Chapter 50

After the exhibition match with the lucky spectators, Theo went straight backstage.

Normally, the team would have a late meal at the hotel and then gather to review the match. Tonight he had other plans. First, he was going to eat with his sister.

Before he reached the lounge door, raised voices stopped him.

The players who had competed earlier sat scattered around the room, looking dejected. Their manager was standing over them.

“I told him not to lose, and he agreed. Then he goes out there and makes it that obvious he's letting a spectator win. I don't mind him going easy, but he still has to win in the end! What happens when the video gets out? Our opponents can take a clip, twist it however they like, and suddenly it's a scandal. Fans who don't know what happened will believe it. He can throw away his own reputation if he wants, but he shouldn't drag the team down with him!”

The players had expected a scolding themselves. They exchanged puzzled looks. Why was the manager attacking their captain instead?

Coach Mercer rubbed his face. He had worked with the manager for years and believed the man had the team's interests at heart, though he could be rigid. SK's players were hardly easy to control, especially Theo, who did as he pleased. So far, though, Theo hadn't done the team any serious harm, and Mercer had generally let it go.

The manager seemed to see a threat everywhere.

“It might not be that serious,” Mercer said. “If someone puts out a misleading video, we can explain what really happened.”

“And can we get back the fans who've already left? What will everyone else think? That we don't respect the game? That we're fixing matches now? If we lose to a foreign team at the European tournament at the end of the year, will people say we fixed that too?”

The players looked at one another. Their captain had let a spectator win an exhibition game. How had that become match fixing?

Mercer's brows drew together. Even he thought the manager had gone too far. “That's a serious accusation. How did we get to match fixing? Once you smear a professional player with that, it won't be easy to wash off.”

Fair competition mattered. If a player were caught fixing an important match, the damage could follow him for the rest of his career. International tournaments might ban him, and no team would want to sign him.

The manager seemed to realize he had overstepped. He changed the subject at once. “Someone who acts so recklessly doesn't deserve to be SK's captain!”

“I don't? You think you do?”

Theo pushed the door open and gave him a lazy glance, though his eyes were cold.

Before Theo had even returned to the lounge, the manager had been trying to turn the players against him. In his previous life, the man had probably done the same thing many times where Theo couldn't see. After Theo went bankrupt, the manager had also spoken against him to headquarters, and Theo had been kicked off the team.

The players scrambled to their feet. “Captain.”

They avoided his eyes. Their own overconfidence had nearly cost SK the match. Without Theo, fans online would probably be tearing them apart by now. None of them knew how severely he was going to scold them.

Theo looked at the manager. “It's my game. I'll play it how I want. Or do I need your permission for every move?”

The manager's face flushed, then paled. Theo had heard him.

Silence settled over the room. The players hardly dared breathe.

“That's not what I meant,” the manager said, forcing a smile.

“I know what you're planning. I'll explain things to headquarters myself, so you don't need to go running there to talk about me.”

The manager stood. “Why would I do that? What are you implying?”

The players exchanged another look. Had their manager really complained to headquarters behind their backs? Headquarters managed more than one team. They expected their own manager to stand with them, not report them in secret.

Theo looked away. “Oh, I got that wrong. I'm the one who went to headquarters, not you.”

The players stared at him.

The manager's expression changed. “What do you mean? You did something you can't admit to, so you're trying to pin it on me?”

Mercer stepped between them, afraid the agitated manager might take a swing at Theo. He leaned close to the captain. “What's going on?”

A glance from Theo told him to wait. Mercer stepped aside, though he still couldn't make sense of it.

Theo's tone was as casual as if he were discussing a day out. “A few days ago I heard from your girlfriend that you bought another house.”

The manager went pale. “Where did you hear that?”

“She posted pictures of the new place on social media. Did you forget to tell her not to?”

The manager froze. He had been busy with the team and hadn't checked what his girlfriend was posting. Had she really put the photos up?

“You've been with SK for five years,” Theo went on. “I know what you make. Last year you spent your savings on a house and complained to everyone here that you were broke. It's been less than a year. Where did you get enough to pay cash for another one?”

