Faking It With The Hockey Star

Justin’s POV

When I woke up, soft sunlight was spilling through Harper’s bedroom curtains.

For a brief second, I completely forgot where I was. Then the warm smell of pancakes drifted upstairs, accompanied by muted voices and quiet laughter. A house that sounded genuinely alive.

I rubbed my face with both hands and sat up on the edge of the mattress. Last night’s heavy conversation with Grandma crashed back into my mind all at once. The company. My mother. The trust. My father.

I let out a slow, steady breath before standing up and heading downstairs.

The moment I stepped into the kitchen, four heads turned toward me in unison.

Harper smiled first. "Good morning."

Her smile was smaller than usual, her soft eyes still clouded with worry. I forced a reassuring one back. "Morning."

Her mother looked over from the stove. "Oh, you’re awake. I was beginning to think we’d have to send Noah upstairs."

Noah grinned from the table. "I would’ve cannonballed right onto the bed."

Emma rolled her eyes at him. "You’re sixteen, Noah. You are way too old to be cannonballing onto people’s beds."

"I disagree," Noah countered smoothly.

Despite everything weighing heavily on my chest, a small laugh escaped me.

Harper’s mom pointed toward the counter. "I made breakfast. Help yourself. You look like you need a proper meal."

A sudden tightness formed in my throat. "Thank you."

She smiled gently. "No need to thank me. You’ve had a rough couple of days."

I filled a plate and took a seat beside Noah. He looked at me carefully, assessing my mood. "You feeling better, Coach Justin?"

Coach Justin. Not Justin. Not Harper’s boyfriend. Coach Justin.

A genuine smile touched my face. "A little."

"You’ll still teach me that slap shot after exams?" he asked.

I chuckled softly. "You still haven’t given up?"

"Nope."

"Good. Neither have I."

Emma smiled warmly from across the table. "Eat first. Then go save the world."

Everybody laughed together. For a brief moment, everything felt normal and safe, like this was exactly where I belonged.

A few minutes later, Harper walked me outside into the driveway. Neither of us spoke immediately. The cool morning breeze carried the clean scent of freshly cut grass.

She stopped beside my car door. "So... what’s your plan?"

I slipped my keys into my jeans pocket. "I’m going to see my father."

She frowned immediately. "Today?"

I nodded once. "I don’t think I can wait."

She looked at me carefully, searching my eyes. "Do you want me to come with you?"

For a second, I almost said yes. But this wasn’t a conversation Harper needed to witness. This wasn’t about hockey, or Ethan, or public relations. This was about my mother.

I reached out and took both of her hands in mine. "No."

Her face fell right away. Before she could misunderstand my answer, I squeezed her fingers gently. "Not because I don’t want you there," I assured her.

She looked up into my eyes.

"This..." I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. "This is something I need to do as my mother’s son."

Her eyes softened completely, and she nodded slowly. "Okay." Then she offered a small, gentle smile. "Then go make her proud."

I leaned down and kissed her forehead softly. "I’ll call you."

"You better."

"I will."

She pulled me into one more tight hug before finally letting go. As I drove away, I caught one last glimpse of her standing in the driveway, watching until my truck disappeared around the corner.

Halfway to the house, I called Dad. He answered almost immediately on the second ring.

"Justin. Where are you?"

"I’m just leaving the office," I replied neutrally. "I’ll be home in about twenty minutes."

"Good. I’ll meet you there."

There was a long pause on the line. "Is everything alright?"

"We’ll talk when you get home." I ended the call without giving an explanation or opening the door for small talk.

Twenty-five minutes later, I was sitting in the exact same living room I had grown up in. It was funny, really. I had lived here for years, yet somehow it had never once felt like home.

The front door opened, and Dad walked in first, with Diane following right behind him. The moment Dad saw me sitting on the sofa, he froze in his tracks. He knew instantly. He knew this wasn’t a casual social visit.

He slowly loosened his tie with one hand. "I wasn’t expecting you to get here before me."

"I know."

He looked back toward Diane, who quietly closed the front door behind them.

"So..." Dad sat down in the armchair opposite me. "What brings you here?"

I glanced directly at Diane. "I want to speak to my father. Alone."

She folded her arms tightly over her chest. "Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of me."

Dad nodded in agreement. "She’s family."

