THE QUARTERBACK BABY

PROLOGUETHE QUARTERBACK BABY He was broken. She was betrayed. Love changed everything.Rain poured heavily against the glass windows of the hospital room.Damien Carter stood beside the bed silently, his hands shoved deep inside the pockets of his expensive black coat while his newborn daughter slept peacefully in the small hospital bassinet beside him.His daughter.The tiny little girl had his eyes.For a moment, everything else disappeared:the cameras outside,the reporters,the pressure from football,the endless fights with his wife.Nothing mattered except her.Lily Carter.“She’s beautiful.”Damien’s voice came out softer than usual as he stared at the sleeping baby.Behind him, Victoria let out an irritated sigh.“I look terrible,” she complained while checking herself in the hospital mirror instead of looking at the baby.Damien’s jaw tightened slightly.The silence between them felt cold.Empty.It had been that way for months.Their marriage was never built on love. It was built on pressure, scandals, and one unexpected pregnancy that forced the country’s most famous quarterback into a wedding he never truly wanted.At first, Damien thought maybe things would improve after Lily was born.Maybe becoming parents would fix them.Maybe Victoria would finally love their daughter.Maybe she would love him.But deep down…He already knew the truth.Victoria never wanted a family.She wanted fame.Money.The Carter name.A soft knock interrupted the tension before Damien’s manager stepped inside carefully.“Reporters are waiting downstairs,” he informed quietly. “They want the first family photo.”Victoria immediately straightened.“Give me five minutes,” she said quickly, fixing her makeup.Damien looked at her in disbelief.Their daughter had been born less than two hours ago.And she cared about cameras.Again.His eyes drifted back toward Lily.The tiny baby wrapped her small fingers around one of his automatically, and something painful tightened inside his chest.She needed him.And suddenly Damien realized something terrifying.He was completely unprepared to be a father.Yet somehow…He already knew he would burn the entire world down for this little girl.Five years later.“Daddy!”Lily’s excited voice echoed across the massive mansion as small footsteps rushed down the staircase.Damien barely had time to kneel before his daughter launched herself into his arms.He caught her instantly, holding her close while exhaustion weighed heavily on his shoulders after another brutal football game.“You promised movie night,” Lily reminded him with a pout.A small smile finally appeared on Damien’s usually cold face.“I remember.”The front door suddenly opened.Victoria walked inside wearing designer heels and sunglasses despite the late hour.Damien’s expression darkened immediately.Lily’s smile faded.The little girl slowly hid behind Damien’s shoulder.Victoria barely noticed.“I came for my things,” she announced casually.Damien stared at her coldly. “You’ve been gone for three months.”“So?”“So your daughter cried herself to sleep asking where her mother went.”Victoria rolled her eyes impatiently. “Oh please, Damien. Don’t start.”Something dangerous flashed across his face.Lily tightened her tiny grip around his shirt silently.Victoria grabbed her suitcase near the staircase before turning toward the door again.Then she stopped.“I mailed the divorce papers already,” she said flatly. “Sign them.”And just like that…She walked away.Again.This time for good.Damien stood frozen while thunder roared outside the mansion.His daughter trembled softly in his arms.“Daddy…” Lily whispered sadly. “Did Mommy leave because I was bad?”The question shattered something inside him instantly.Damien hugged her tighter.“No, princess,” he said hoarsely. “She left because she didn’t know how to love us properly.”Upstairs, hidden inside one of the unopened boxes Victoria abandoned behind…Was a photograph.A smiling young cheerleader with bright eyes and a beautiful laugh.Sophie Bennett.The girl who was about to change Damien Carter’s life forever.Across the city, under bright stadium lights, Sophie Bennett smiled while performing with her cheer squad completely unaware that her life was about to collide with the most broken quarterback in America.Damien Carter.And when it finally did…Nothing would ever be the same again.Sophie BennettSophie Bennett is the kind of girl everyone notices the moment she walks into a room.A senior in high school and one of the most popular cheerleaders at Westbridge High, Sophie is beautiful, confident, and full of energy on the outside. With her bright smile, long dark hair, and sparkling eyes, most people think she has the perfect life.But behind the cheer uniforms and school spirit hides a girl carrying silent pressure.Sophie comes from a struggling family, so she works hard to maintain her grades while balancing cheer practice and