Chapter 129: The Broken Timeline

Aveline's POV

The morning after the Christmas Eve party, the grand Hampton estate felt warm and quiet. The large living rooms were mostly tidy again. The loud music and the big crowds from last night were gone. Now, only the sweet smell of fresh coffee and warm sugar filled the bright kitchen.

Landon and Milo had stayed over, sleeping on the large leather couches in the media lounge downstairs. They had woken up an hour ago, still wearing their messy sweatpants. Milo was lying flat on his back, throwing a small hockey tape ball into the air and catching it, while Landon was trying to read a sports article on his tablet. They were arguing back and forth about who cheated during last night's Xbox video game tournament.

"You totally picked a modified stadium, Milo," Landon grunted, not looking up from his screen. "That's why my defence couldn't slide properly."

"It was a standard winter map, Brooks," Milo laughed, sitting up and tossing the tape ball straight at Landon's head. "You just can't accept that my virtual team has superior tactical skills. I am a gaming legend."

"You're a gaming fraud," Landon countered, throwing a soft couch cushion straight at Milo's face.

By the time early afternoon arrived, the rest of the core group came back over to the house to chill and hang out with us again. Theo, Reed, and Cassian walked through the front doors.

The toxic tension and the angry rivalry from the school term were completely gone. We were all sitting around the massive kitchen island, laughing, talking, and sharing a large box of holiday doughnuts. Seeing everyone together like this made my chest feel lighter. I looked at these boys and realised something beautiful. I finally had people I could trust.

"Hey, Carter, catch!" Reed yelled suddenly. He tossed a crumpled paper napkin straight at my chest.

I caught it in the air and laughed out loud. My voice stayed safely inside my twin brother's gentle tone.

"Your aim is getting worse, Reed."

"Leave the kid alone, Reed," Landon smiled, leaning back against the counter with a mug of tea. "He's still recovering from Milo's terrible holiday singing last night. My ears are still bleeding from that karaoke session."

Milo slung a heavy arm over my shoulder, pulling out his smartphone with a wide, mischievous grin

"Oh, this moment reminds me of the pictures i took of Landon and me in the locker room. Let me pull them up ."

"Wait, let me see that match album," Cassian said suddenly. His voice was quiet, but it drew everyone's attention instantly.

Milo nodded, scrolling through his cloud storage app. Landon turned around from the counter, his eyes moving over to me.

Back then, my twin brother was just the team mascot because of his heart disease, unable to play on the actual ice.

"I remember you weren't at the game the moment Oliver Thorne got hurt," Landon said, looking at me thoughtfully.

My heart did a sudden, violent flip against my ribs. I had to keep the Asher mask perfectly locked onto my face.

"It's Christmas, guys. Let's not bring up old match injuries," Kieran said quickly, trying to dismiss the matter entirely. He stepped closer to the island, his eyes darting toward me with a warning look. "We have pizza coming. Drop ."

I shifted my weight on the barstool, my fingers clenching into my pockets. "I... don't remember much after that game," I whispered, forcing the gentle Asher tone out of my throat. "Everything happened so fast after Oliver went down."

Milo finally tapped the folder, expanding a clear, sharp photo of Landon and him laughing by the row of green lockers. We all crowded around the screen to look.

Cassian did not look at Milo or Landon. His sharp eyes went completely narrow as he stared at the far background of the display. He punched the screen, zooming straight into the shadow near the back equipment cage.

"No... that's impossible," Cassian muttered under his breath. His voice was completely flat and cold, cutting through the kitchen like a physical blade.

"What's wrong, Cassian?" Milo asked, his lazy smile slowly disappearing as he looked at his phone.

Cassian pointed his long finger directly at the blurred background of the photo. A digital timestamp at the top of the file read 7:15 PM. And right there, caught in a tiny glimpse near the gear row, was a person. He wasn't wearing his large mascot suit. It was just Asher, standing in his regular clothes inside the equipment shadows long after the final whistle.

Cassian turned his head slowly, his gaze locking straight onto me. You said you left before the first whistle because your heart felt tight ."

I froze completely, my breath catching in my throat as the kitchen went dead silent.

"So why are you still here?" Cassian asked, his voice shaking with a sudden, dark edge.

I couldn't answer. The words died completely in my throat as my mind raced through the danger.

Cassian flared up instantly, his face turning into pure stone as a massive wave of raw fury took over his features. Seeing Asher in the background confirmed the absolute worst of his old suspicions. In his mind, this was the definitive proof that Asher had stayed behind to sabotage his brother Oliver's hockey gear.

"I was right about that night!" Cassian roared, his chest heaving with deep rage as the warm holiday atmosphere turned to pure ice. "Asher was in the school till the game ended! I wasn't stupid! I knew what I saw!"

Before anyone could stop him, Cassian charged forward. He reached his hands out and violently grabbed the collar of my winter coat, pulling my body off the stool with a terrifying, dead face.

"What were you doing in the locker room, Asher?" Cassian hissed right into my face, his grip unyielding as my breath completely caught in my throat.