than stopping this madness!” Just then, security finally drags Akim and Dimitri apart – both red–faced, shouting slurs, shirts rumpled like they’ve just wrestled a bear.
Her shoulders sag with relief. Colour floods back into her cheeks. She moves to rush toward her son.
I grab her arm – firm. Unmovable.
“Aunty,” I say, low and urgent. “You have to promise me something.”
She blinks. “What?”
“Don’t tell Akim. Not yet. It’ll destroy him.”
Her sobbing stills. I have her full attention now.
“Anastasia’s upstairs,” I murmur. “In bed.”
Pause. Let it land.
“With another man.”
Her lips part, but no sound comes out. I tilt my head, let the venom sweeten my tone.
“And I think you should call the police,” I give the necklace around her neck a subtle glance. “There were diamond jewelleries at the side of their bed that look just like the ones you usually have on… Aunty, the man- he looks like a criminal. I’m so scared,”
Her face drains of colour.
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