The Contract We Never Wanted

Chapter 3: The Lie Between Us

Kieran Hayes

My hands trembled as I stared at the file.

Proof.

Rowan thought he finally had proof.

Five years ago, I would have done anything to hear those words.

Now, I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

The truth had already ruined enough lives.

"Open it," Rowan said.

His voice was calm.

Too calm.

Like he'd spent hours preparing for this moment.

I swallowed hard.

Then opened the file.

The first page contained a series of emails.

At first glance, they looked ordinary.

Business discussions.

Player contracts.

Internal reports.

Then I saw the dates.

My heart nearly stopped.

Five years ago.

The exact week everything had fallen apart.

I flipped through the pages faster.

Email after email.

Financial records.

Phone logs.

Meeting schedules.

A growing sense of dread settled in my chest.

"What am I looking at?"

Rowan leaned against his desk.

"The messages that were leaked to the media."

I froze.

The messages.

The ones that supposedly proved I had sold confidential information to a rival team.

The messages that destroyed my career.

Destroyed my relationship.

Destroyed us.

My eyes raced across the documents.

Then I saw it.

One small detail.

A detail nobody had noticed before.

Or maybe nobody had wanted to notice.

The timestamps.

I looked up sharply.

"These are wrong."

Rowan's expression didn't change.

"I know."

I looked back down.

My pulse thundered.

The leaked messages were supposedly sent from my account during a team charity event.

An event attended by hundreds of people.

An event where cameras had followed me almost the entire evening.

The timestamps showed messages being sent from two different locations at the same time.

Impossible.

Completely impossible.

A cold chill ran down my spine.

Someone had fabricated the evidence.

Someone had framed me.

For years, I'd known I was innocent.

But knowing and proving were two different things.

And now the proof was sitting right in front of me.

"Who found this?"

My voice sounded strange.

Barely recognizable.

"My investigators."

I laughed bitterly.

"Five years."

Rowan remained silent.

"Five years, Rowan."

The hurt I'd buried finally surfaced.

Raw.

Sharp.

Unforgiving.

"You hated me for five years."

His jaw tightened.

I wasn't finished.

"You looked at me like I was trash."

"Kieran—"

"You never asked for my side."

His eyes darkened.

"You disappeared."

The accusation hit like a punch.

"I disappeared because you threw me out!"

The room fell silent.

Neither of us moved.

Neither of us looked away.

Years of pain stood between us.

Years of misunderstandings.

Years of things left unsaid.

For the first time, I saw something crack inside Rowan.

Something real.

Regret.

It vanished almost immediately.

But I saw it.

And somehow that hurt even more.

Because it meant he knew.

He knew he had made mistakes.

Yet neither of us could change the past.

"You should have fought for us."

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

Rowan's face went still.

Dangerously still.

My chest tightened.

I shouldn't have said that.

Not after everything.

Not when I was trying so hard to hate him.

But the truth was ugly.

I had waited.

For days.

For weeks.

For months.

I had waited for him to come back.

To call.

To ask questions.

To believe me.

He never did.

The silence stretched between us.

Then Rowan spoke.

Quietly.

"I thought you didn't want me anymore."

My breath caught.

The confession was so unexpected that I forgot how to respond.

For one second, he looked less like a billionaire.

Less like a powerful owner.

And more like the man I used to love.

The man who had once kissed me under the arena lights after a championship win.

The man who had promised forever.

The man who had broken my heart.

I looked away first.

Because it hurt too much.

"What happens now?"

The question felt safer.

Rowan straightened.

The vulnerability disappeared instantly.

Business mode.

Cold mode.

Wolfe mode.

"The investigation continues."

I nodded.

"And the contract?"

His eyes met mine.

A dangerous tension filled the room.

The marriage contract sat between us.

Waiting.

Threatening.

Changing everything.

"The board wants stability."

I rolled my eyes.

"The board wants headlines."

"Probably."

At least he was honest.

"Then find someone else."

"No."

The answer came too quickly.

Too firmly.

Too personally.

My heart stumbled.

Rowan realized it too.

I saw it in the brief flicker of surprise on his face.

Neither of us acknowledged it.

"What makes you think I'd agree?"

For the first time all day, a faint smile touched his lips.

Small.

Rare.

Dangerous.

Because I remembered exactly how much I used to love that smile.

"Because despite everything," Rowan said softly, "you still care about the Wolves."

Damn him.

Because he was right.

I hated when he was right.

My phone suddenly buzzed.

The sharp sound shattered the tension.

I glanced down.

And froze.

The notification came from a sports news app.

BREAKING NEWS

Anonymous Source Claims Kieran Hayes Involved in Ongoing Fraud Investigation

The blood drained from my face.

"What the hell—"

Rowan moved around the desk instantly.

His expression darkened as he read the headline.

Another notification appeared.

Then another.

Then another.

Within seconds, social media exploded.

The story was spreading everywhere.

Someone wasn't waiting for the investigation.

Someone had just declared war.

And for the first time since entering Rowan's office, I realized something terrifying.

Whoever framed me five years ago...

Was still watching us.

To Be Continued...