Chapter 5: "I've seen that. It's disgusting."

Aurora's POV

Surprise flickered across the man's face when he saw mine too, but a second later the coldness was back, and he clearly had no intention of bringing up the bus stop.

He turned and walked toward the rink, talking as he went.

"I made it clear in the message. The rink is only available for rent after eight at night, two hours a day on weekdays. Two thousand a month, one month minimum, and if you do serious damage to the ice, you pay for it on top of that."

I nodded, following behind him. "I understand."

"I checked online. Renting a rink requires a contract. It protects both sides."

"Do you have one ready?"

The man stopped and turned his head. His cold eyes went over me once, up and down. "Yes."

He held his phone out in front of me with an electronic contract on the screen. "Just sign on the last page."

I stared at the contract on his screen and read it through carefully to the end.

The party of the first part was a small club I'd never heard of, called VIN. Temporary rental or not, the contract was properly drawn up. Once I'd signed my name, I transferred the money to him without hesitation.

With everything settled, I looked up at him. "So I can come tomorrow?"

He shook his head, tone still ice-cold. "Tomorrow's the weekend. We're closed to the public."

I nodded, a little deflated. "All right. Then I'll see you Monday night."

On the way home I turned that sentence over in my mind. The man had never said he was a coach at that rink — so what on earth did "see you Monday night" mean?

The whole of the next day I was in a good mood over having rented the rink. Even Daniel's needling rolled off me.

Near the end of training, Daniel suddenly tacked on another round of lower-body work.

I'd just finished the fourth set of squats when something popped in my left knee.

Cold sweat broke out over me at once. I clutched the knee and dropped to the floor on the other one, doubled over.

I knew it was the old injury flaring up. The intensity had climbed too fast, with no gradual buildup, and it had pushed my body straight past its limit.

Daniel saw me stop and frowned at me. "Slacking off?"

"This is only day four. If you can't take it, you can leave right now. Don't waste my time."

I gritted my teeth and stood up shaking, balanced on my right knee, my left leg able only to rest on the toe. Sweat ran down my forehead.

"Daniel, my old injury's acting up. My left knee is hurt."

Daniel's mocking gaze dropped to my left knee. No sympathy. No guilt. Just a flicker of contempt.

"So even a former Olympic champion can't beat age. You're thirty. Your body can't take this kind of training anymore."

"I hear you married well. You've got Ethan, a big house, servants waiting on you."

"Someone like you ought to stay home and be a housewife, not use connections to take resources away from other people."

My hand tightened at my side. I clenched my jaw, turned, and forced myself through the last set.

Then I lifted my chin and looked straight at Daniel. "I won't give up a single chance to get back on the ice. Even if you're targeting me on purpose, I'll make you see what I can do."

Thirty is still young enough to stand on the ice again.

By the time I left the club, my left leg had gone numb.

I was dragging my feet along, about to call a car to the hospital, when Liam's number lit up my screen.

It was the day Ethan came home. I answered without a second thought.

Liam's furious voice came through the speaker the moment I picked up.

"Aurora, you'd throw this family away just to get back on the ice, wouldn't you."

"Ethan's been crying for you since he got home. Do you know what time it is?"

"By now you'd normally be lying in bed reading Ethan his bedtime story, and you're still not home!"

"Aurora, I'm begging you, stop this. Just come home and be a rich man's wife in peace. Isn't that enough?"

Rich man's wife.

Housewife.

Apparently those were the only labels people had for a married woman, and only the crudest ones at that.

But before the wedding they'd called me by my name. They'd called me the Ice Queen. They'd called me Olympic champion.

It was my name and my titles that Liam had used to climb to where he was today.

And now he seemed to have forgotten all of it.

My grip tightened on the phone. "Liam—"

Then Ethan's voice came down the line. "Mom, can you come home and read me my story?"

My heart went soft.

I bore down against the pain in my left knee. "Okay. Mom's coming right home."

By the time I got back, Ethan's eyes were already half closed. Liam shot me an annoyed look and stalked off to his study.

I immediately dragged a chair over, sat down at the bedside and picked up Ethan's favorite storybook. "Where did we leave off last time?"

Ethan mumbled, "The dragon beat the bad guys and saved the princess."

I found the page he meant and read on, all the way to the last one. "In the end the dragon turned back into a prince, and he and the princess had a beautiful wedding in the castle."

Ethan nodded drowsily. "So the dragon was the prince all along."

"The prince will always protect the princess, right?"

I froze. Then I shook my head. "The prince protects the princess — but not always."

Just like me and Liam. Betrayal was the one thing I'd never dreamed he was capable of.

I reached out and held Ethan's hand. I hesitated a long time before I finally said it.

"If — I'm only saying if — one day your dad and I separated, and you had to choose one of us, would you choose me?"

Ethan's sleepy eyes opened a little wider, puzzled. He hesitated a long while, then shook his head. "No."

My heart clenched hard and my voice came out louder than I meant it to. "Why?"

Ethan looked at me with a contempt in his voice I'd never heard there before. "Can you take me to the amusement park every week? Can you buy me a limited-edition Lego every month? And that steak you always say is too expensive — would you buy it for me to eat if I chose you?"

My heart sank, inch by inch.

I raised a hand and stroked Ethan's head. "Mom used to be a very great athlete. Mom will try hard from now on to—"

Ethan cut me off. "Did Dad not want you anymore?"

He pointed at my stomach. "Is it because of that?"

"I've seen that. It's disgusting."

I froze. Then I knocked his hand away. "That's the badge I earned giving birth to you. You should not call it disgusting!"

Ethan froze too, then burst into wailing sobs. "You hit me! Get out! You useless crazy woman, I don't want you for a mother."

"That is disgusting, it's not some badge for having me. I hate you!"

I looked at him and forced myself to stay calm.

I took Ethan's hand, keeping my voice as level as I could. "Ethan, listen to me. You should not talk to me like that, and you should not hate me. I'm your mother, the person who loves you most. You should apologize to me."

Ethan yanked his hand out of mine. "I will never apologize. Get out."

I looked at my empty hand and realized tonight was not the time to discuss it.

I swallowed my anger, turned off the nightlight and walked quietly to the door.

Ethan was asleep soon after.

I went back to his bed and pulled the blanket up over him.

Ethan had never said things like this before. Liam must have turned him against me.

I had to hold on to my place at the club. Only then would I have a chance at winning custody of Ethan.