She was supposed to be his forever.
Until the man she loved married someone else on national television.
Blair Monroe gave Chase everything—her heart, her loyalty, and her family’s money. In return, he gave her public humiliation. Now her powerful father is demanding damage control. . .in the form of a sudden marriage to the one man she never expected.
Grayson Shaw.
Hockey captain of the Blackridge Wolves. Chase’s team’s biggest threat. And the last person who wants a wife.
****
CHAPTER ONE
“Blair!”
Olivia’s voice was filled with panic. She stood in the middle of my bedroom, phone clutched in both hands, eyes wide and horrified. I already knew what she was looking at.
Chase Holt. My boyfriend of six years. Standing at an altar in a sharp black tuxedo, one hand resting on the waist of a woman in a white wedding dress while the other slid a ring onto her finger. He was smiling. The kind of smile I used to think was only for me.
Sophie Preston.
The coach’s daughter.
The caption underneath was already being shared across every sports site and fan page:
Southbay Vipers Captain Chase Holt marries Sophie Preston in private ceremony.
I couldn’t breathe. The air in the room felt like it had hands and was choking the life out of me.
“That asshole,” Olivia hissed, voice filled with rage. “How could he do this to you?”
I had no answer. My mind was still trying to catch up to what my eyes were seeing.
For nine years I had known him. I met him when I was thirteen and he was fifteen, just a boy with big dreams and empty pockets. I was the quiet girl who somehow became his entire world.
We started dating when he turned eighteen. I was sixteen. Still very young. I thought we were building something real.
I paid for everything. His rent when he couldn’t cover it. His gear when it needed replacing. His food, his phone bill, the little things he never noticed because I made sure he never had to.
When his talent wasn’t enough to open the right doors, I asked my father for help. Monroe Athletics had the influence. Our money had more. My father got him onto the Southbay Vipers. This year, that same quiet influence helped push him into the captaincy.
Chase never knew.
He never knew I was the daughter of billionaire William Monroe. He thought I came from a comfortable family that simply supported my boyfriend’s dreams. Even though he never met anyone but my sister.
I let him believe it. I liked being just Blair with him. I liked the version of us that existed without the weight of my last name. He knew I was a Monroe. . .just not William’s daughter.
I was going to tell him everything today. I had practiced the words in the mirror this morning. I was going to sit him down, take his hands, and finally stop lying by omission. I wanted him to know the truth so we could move forward without secrets.
Instead, I was staring at his wedding photos.
Sophie had always been around. The coach’s spoiled daughter who treated the locker room like her personal playground.
I saw the way Chase looked at her when he thought I wasn’t watching. The lingering glances. The easy smiles. He would even laugh a little too hard at her jokes. Every time I brought it up, he brushed it off.
“She’s just the coach’s daughter, babe. I have to be nice to her. You’re being paranoid.”
I wasn’t paranoid.
I was blind.
Olivia was still talking, cursing Chase in ways that would have made our mother reach for holy water, but her voice felt far away.
I sat down on the edge of my bed before my legs could give out. The phone in Olivia’s hand kept lighting up with new notifications. More articles. More congratulations. More photos of Chase kissing his new wife like he hadn’t spent the last six years promising me forever.
The door to my bedroom slammed open so hard it bounced off the wall.
My father stood in the doorway, phone still in his hand, face full of anger. William Monroe did not lose control. He never raised his voice unless he meant to end something. Right now, the look in his eyes said something had already ended.
“I just saw the articles,” he said, voice dangerously low. “Every single one of them.”
Olivia went quiet. Even she knew when to step back.
I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.
He walked further into the room, each step making me nervous. “Do you have any idea what this looks like? If word gets out that you were his girlfriend while he married the coach’s daughter, it will drag your name through the mud. Monroe Athletics. This family. Everything I’ve built for you. This will completely embarrass your name.”
“Dad—”
“I listened to you.” His voice sharpened. “I let you date a boy I never approved of. I used my connections. I opened doors. I helped build him up because you sat in my office and begged me to give him a chance. And this is how he repays us?”
My throat burned. “I thought he loved me.”
The words sounded pathetic even to my own ears.
My father’s expression didn’t soften. If anything, it grew colder. “Love is a luxury my children can survive without. I allowed you that luxury once. Look where it got you.”
He stopped in front of me. I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes.
“It’s time you listen to me now.”
Something in his tone made my stomach drop.
“You will marry Grayson Shaw.”
The name made me gasp.
Grayson. . .Shaw?
“What?”
“Captain of the Blackridge Wolves. Chase’s biggest rival. His family owes mine a debt that has gone unpaid for too long. This marriage will settle it. It will also protect your image. The press will see a strong alliance, not a scandal.”
I stared at him, certain I had misheard.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am entirely serious. The wedding will take place this weekend.”
This weekend.
Four days.
I let out a shaky, disbelieving laugh that didn’t sound like me. “You want me to marry Grayson Shaw? The same Grayson Shaw who looks at anyone in a Southbay jersey like they’re the enemy? The one who’s been with the same girl since he was a teenager?”
“Lily Sinclair is no longer relevant,” my father said flatly. “Grayson understands the debt his family carries. His father has already agreed.”
Of course he had.
Olivia finally found her voice. “Dad, you can’t force her—”
“I can,” he cut in, “and I will. This is not a discussion.”
I looked down at my hands. They were trembling. Somewhere on Olivia’s phone, Chase was still smiling at his new wife like he hadn’t just set fire to everything we had.
I had given him years. I had given him support he never fully understood. I had given him the career he was celebrating in those photos.
And he had given me a public humiliation I would never forget.
Now my father was offering me a different kind of pain—one made of duty and debt and a man who would never want me.
Grayson Shaw.
The captain of the Blackridge Wolves.
Chase’s greatest rival.
And soon, my husband.
I closed my eyes as the reality of it settled over me like cold water.
There was no way out.
Dex Morgan
Dex works to elevate each story with clean writing, emotional balance, and thoughtful flow for readers.