Chapter 125 The Name Kylen Finally Said
The next afternoon, Lenora sat in the empty student lounge with her arms crossed and her patience gone.
Kylen stood near the window, staring outside like the parking lot might offer him a better answer than the four people waiting for him.
Lilibeth was pacing.
Pamela was leaning against the table.
The hockey boy stood beside Lenora, one hand resting on the back of her chair.
No one was leaving until Kylen told the truth.
Lenora broke the silence first.
“You said you gave the drive to someone you trusted.”
Kylen nodded.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
He exhaled through his nose.
“I told you why I did it.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
Lilibeth stopped pacing.
“Exactly. Name the person before I start throwing things.”
Kylen rubbed a hand over his face.
“It wasn’t supposed to turn into this.”
Pamela folded her arms.
“And yet here we are.”
The hockey boy’s voice was calm but firm.
“If the wrong person has the file, my family and Lenora’s family are still being manipulated.”
Kylen looked at him.
“I know.”
“Then stop protecting them.”
Kylen was quiet for several seconds.
Then he turned to Lenora.
“I thought I was helping.”
Lenora held his gaze.
“Help us now.”
Something in his expression shifted.
The resistance finally cracked.
He swallowed.
“I gave the drive to Coach Brennan.”
The words settled over the room.
Lilibeth blinked.
“Excuse me?”
Pamela straightened.
“Your coach?”
The hockey boy stared at Kylen.
“No.”
Kylen nodded slowly.
“I found the drive and panicked. Coach Brennan has known me since middle school. He always said if I was in trouble, I could come to him.”
Lenora felt a chill.
“And he told you he’d keep it safe.”
Kylen laughed once, without humor.
“Yeah.”
The hockey boy looked away, jaw tight.
“Coach Brennan practically lives at the rink.”
Pamela frowned.
“He would have access to everything.”
“Players,” Lenora added.
“Families,” the hockey boy said.
“School records,” Pamela finished.
Lilibeth dropped into a chair.
“I need a minute.”
Kylen looked miserable.
“I didn’t know he was involved.”
Lenora believed him.
That didn’t make the damage smaller.
The hockey boy turned back to Kylen.
“When exactly did you give it to him?”
“The morning after the championship.”
The same morning the anonymous pressure started escalating.
Lenora exchanged a look with the hockey boy.
The timing fit too well.
Pamela pushed off the table.
“We need to confront him.”
The hockey boy shook his head immediately.
“If we walk in accusing him, he’ll deny everything.”
Lilibeth raised a finger.
“And if he knows we’re onto him, whatever evidence he has disappears.”
Lenora stood.
“Then we don’t accuse him.”
Everyone looked at her.
“We make him think we’re still guessing.”
The hockey boy’s eyes narrowed slightly, already following her thinking.
“And while he relaxes, we look for proof.”
Kylen straightened.
“There’s something else.”
Lenora folded her arms again.
“Please tell us now, not after another dramatic pause.”
He gave her an apologetic look.
“When I handed him the drive, he said something.”
“What?”
Kylen hesitated.
“He said, ‘Some truths are too expensive for children to carry.’”
The words sent a cold feeling down Lenora’s spine.
Pamela’s expression hardened.
“That sounds like a man who’s said that before.”
The hockey boy looked at Lenora.
“We need to be careful.”
She nodded.
“Agreed.”
Practice that afternoon felt different.
Lenora sat in the stands, but instead of watching drills, she watched Coach Brennan.
He barked instructions like always.
Sharp.
Controlled.
Nothing about him seemed unusual.
That was the unsettling part.
He looked like a man with nothing to hide.
The hockey boy skated hard, but Lenora could tell his mind wasn’t fully on the ice.
Twice, Coach Brennan pulled him aside to talk.
Twice, the hockey boy’s shoulders tensed.
When practice finally ended, Coach Brennan blew his whistle.
“Captain. My office.”
The hockey boy glanced up at Lenora in the stands.
Just for a second.
Then he nodded and headed toward the locker room corridor.
