1 On the eve of the speed skating finals, my boyfriend, to secure a spot on the national team for his childhood sweetheart, broke my leg. He'd done it before. He once locked me in a bathroom so I’d miss the initial team tryouts. When I finally arrived, breathless and frantic, the selection was over. “You’re a natural talent,” he’d said with infuriating nonchalance. “What’s one more year?” Now, it was the Winter Olympics. His precious sweetheart, Hailey, needed a chance to shine, to make a name for herself in the relay. So he decided to create one for her. By shattering my future. ... A fierce wind howled across the hospital rooftop. I was surrounded, trapped. “Barry, please,” I begged, my voice swallowed by the gale. “Let me go. The finals are tomorrow. My legs… I can’t get hurt.” I was on my knees, pleading with the man I loved. My parents died when I was young, leaving me with my grandmother. She had been a speed skater, a rising star whose career was cut short by injury. Her dream, the one she never achieved, was to win a gold medal for our country. She saw her dream reborn in me. I had her talent, her passion for the ice. She poured everything she had into my training, shaping me into a short-track speed skater. Now, even with her own health failing, she never missed a single one of my races. It felt like fate, like the universe was rewarding her devotion. I excelled on the ice, surpassing even her own legacy. The national team had been in a slump, but my arrival reignited the nation’s hope. I was the favorite to win gold. Tomorrow’s final wasn’t just a race. It was everything. I couldn’t bear the weight of a nation’s disappointment. Even more, I couldn't bear to see my grandmother’s dream die with me. And now, my boyfriend, Barry, was about to break my leg so his childhood sweetheart, Hailey, could take my spot in the relay. Even though it meant I would miss the individual finals, too. Barry’s expression was unreadable. He looked at me with a sort of weary patience, as if I were a child throwing a tantrum. “Anita, don’t be like this,” he said, his voice maddeningly calm. “With you in the lineup, how is Hailey ever supposed to get her moment in the spotlight?” “You’re a prodigy. Winning gold a few years from now won’t make a difference for you. But Hailey’s not like you. She’s been waiting four years for this. An athlete’s career is short. She needs this chance.” I stared at him, my mind reeling. The absurdity of his words was a physical blow. An athlete’s peak is fleeting. No one, not even a prodigy, can stay at the top forever. Her four years were precious, but mine weren’t? My mind raced, searching for an escape. As Barry raised the hammer he was holding, a desperate idea struck me. “Barry, wait! Listen to me!” I cried out. “If you want Hailey in the relay, I can do it! I’ll tell the coach I need to focus on the individual final. I’ll withdraw. She can take my place!” Tears streamed down my face as I looked at him, my voice thick with sincerity. He hesitated, the hammer lowering slightly. A flicker of hope ignited in my chest. “The roster isn’t set yet! We can still change it!” I pressed on. “All I want is the final tomorrow. I’ll even retire after the race, I swear. You know I always keep my word, Barry. Please, just let me go.” He was wavering. The hammer was almost down. Then, Hailey appeared at the rooftop entrance. “Barry, are you done yet?” she whined, her voice laced with impatience. “I need to get back and rest. I have to be in top form.” He didn’t even flinch at her tone. Her presence was all it took. The hammer in his hand rose again. “I can’t risk it, Anita,” he said, his voice hardening. “Hailey’s mother was very good to me. I owe it to her to help Hailey achieve her dream.” His eyes met mine, a flicker of something that might have been regret, or maybe just pity. “It’s okay, babe. Even if your leg is too injured to skate again, it doesn’t matter. I’ll take care of you.” He nodded to the two burly men standing behind me. They grabbed my arms. “To make her dream come true, you have to break my leg?” I screamed, struggling against their grip. “Hailey, you’re a coward! You can’t win on your own, so you resort to this! And you, Barry… I hate you!” 2 I kicked and thrashed, trying to keep them away from my legs, trying to give Barry no clear shot. But I was a fish on a chopping block. It was useless. My resistance only hardened his resolve. More men came forward, pinning me down until I couldn’t move. Someone tried to cover my mouth. “Don’t you dare touch her like that!” Barry snapped. Then his voice softened as he looked down at me. “Don’t be scared, Anita. This will be quick.” He was right. It was quick. Before I could even process it, a bolt of white-hot agony shot from my leg to my brain. “Aaargh!” I screamed. As the men released me and I crumpled, clutching my shattered leg, Hailey’s voice floated down, light and airy. “Is that really enough? Anita is so tough. What if she gets a cortisone shot tomorrow and skates through the pain?” My vision swam with red. I glared at her, my hatred a physical force. An injury like this… a cortisone shot would do nothing. She had to know that. She didn't just want me out of the race. She wanted me off the ice. Forever. But Barry didn't know that. Or maybe he just didn't care. “Then we’ll break it,” he said. Hailey widened her eyes, a perfect picture of innocence. “Oh, but won’t that hurt her terribly?” He waved a dismissive hand. “It’s fine. A clean break, and there’s no way she can compete. Besides,” he added, “even if she can never skate again, my family can afford to support her.” Hailey looked down at me, a smirk twisting her lips. “Well then, thank you, Barry.” And with that, she turned and left. She couldn’t be seen here. If I was found injured, she needed to have an alibi. Barry knelt beside me. “Don’t worry, babe,” he whispered, his voice a gentle caress. “I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life.” His words were a terrifying promise. The men lifted my leg, holding it steady. Barry raised the hammer high. He met my terrified gaze and brought it down. Hard. “Aaaaaaaargh!” The scream was torn from my throat, raw and primal. My leg was broken. Utterly, completely broken. I stared at the grotesque angle of my right leg and my world shattered. It was over. A decade of blood, sweat, and tears. My grandmother’s lifelong dream. The hopes of my team, my country. All of it, gone. Hot tears streamed down my face, mixing with the dirt and grime. I was a broken, pathetic mess on the cold concrete. A flicker of something—pity? regret?