Betrayed Heiress: Marrying The Hockey King

Cassidy Humphrey's POV:

My illness flared up again.

Pain twisted through my stomach, making my whole body shake. I had run out of medication days ago and couldn't afford more.

The life I once had as the Humphrey family's heiress, born into one of hockey's most powerful families, was long gone.

I had cut ties with my family and walked away from the life of privilege I was born into because I believed I had found the man I would spend my life with.

But now, I was lying alone on the cold floor of a run-down apartment, fighting just to stay awake.

My cheek pressed against the rough, splintered floorboards as I struggled to breathe. I dry-heaved, my throat burning from the sharp sting of bile.

Above me, the flickering light bulb cast shaky shadows across the peeling wallpaper. This place was nothing like the mansion I grew up in, but I had once convinced myself that none of it mattered.

My fingernails dug into the dust, scraping against the floor until they hit the cracked screen of my phone. With trembling fingers, I unlocked it. The harsh light from the screen stabbed into my eyes, reflecting my pale, hollow face back at me.

I tapped the pinned contact.

Boyce Tucker.

The struggling hockey trainee I had once sponsored. The young player who had no background, no connections when I first met him.

I was the one who helped him enter the professional hockey world. I used my family's resources, my connections, and everything I had to support him until he became the man everyone admired.

Now, he was America's hottest hockey star.

For him, I chose this small, cold apartment over the mansion I grew up in. I believed love mattered more than wealth, status, and everything my family had given me.

I had built my entire life around him, so when I had nowhere else to turn, he was the only person I could call.

I didn't need him to say he loved me. I didn't need him to come back. I only needed help.

An ambulance. A few hundred dollars for my medication. Anything that would stop me from dying alone on this floor.

The ringing continued, each tone pounding against my skull. Finally, the call connected.

"Oh, you poor little thing." A sweet voice came through the phone.

Beryl Parks. A familiar face at every major hockey charity event, she had carefully built the image of the perfect hockey star's partner—graceful, supportive, and admired by everyone in the hockey world.

"Beryl..." My voice came out weak and hoarse. "Where's Boyce? Let me talk to Boyce..."

My throat burned, and I tasted blood.

Beryl laughed softly. "He's a little busy right now. Celebrating."

My chest tightened. "Celebrating what?"

The fake concern in her voice disappeared, replaced by unmistakable satisfaction. "Celebrating the fact that he finally got Humphrey Group."

My entire body froze. "My father's company?"

"Yes, darling." Her voice was filled with mockery. "The company your father spent his entire life building. The company you handed to him with your own hands because you believed he loved you."

Her words hurt more than the pain spreading through my body.

"Don't you understand, Cassidy? You were the perfect heiress when you were useful. The perfect woman who gave Boyce everything he needed."

I couldn't speak.

Humphrey Group. My father's life's work.

Even after I walked away from my family, I was still his only daughter. No matter how much I had hurt him, he never stopped loving me. Before he passed away, he left Humphrey Group to me—the hockey company he had spent his life building, with investments in professional teams and elite training programs.

Before he passed away, he left Humphrey Group in my hands—the hockey empire he had spent his entire life building.

But I was blinded by love. I used the company my father entrusted to me as the ultimate proof of my devotion to Boyce. I handed Humphrey Group—the legacy my father had left me—to the man I believed I would spend my life with, thinking I was giving him the future we had dreamed of together.

I never imagined that the man I gave everything to would be the very person who would reveal his true nature to me.

Then I heard movement on the other end of the call.

"Cassidy." Boyce's voice was cold and unfamiliar. "You're still alive?"

My fingers trembled. "Boyce..." I forced myself to speak. "I need money."

My breathing became uneven. "I'm sick. I need my medicine. Please..."

A short silence followed. Then he laughed. A cold, indifferent laugh. "Are you still pretending you don't understand?"

My heart sank.

"You were never the person I wanted to spend my life with, Cassidy. You were the daughter of the Humphrey family. The one person who could give me everything I wanted."

My vision blurred.

"Beryl was different." He said her name so naturally, so calmly. "She was the one I wanted beside me."

Those words hurt more than anything else. Beryl laughed softly in the background.

"See, Cassidy? You gave him everything he needed. Humphrey Group, investors, connections. You helped him become the person he is today." Her voice was full of satisfaction. "But the person he wanted was always me."

Boyce didn't deny it.

"Exactly. You helped me get closer to everything I wanted. You helped me reach the top of the hockey world." A brief silence followed. "But that doesn't mean I loved you."

Those few words shattered the last bit of hope I had left.

"Stop calling." His voice turned impatient. "You're interrupting my time with Beryl."

The call ended. The apartment fell silent. Only my broken breathing remained. Hot tears slid down my face and landed on the cracked phone screen.

Everything I had given him...

My love. My family. My future. My entire life.

It was all just a stepping stone for him.

For Boyce, I abandoned the Humphrey family. I walked away from the world I was born into and chose this freezing apartment because I believed love mattered more than status.

I endured the humiliation. I helped him gain investors. I helped him secure sponsorships. I stood behind him as he climbed from an unknown player to a hockey superstar.

And now, he was celebrating the success my sacrifice had bought him with the two people I trusted most.

Boyce Tucker. Beryl Parks.

My body suddenly spasmed. I curled my knees to my chest, my teeth chattering as the cold spread through me.

If I could have one more chance... I would never make the same choice again. I would take back everything they stole from me. I would make Boyce and Beryl Parks pay for every betrayal.

The edges of the room slowly blurred as darkness closed in.

The phone screen lit up one last time.

A missed call. From a name I hadn't seen in a long time.

Case Hoover.

The hockey prodigy who had become the captain of the New York Rangers. The heir of the Hoover family, a legendary "old money" dynasty that had shaped the hockey world for generations.

He was also the man my father had once chosen for me. The billionaire I had rejected for Boyce.

The phone kept ringing beside me. I wanted to reach for it, but my fingers no longer had the strength.

And before I could find out why he was calling... The darkness finally took me.