Chapter 129: I Couldn’t Lose Him Again

Chapter 129: Chapter 129: I Couldn’t Lose Him Again

Audrey stood outside the Calloway Football Group training facility. She adjusted the press badge hanging around her neck and gripped her notebook tightly.

She was completely nervous. Her heart was beating entirely too fast.

It is just work, Audrey told herself quietly. Just an interview.

She walked inside and was led to a quiet conference room overlooking the training fields. Mason was already waiting.

He wore a sharp, professional dark suit. His expression was completely calm. He looked like the untouchable CEO the entire world believed him to be.

Mason simply stood up and nodded.

"Good morning, Miss Ellis," Mason said.

Audrey took a breath and sat down across from him.

"Good morning, Mr. Calloway," Audrey responded.

And they simply began.

The interview was completely, entirely normal.

Audrey clicked her recorder on. She asked about the massive expansion of the youth academy. She asked about the funding logistics and their new recruitment strategies.

"We are focusing on international partnerships this quarter," Mason answered smoothly, leaning back in his chair. "We want to build a bridge for talented kids who can’t afford elite training. The new scholarships will cover their housing and education."

"What about the retired athletes?" Audrey asked, writing a quick note.

"We are bringing them in as mentors," Mason explained. "A football career is short. We want to give them a purpose after the pitch."

Audrey listened carefully. He answered every question perfectly. There was no subtle flirting. There were no loaded, emotional questions. There were no quiet ’do you remember’ moments.

It was just business.

Audrey was actually incredibly impressed by how easy it was. For the first time in weeks, she didn’t feel like she was sitting across from her ex-boyfriend. She was just sitting across from Mason Calloway, the brilliant businessman.

But as the interview went on, she started to notice something.

He was completely exhausted.

It was hidden in tiny things. The expensive cup of coffee sitting next to him had gone entirely cold. He rubbed his temple with two fingers when he thought she was looking down at her notebook. When his assistant quietly brought in another thick stack of documents, Mason immediately started signing them in the brief seconds between her questions.

Audrey stopped writing.

"You can take a break," Audrey said quietly.

Mason looked up. His pen stopped moving.

"I’m fine," Mason replied instantly.

Audrey recognized the lie immediately. It was the exact same, annoying stubbornness she remembered from university. He never admitted when he was hurting.

But she didn’t push him. She let it go.

Thirty minutes later, the interview officially ended.

Audrey packed her notebook and recorder into her bag. Mason stood up and buttoned his suit jacket.

"Thank you for your time," Mason said.

Audrey smiled politely.

"Thank you, Mr. Calloway," she replied.

And that was it. There was no dramatic hallway scene. There was no accidental touch. Audrey walked toward the exit, thinking the interview had gone perfectly.

Then, she heard the sudden, terrifying sound of shouting.

It came from the outdoor training field.

A youth training session was happening on the bright green grass. One of the young teenage players was practicing a high-speed drill with the others.

Something went terribly wrong.

The boy collided badly with a defending player. He spun in the air and hit the ground hard.

At first, everyone just assumed he was okay. They waited for him to bounce right back up.

But the boy didn’t get up.

A sharp cry of pain echoed across the field. The coaches instantly blew their whistles and rushed toward him. The boy’s leg was resting in a completely unnatural position. He was clutching his knee, frightened and crying loudly.

The relaxed atmosphere instantly changed into total panic.

Mason heard the commotion through the glass doors. He dropped his expensive files right onto the floor.

"What happened?" Mason demanded, pushing the doors open.

Nobody answered quickly enough. Mason didn’t wait. He ran straight out onto the grass in his expensive suit.

Audrey dropped her bag and instinctively followed him.

The young boy was completely panicking. The pain was making him hyperventilate.

Mason pushed past the assistant coaches and dropped straight down onto the grass, completely ruining his suit pants. He kneeled right beside the crying boy.

"Hey," Mason said firmly. "Look at me."

The boy looked up, terrified. Tears were streaming down his dirt-streaked face.

"Does it hurt?" Mason asked gently.

The boy nodded frantically.

Mason stayed completely calm. His voice was a steady anchor in the chaos.

"Don’t move," Mason instructed smoothly. "Help is coming."

He looked up and ordered the coaches to call emergency services. Then, he looked right back down and kept the boy talking to distract him from the pain.

The boy grabbed Mason’s sleeve.

"Am I going to play again?" the boy cried.

Mason paused for a split second.

"We’re going to get you through today first," Mason said softly. "We’ll worry about football later."

That line hit Audrey directly in the chest.

She stood a few feet away, watching him. She remembered exactly what football had once meant to Mason. It used to be his entire world. Hearing him tell a crying kid that football could wait completely broke her heart.

As Mason held the boy’s trembling hand, the boy cried out again.

Something about the sound of that cry completely triggered Mason.

Suddenly, he wasn’t on the academy field anymore. He was back in Europe.