—crossed Barry’s face. He moved to pull me into his arms. I closed my eyes, unable to bear the sight of him. His voice, when it came, was a masterpiece of delusion. “Just forgive me this one time, babe. I know it’s not fair, but Hailey’s mom saved my life. I’m just repaying a debt. And if it wasn’t for her, I never would have met you. So, in a way, you owe her, too.” I summoned every last ounce of strength and shoved him away. My eyes, burning with hatred, met his. “Barry,” I rasped, “why didn't you just die back then?” I was a cornered animal, and he was finally scared. He scrambled back, a flicker of panic in his eyes. But it was quickly replaced by a dark anger. “Anita, I only broke your leg. How can you say something so cruel?” He grabbed my face, forcing me to look at him. A slow, terrible smile spread across his lips. “I get it. You’re jealous. You’re jealous of how much I care about Hailey.” He laughed. “Don’t worry, babe. You’re the only one I love. After Hailey’s race, we’ll get married. Just… don’t bring your dying grandmother to live with us. It would be bad luck.” I stared at him, revulsion churning in my stomach. What kind of monster could say such things? He was insane. “In your dreams,” I spat, my voice dripping with venom. “Barry, you and I are done. Forever. I’m breaking up with you.” 3 The moment he realized I was serious, his face twisted into a terrifying mask of rage. His hands closed around my neck. I couldn’t breathe. Black spots danced in my vision. Just as I was about to pass out, his bodyguards pulled him off. Damaging me was one thing; murder was a line even the powerful Sterling family wouldn’t cross. I collapsed to the ground, listening to him rant about how ungrateful I was, how I didn’t appreciate him. We had met on the ice, late one night. Hailey, consumed with jealousy, had made my training a living hell, constantly trying to sabotage me. The other skaters, intimidated by Barry’s family, looked the other way. One night, she stole the key to the rink. The arena was kept at freezing temperatures, even when closed. I always stayed late to practice. She had planned to lock me in overnight. But my grandmother had taken a turn for the worse that day, and I left early to be with her at the hospital. Hailey didn't know. She ended up locking Barry inside instead, who had come looking for her. When I realized my key was missing, I went back to the rink and found him, shivering and on the verge of hypothermia. After that, he pursued me relentlessly. Flowers, romantic dinners, declarations of love. With him by my side, the bullying stopped. Eventually, I gave in. For the first two years, we were inseparable. The way he looked at me… it was like I was the only person in the world. But that was before Hailey and I moved up to the senior division. On my birthday, he took Hailey to see the Northern Lights. When I was injured, he spent his days shopping with her, carrying her bags. I tried to break up with him. He fell to his knees, begging me. “Babe, her mother died saving my life. I have to be good to her. But it’s just a debt. I see her as a sister. You’re the one I want to spend my life with.” Perhaps because I had also lost my mother, or perhaps because he threatened to kill himself, I gave him another chance. He betrayed me again. For the national team qualifiers, he tricked me and locked me in a bathroom. When I confronted him, he was dismissive. “You’re a prodigy. So what if you have to wait a year? Even if you don’t make it, I can support you.” Because I was absent, Hailey snagged the last spot on the team. I was so exceptional that year, however, that the committee made a special exception and recruited me anyway. But that didn’t change what he had done. I tried to end it for good. But then my grandmother’s heart condition worsened. He used her to blackmail me. “Babe, where are you going to get the money for her treatment on your own? The best cardiac surgeons in the country all work for my family’s hospitals. If you break up with me, do you think they’ll still treat her?” So I stayed. And it all led to this. Lying on the rooftop, the wind biting at my skin, I felt a coldness that reminded me of that first night at the rink. A bitter smile twisted my lips. My voice was flat, devoid of all emotion. “Barry, I should have let you freeze to death.” He roared with rage. “What did you just say?” But the pain and exhaustion were a relentless assault. My vision blurred. The world went black. When I opened my eyes, I was in a hospital room. Barry was by my side. He saw I was awake and immediately dropped his phone, grabbing my hand. I looked at him, but his gaze darted away. He couldn't meet my eyes. He wouldn’t look like this just because he’d broken my leg. A terrible, sickening suspicion began to form in my mind. “Where is my grandmother?”
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