The manager said nothing.

“I might not have put it together, except a DL player saw you having dinner with their manager. He thought we might be planning something against his team and was about to tell their headquarters. Their manager stopped him.”

DL had been SK's closest rival in the national competition, finishing behind them for several years.

“That player and I came up through SK's training program together. He left for DL later. He doesn't like his manager or approve of the things he does behind the scenes, so he told me what he'd seen.

“Why did the manager stop him? Because you weren't trying to buy him off. He bought you.”

Mercer stared. The manager had taken money from DL? How was that possible?

Theo continued in the same unhurried voice. “He paid you to stir up trouble here, affect how we play, maybe even bring down SK. And me with it.”

Anger spread through the players. Their manager had always seemed honest, always seemed to be thinking about the team. All this time, he'd been working against them? Fin was the heart of SK, the reason they had joined, the player many of them worked to emulate.

One of them lunged toward the manager's collar. A teammate caught him immediately. If they fought during the competition, they could be suspended.

The manager's lips trembled. Someone had seen him with DL's manager? When?

And Theo had known all along. He had said nothing here, but quietly told headquarters. If headquarters knew, why would they keep him on the team?

Theo picked up his equipment bag and slung it over his shoulder. He hadn't spoken this much in a long time and was already tired of it, but he wasn't finished.

“Since your heart isn't with SK, there's no reason for you to stay. Your dismissal notice should arrive soon. Headquarters will explain what happened on the official website. Instead of nagging my players, why don't you go back and pack?”

The manager swayed. They were throwing him out? After five years with SK?

“I... I didn't mean to. Getting married costs money, and I didn't have any left, so...”

He met the players' furious, contemptuous eyes and lost the courage to finish.

Mercer, usually cheerful, looked at him with a rare, hard anger. The man had taken a rival team's money and worked in secret to bring down SK and Fin.

Theo glanced at the players. “Come on. Let's get something to eat.”

They straightened instinctively and hurried to collect their bags and jackets.

At the door, Theo remembered something. He looked back at the stunned manager and raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, and were you wondering why I let her win?” A mischievous smile touched his mouth. “It's simple. She's my sister.”

After Theo left the stage, Elise didn't hear a word the host said.

Her brother had still found time to tell her to wait for him after his character fell. He really had let her win. In her previous life, he had never treated her quite like this. She could hardly believe he had been so gentle, much less that he had actually lost on purpose. Her brain seemed to have stopped working.

“Let's get a late dinner before we go home,” Nora said excitedly. “Today was so worth it. We got VIP seats, and then we saw you play Fin! He's so sweet. He deliberately lost to you!”

Jade had explained what happened, and now Nora understood. Fin wasn't one of those foolish guys who cared about winning at any cost. He was kind and gentlemanly. She had admired his looks and his skill before; now she was completely devoted.

Sweet? Her third brother?

“I guess he's okay,” Elise said. “You're exaggerating.”

Hadn't Nora seen him deliberately frighten her?

“It's the first time I've ever seen him lose onstage,” Jade said with a sigh. “He's played spectators before, but he always won. Today he didn't even try to hide that he was letting her win. And watching him play up close... his moves were incredible.”

Jade admired his skill above everything else. If she ever got the chance to play him, she'd be happy even to lose.

Elise turned her head, unable to listen to any more praise. What would they do if they knew Fin was her brother and had arranged to meet her afterward? Would they lose their minds?

They followed the crowd out of the seating area. Elise spotted a sign for B2. She was about to tell her friends to go ahead while she met Theo alone, but after hearing the two of them gush, she changed her mind.

“I saw someone I know here,” she said. “We arranged to meet at the B2 entrance. Will you come with me?”

Jade raised an eyebrow. “You know someone here?”

“Yes.” Elise braced herself.

“Someone you saw onstage?” Nora asked.

Elise nodded. They had done more than see each other; they'd played a game together.

Neither friend wanted her to go alone, so they agreed and walked beside her. Most of the spectators headed straight out of the venue. Along this corridor, they passed only the occasional staff member.