I looked my father directly in the eyes. "No. I want to talk to my father. Alone."

He let out a heavy sigh. "Diane stays."

I nodded once, accepting it. "Fine."

I reached into my backpack, pulled out the thick envelope Grandma had given me, and placed it squarely on the coffee table between us.

Dad’s face completely lost all color. His eyes locked onto the legal documents inside. Neither of us spoke a word for several agonizing seconds.

Finally, I broke the quiet. "When were you going to tell me?"

His jaw tightened nervously. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

I pushed the trust documents a few inches closer to him. "You do now."

More silence filled the room. Diane looked back and forth between the two of us, confused. "What is that?"

Nobody answered her. Dad slowly lowered himself deeper into his chair. "You spoke to your grandmother."

"I did. So let’s stop pretending." I leaned forward, resting my forearms on my knees. "When were you planning on telling me that my mother left this company to me?"

He looked away, unable to meet my gaze. "I... I was waiting."

"For what?"

"The right time."

I let out a laugh, though there was zero humor in it. "The right time? My mother wanted me involved in that company when I turned twenty-one. The trust clearly states I was supposed to start learning the business two years ago. You stole two whole years from me."

Dad rubbed both hands heavily over his face. "I was trying to protect you."

"No," I countered sharply. "You were protecting yourself."

The living room became painfully quiet. I stood up from the couch.

"My mother built that company," I said, my voice steady. "Not you. You’ve been sitting in her chair, running her business, and yet you kicked me out of this house. You let me believe I had nothing, when all along you were living off my mother’s life work."

Dad’s shoulders dropped completely. "I’m sorry. I never meant for this to happen."

I shook my head. "You made it happen."

Diane finally stepped forward into the middle of the room. "Excuse me? You make it sound like your father stole something."

I turned my gaze toward her. "He did."

She scoffed aloud. "Your father sacrificed everything for that company."

"No," I corrected firmly. "My mother did."

Dad suddenly interjected, his voice firm. "Diane. Enough."

She stared at him in disbelief. "What?"

"This conversation has gone far enough."

"No," she insisted, pointing a finger at me. "It hasn’t. Are you seriously taking his side?"

Dad closed his eyes briefly. "This isn’t about taking sides, Diane. It’s his company."

She blinked, stunned. "What?"

"It always has been."

Her face slowly began to change as the reality set in. "No..."

Dad looked utterly exhausted. "I never legally owned it."

She stared down at him. "What are you saying?"

"The controlling shares belong to Justin," Dad confessed softly. "They always have."

She let out a nervous, high-pitched laugh. "Stop joking."

"I’m not."

She took an unsteady step backward. "What about me? I’ve lived here for twenty years. I helped you build everything."

Dad finally looked up at her, quiet and noticeably full of shame. "This wasn’t ours to build. It was my late wife’s. And..." He swallowed hard. "...you’re not even legally my wife."

Silence. Absolute, suffocating silence descended on the room. Diane looked as though someone had physically slapped her across the face.

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me."

Her breathing became visibly uneven. "So... I gave you twenty years of my life for nothing?"

Dad didn’t answer her, simply because he couldn’t.

I turned my attention back to him. "When do I start?"

He frowned, looking up at me. "What?"

"Coming into the office."

He stared at me for a long moment. "You can start right after graduation. I’ll personally show you everything."

Diane snapped instantly. "You can’t be serious!"

Dad stood up from his chair. "My decision is final."

She looked horrified. "What about us?"

He didn’t answer her. He kept his eyes locked solely on me. "I’ll help you transition. You deserve to know how the company operates."

I picked up the heavy legal envelope from the table. "No. You don’t get to help just because you suddenly feel guilty."

He lowered his head silently. "I know."

I turned and walked toward the entryway before stopping one last time. "When I walk into that company after graduation..." I turned back around to face him directly. "...I won’t be walking in as your son."

His eyes slowly lifted to meet mine.

"I’ll be walking in as my mother’s successor."

His lips trembled slightly. "Justin..."

"Get your books in order," I added quietly. "Because when I come, I’m coming with a storm."

I opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch. Behind me, I heard him call out one last time, his voice audibly cracking.

"Justin... I’m sorry."

I didn’t stop, and I didn’t turn around. I simply kept walking toward my truck.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!