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Ava was crying unexpectedly. She had no idea why she was crying. Was she crying because she had broken Luke’s heart?
Or she was crying for someone else?
She began to search for the person. She wanted to know why he did that.
He not only proved himself by intentionally losing the game, but he also made her feel guilty.
She had never imagined he would give up his victory for her.
While thinking about him, her steps came to a halt at a gate of her campus.
She peered at the boys from behind a tree. Ian was about to leave campus, but his friends stopped him.
She could hear Ian’s friends‘ furious voices.
Her brow furrowed in surprise as she saw Ronald grab Ian’s collar.
“How can you throw water in our four years‘ hard work?”
Cyrus was trying to break free Ian’s collar from Ronald.
Ian appeared unfazed. He did not reply to Ronald.
“I can’t believe it. How could you be so stupid, Ian? You deceived us. You know that, right?” Stephen asked.
“Say something. Why did you do that?” Paul said.
Cyrus shook his head and muttered,
“Bro, we have been looking forward to this day for a long time. Everyone knows no one can beat us. We have always been the winners. Why did you deliberately lose the game?”
Roland pushed Cyrus away from his side and looked at Ian. His hands were still holding Ian’s collar. He said,
“Do
you know what they are going to call us? Losers. How could you miss that simple shot? You gave them so many chances to score. You even blocked your own players so that they could score every single time to match our score. Is this how a captain should play?”
Ian’s gaze was fixed on the floor. It was as if he knew what he did really hurt his friends.
“Your friend is selfish. Always keep that in your mind,” he uttered in a low tone.
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Ava bit her bottom lip to control her tears. She could see Ian looked helpless. She took a long breath and wiped the corner of her eyes. She continued to watch them.
“But why did you have to do such a thing? You have a good chance of winning. You said you don’t like that Luke guy. Then why did you let that boy win? Do you have any explanations?” Stephen asked with a disappointed look.
Ian lifted his gaze and looked at his friends. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
He grabbed Ronald’s wrist and removed them from his collar.
“And don’t dare to do that again. I am your friend, but that does not mean you will forget who I am.”
Ronald gave him a sarcastic grin. “So now you will discipline us? By how? You have already made us lose a game. als this how you plan to run our pack?” Ronald asked.
Anger was audible in his voice. He was hell mad at his best friend. He did not expect him to do something like that. After all, it was not just his loss, but every player would have to suffer for it. He shattered their dream of winning the championship.
Ian looked at Ronald. His eyes were cold.
“Next year I will be your head Alpha. You will have to follow my every command, and you won’t be allowed to oppose any of my decisions. So start to prepare yourself from now on.‘
>>
His words were directed not only at Ronald, but also at all of his friends who would serve as
his officials.
Everyone became silent. But there was fury in their eyes.
Ava saw Ian leaving the campus. She turned around and leaned her back against the tree.
She held back her tears as she looked up at the sky.
Because of her, he lost the match, lost his friends‘ confidence over him, and almost got into a fight with his friends.
Ava felt terrible in her heart. She did not know why she was feeling pain in her heart.
Was it because she could not see him in pain or she could not see his downfall?
As Ian’s friends head inside, Stephen’s eyes fell on Ava.
He walked over to her and grabbed her hand.
“Ava? What are you doing here?”
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The other boys stopped and looked at her.
“Wait, are you crying?” Stephen asked, touching her chin to look at her face closely.
Ava lowered her head and sobbed.
“B–Brother, h–he-”
“I know Luke proposed to you. Did you accept him? It totally depends on you, Ava. But as your brother, I still believe you should think before stepping forward,” Luke said, placing his hand on her head. 1
Ronald sneered after hearing Stephen. “Don’t think that boy has won over us. Our captain showed some sympathy to him. That was why he won today. If our own captain had not betrayed us, Luke would not have been in a state to show his face. We would have defeated him with scores he had never imagined.”
Ava gazed at him and said,
“I–Ian….” she paused as she tried to collect words to explain.
At that time, Debra and Abigail came there.
“You are here! We were searching for you,” Abigail said to Ava.
“Ian, what?” Ronald asked, ignoring Ava’s friends.
“Did you not accept Luke’s proposal? Have you changed your mind?” Stephen asked.
Ava let out a shaky breath and replied,
“Don’t misunderstand, Ian. He did that because I asked him to do that.”
Ian’s friends were confused.
“You asked him for what?” Paul asked.
Ava glanced at her brother and replied,
“Brother, I was the one who asked him to lose the match.”
Stephen’s hand froze on her hair. He immediately frowned at her and removed his hand from her head.
“What are you saying, Ava? Did you do that for Luke? Your brother is also a member of Ian’s team. Don’t you know that?”
Ava could feel the anger coming from Stephen and his friends. She closed her eyes and tightened her fists.
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“I am sorry, brother. I never thought he would actually do that. I was just-”
Ronald interrupted her while moving toward her.
“Listen, girl, Ian Dawson is not a joke. He loves you, but you have no right to play with his heart. He rejected you and deeply regretted it. Now what do you want him to do to prove himself to you? He sacrificed his dream for you. Basketball was the only thing that brought him peace. You took that away from him too.”