He remembered the freezing rain. He remembered the blinding stadium lights. He remembered the horrible, sickening crack of his own knee. The unbearable pain.

Someone shouting his name.

A doctor’s voice.

You won’t be playing again.

Mason’s breathing suddenly changed. It became shallow and fast.

Audrey noticed it immediately. She saw the color entirely drain from his face.

"Mason?" Audrey asked gently, stepping closer.

He didn’t respond. He didn’t even hear her. His face was frighteningly pale, and his jaw was locked tight. But even as the panic attack gripped his chest, he absolutely refused to let go of the injured boy’s hand.

The loud sirens wailed. Paramedics rushed onto the field carrying a stretcher.

They quickly took over, assessing the boy’s leg. Mason finally released the kid’s hand and stood up.

The heavy adrenaline that had been keeping him upright suddenly began leaving his body.

One of the older coaches stepped up beside him.

"Mr. Calloway, you should sit down," the coach warned gently. "You don’t look well."

Mason shook his head slightly.

"I’m fine," Mason said roughly.

It was the exact same lie.

He took one single step forward. He completely stopped. His breathing hitched. His hand shot out and gripped the hard metal edge of a nearby bench.

Audrey watched him closely. Panic flared in her stomach.

"Mason..." Audrey warned.

He tried to straighten his back. Then, his dark eyes completely lost their focus. His grip slipped from the metal bench.

He collapsed.

Audrey completely panicked.

It wasn’t a slow realization. It hit her like a moving train.

She didn’t think about the cameras. She didn’t think about the interview. She didn’t think about Alexander. She only saw Mason hit the ground.

"Mason!" Audrey screamed.

She ran to him and dropped onto her knees in the grass. His eyes were closed. His face was entirely pale.

For one horrible, terrifying second, she thought about the rainy airport seven years ago. She remembered letting him go. She remembered telling herself that they were young, and that there would always be another chance for them in the future.

Suddenly, holding his shoulders on the grass, she understood the brutal truth.

There wasn’t.

There isn’t always another chance. Time doesn’t wait for anyone.

She didn’t care about the investigation. She didn’t care about her safe, quiet life. She just desperately needed Mason to wake up.

The paramedics loaded the injured boy into one ambulance, and Mason into another.

Audrey followed them to the hospital in a taxi. She kept telling herself she was just there because she was a journalist covering the academy. She needed to know what happened for her story.

She knew it was an absolute lie.

She sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair outside the emergency examination room for two hours.

Eventually, a tired doctor walked out.

"He’s stable," the doctor explained quietly. "He fainted after a combination of exhaustion, dehydration and acute stress. His body has been under too much strain for too long."

The doctor glanced at the chart.

"He’s also been putting considerable stress on an old knee injury. It’s nothing we’re treating as an emergency right now, but he needs rest. Proper rest."

"If he continues working the way he has been, this won’t be the last time his body forces him to stop."

Audrey’s stomach dropped heavily.

She remembered all the tiny signs she had completely ignored. The cold coffee. The tired, red eyes. The way he walked a little too stiffly. The endless, massive stacks of corporate paperwork.

He had been pushing himself to the absolute brink.

A nurse finally allowed her inside the quiet room.

Mason was asleep on the hospital bed. He wasn’t wearing his expensive suit jacket or his tie. He didn’t have his cold, untouchable CEO persona to hide behind.

He just looked entirely exhausted. He looked exactly like the vulnerable boy she used to know.

Audrey sat down in the chair beside the bed.

She reached out for his hand. She stopped inches away, terrified to cross the line.

Then, she closed the distance. She gently took his large, warm hand in hers.

Her eyes immediately filled with hot tears. And sitting in the quiet hospital room, Audrey finally admitted the heavy truth to herself.

She didn’t just miss Mason. She didn’t just love the reckless boy he used to be.

She loved the man lying right in front of her.

She loved the man who had lost his greatest dream and decided to build something beautiful for other kids. She loved the man who still cared enough to kneel in the dirt beside a frightened player, despite his own incredibly painful history. She loved the man who had spent seven entire years carrying the weight of the world completely alone.

Mason’s fingers twitched slightly against her palm.

Audrey immediately looked up.

His dark eyes slowly fluttered open. He blinked against the harsh hospital lights. He turned his head and saw her sitting closely beside him, holding his hand.

His voice was incredibly weak and raspy.

"You’re still here?" Mason asked quietly.

Audrey’s eyes filled with fresh tears. She squeezed his hand tighter.

"Yes," Audrey whispered.

He looked at her for a long, quiet moment. He saw the tears shining on her cheeks.

"Why?" Mason asked.

Audrey couldn’t answer him. The words got completely stuck in her throat.

Because now she knew the answer. And she was absolutely terrified of what that answer was going to do to Alexander.

Audrey looked at Mason’s hand inside hers.

For seven years, she had convinced herself that she had lost a memory.

She finally understood.

She had lost the man she still loved.