Accidental Mark - Chapter 38

“Go Yohan, you really are a terrible bastard.”“I can’t help it. Bullying is more fun than being bullied.”Despite his outer appearance of a kind model student, Kang Jun was filled to the brim with an inferiority complex.As he advanced into his second year, he grew closer to Go Yohan, who was in the same class as him.“I’ll treat you especially different.”At some point, as if it were only natural, Go Yohan claimed his seat at the very summit of the pyramid inside the school.He, whose second nature seemed to be ignoring and suppressing others, showed interest in Kang Jun.Kang Jun, who was subtly ignored by his friends for being weak, didn’t dislike Go Yohan’s interest, but…Eighteen, the period where one’s pride took the lead and held fear of crossing the line.Kang Jun had to make a choice to survive.A very wise choice.

“I really feel like having one of those special macarons from the cafeteria today. You think you could get me one?”I sit diagonally behind the heroine in class. I’m basically her errand girl.“We are [friends] , after all.”…And I’m happy to do it.

“No one looks at you. No one touches you. You’re a Whitehall now... And you’re mine.” Roman’s voice was a low, dangerous growl against her neck.She tilted her chin, meeting the predator in his eyes with her own cold fire. “I belong to no one, Roman, certainly not a beast in a jersey. If you want to claim me, you’ll have to do better than your father’s signature on a contract.”She spun her wheelchair to leave, but he was faster. His hand locked around her waist, dragging her back as his palm slammed against the wall beside her head.“Don’t you fucking dare me, Estelle.”—Estelle Rutledge was the Ice Queen of the Rutledge sports dynasty: national treasure, global brand, and the financial backbone of her family’s empire.Until one catastrophic crack on the ice shattered her career… and left her in a wheelchair.In the elite world of the one percent, a broken asset becomes a liability.With the Rutledge legacy collapsing under a mountain of debt, Estelle’s own mother did the unthinkable. She sold her daughter to the highest bidder, trading Estelle’s freedom for a check from Magnus Whitehall, the ruthless billionaire owner of a professional hockey empire.But Magnus didn’t buy Estelle for himself. He bought her to be his son’s leash.Roman Whitehall is the NHL’s most dangerous beast. A volatile heir with a scandal-soaked reputation and a temper that threatens the family’s billions. To the league’s board, he’s a loose cannon. To his father, he’s a problem that needs a wife to clean up his image.The command was simple: “Be the one thing he can’t avoid… or lose your legs.”Now Estelle is legally bound to a man who sees their marriage as a cage, and her as the bars holding him in. Roman believes she’s a fragile burden. Estelle thinks he’s a monster fueled by rage and secrets.But inside the Whitehall mansion, built on power, money, and lies, Estelle discovers a terrifying truth: she is not the first “Ice Queen” Magnus Whitehall has broken.Trapped in dynasty politics and a contract signed in blood, Estelle faces an impossible choice. Will she let the Whitehalls destroy what’s left of her… or join forces with the beast she hates most and burn their empire to the ground?Because even though she hates it, Roman Whitehall may be the only man who can help her stand again.Even if he has to break her first.

Some exist with pride, others struggle with pride, some compete with pride, and there are those who fail with pride, but very few can walk away with pride.Congratulations, for as you read these lines, you have witnessed the whole lives of many great basketball players.This pronunciation was embodied when Stephen Curry, after facing defeat in 2021, claimed that no one would want to face them the following season; When Tim Duncan was convinced before the start of the 2014 Finals that they would not mess up; When Kobe Bryant promised at Old Buss's memorial to take the Lakers to the playoffs; When Nowitzki, shedding his label as a soft player, retreated to the locker room in tears at night; When Kevin Garnett let out a skyward howl after holding the championship trophy; When the 2004 Detroit Pistons won and the F4 Lakers lost…Our story begins in an era when pride still mattered.