Lenora was on her feet before she realized she’d moved.
Pamela caught her arm.
“Don’t.”
Lenora looked at her.
“He could be threatening him.”
Pamela’s grip tightened.
“Which is exactly why you need to know what he says before you react.”
Lilibeth appeared beside them with Kylen.
“I vote we eavesdrop.”
Kylen sighed.
“You always vote for chaos.”
“And I’m usually right.”
Pamela looked toward the corridor.
“Come on.”
Coach Brennan’s office door was mostly closed.
The group stood around the corner where they couldn’t be seen.
Voices drifted into the hallway.
Coach Brennan spoke first.
“You’ve been distracted.”
The hockey boy answered evenly.
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
A pause.
Then the coach’s voice dropped.
“You have a future, son. Scouts are paying attention.”
Lenora’s stomach tightened.
The coach continued.
“It would be a shame if unnecessary drama interfered with that.”
Silence.
Then the hockey boy said, “Are you threatening me?”
Coach Brennan chuckled softly.
“I’m advising you.”
Another pause.
“Some battles are not worth fighting.”
The hockey boy’s voice sharpened.
“Maybe that depends on what you’re protecting.”
The office went silent for a beat.
Then Coach Brennan spoke again, slower this time.
“Be careful who you trust.”
Footsteps.
Pamela hissed, “Move.”
They scattered just as the office door opened.
The hockey boy stepped into the hallway.
Coach Brennan followed.
His eyes swept the corridor.
For a second, Lenora thought he saw them.
But he only adjusted his tie.
“Good practice today.”
Then he walked away.
The hockey boy rounded the corner and found them waiting.
Lilibeth raised both brows.
“Well?”
He ran a hand through his damp hair.
“He knows.”
Lenora’s chest tightened.
“That we’re suspicious?”
He nodded.
“And he doesn’t care.”
Pamela frowned.
“That means he thinks he’s protected.”
Kylen looked uneasy.
“Or he has backup.”
The hockey boy turned to Lenora.
“He basically told me to let it go.”
Lenora stepped closer.
“What did you say?”
A small smile tugged at his mouth.
“I told him I don’t quit.”
Her lips curved.
“Good answer.”
He leaned down and kissed her quickly.
Lilibeth clutched her chest.
“Please never stop doing that.”
Kylen muttered, “Some of us are trying to survive a scandal.”
That night, Lenora sat at her desk going through everything they knew.
The anonymous messages.
The championship photo.
Pamela’s observations.
Kylen’s confession.
Coach Brennan.
The pieces fit, but not perfectly.
There was still something missing.
Her phone buzzed.
The hockey boy.
Meet me outside.
Lenora smiled and slipped out to the front porch.
He was waiting at the bottom of the steps, hands in his pockets.
She walked down to him.
“How bad is it?”
He looked up at her.
“Worse than I thought.”
Her smile faded.
“What happened?”
He pulled a folded envelope from his jacket.
“This was in my locker.”
Lenora opened it.
Inside was a copy of his latest scouting report.
Across the front, someone had written in red ink:
Choose your future carefully.
Lenora looked up.
The hockey boy’s expression was steady.
“He wants me scared.”
She handed the paper back.
“Is it working?”
He stepped closer until there was barely any space between them.
“No.”
He touched the bracelet on her wrist.
Then took her hand.
“I’m not walking away from you.”
Lenora looked up at him.
“You might lose everything you’ve worked for.”
He cupped her face.
“Then I’ll build something else.”
Her breath caught.
He kissed her slowly, like he wanted her to feel every word he hadn’t said.
When they pulled apart, he rested his forehead against hers.
“I choose you.”
Lenora’s heart pounded.
She smiled softly.
“Good.”
He brushed his thumb over her cheek.
“Tomorrow, we find proof.”
She nodded.
“Tomorrow, we end this.”
Neither of them knew just how much bigger the truth was about to become.
But as he kissed her again beneath the porch light, Lenora knew one thing for certain.
Whatever happened next, they were facing it together.