Chapter One Hundred And Fifty Nine
The drive back to our neighborhood was wrapped in a suffocating, heavy silence that contrasted sharply with the cheerful, animated chatter of our son in the back seat. Chase was completely oblivious to the emotional warfare that had just taken place on the ground floor of the luxury penthouse. He spent the entire journey detailing the massive television screen upstairs, the incredible burgers the chef had made for him, and how one of the security guards had shown him a video of Khalid’s legendary championship-winning goal.
Every time Chase mentioned the word father or hockey, my stomach twisted into a tighter, more agonizing knot. I kept my eyes pinned strictly to the rainy passenger window, watching the neon lights of Manchester blur into streaks of wa