Around a corner, the B2 sign came into view. Five people waited beside it, some sitting and some standing. They wore blue-and-white team jerseys or had them draped over their shoulders. The younger ones looked dispirited; one traced circles on the floor with a toe, while another sat with his head propped in his hand.

Theo leaned loosely against the wall, glancing toward the exits. He had taken the headphones from around his neck and was winding the cord around his fingers.

Elise started toward him. Both her arms were seized at once.

Jade and Nora stared at the group ahead, eyes wide.

“Don't go over there!” Nora whispered. “I want to, but that's SK! What if the staff think we're fans and chase us away?”

“We are fans,” Jade said. “Is this your first time following a celebrity? Your legs are shaking.”

“I'm excited! That's the real SK right there. I'm going to die.”

Elise had brought them precisely so they could meet Fin. They had sounded so eager, yet now neither dared approach.

“It is SK,” she said. “That's all the more reason to go over.” If she didn't, she would be breaking her appointment.

Jade studied her. A possibility occurred to her, and her voice shook. “You arranged to meet your friend here? The person you know... is it one of them?”

Nora went still, then sprang to life. “Elise, you know someone from SK? Who is it? Six or Alger?”

The commotion attracted the players' attention. They leaned together, whispering.

“Which one is the captain's sister?”

“No idea.”

They had gone backstage to reflect on their performance after the match and hadn't seen what the lucky spectator looked like. The manager had told them Fin had let her win. Their captain had gone easy on spectators before, but he had never actually lost. If the girl was his sister, that explained it, although some of them had siblings too, and they didn't spoil them quite like that.

What was Fin's sister like?

Theo turned toward the voices. The headphone cord caught around his fingers as he stopped winding it.

Elise felt embarrassed to have drawn the team's attention. Beside her, Nora and Jade suddenly fell silent. She looked up and found Theo already in front of them, his hands in his pockets.

“I'm the person she knows,” he said.

His hair was slightly untidy. He looked over the three girls, then settled his gaze on Elise. Taking his hands out of his pockets, he bent toward her with a slow smile.

“What took you so long?”

Nora and Jade held their breath. It was Fin. The real Fin! He was the person Elise had come to meet!

Theo bending down to look at her reminded Elise of his sharp tongue in her previous life. She stepped back and looked away. “I came as soon as it ended.”

It hadn't taken that long. Would it kill him to wait a little?

He suppressed a laugh. “So you hurried all the way here to see your brother?”

“No!” She glared at him.

Her reaction delighted him. His gaze dropped deliberately to her slender legs. “Actually, I can understand why it took you so long.”

He was calling her short-legged. Elise took a deep breath and pressed her lips together, resisting the urge to kill him with a look.

Satisfied, Theo straightened and glanced at her friends. “Who are they?”

“My friends,” Elise said reluctantly. “And your... fans.”

She didn't want to give him the satisfaction, especially after he'd just teased her.

Theo had met fans before. The team sometimes brought him merchandise to sign, and he usually greeted fans with a blank expression. He didn't play games to collect admirers. His sister's friends were different, though.

He smiled at them with an almost kindly expression. “You're fans? Did you come to watch the match?”

Nora and Jade clutched each other's hands and nodded hard, unable to speak.

“Thank you for supporting us. Please keep supporting SK. I hope I didn't disappoint you today.”

The polite, practiced words sounded nothing like her brother. Elise stared at him. Since when had he learned to speak like a normal person?

His smile grew warmer. “Would you like autographs? I can sign for you, or I can get those guys to come over too.”

Nora and Jade looked at each other. First the VIP seats, then Elise had been chosen to play onstage, and now they were meeting Fin in person. He was even offering them autographs!

“Both!” they said almost together.

Theo laughed and motioned to the others. The players hurried over and signed one after another. Now they could see that the well-behaved-looking girl in the dress was their captain's sister. As they signed, they got a good look at her and decided that good looks clearly ran in the family.

Nora and Jade beamed over their light boards, now covered in the whole team's signatures. Then the words Theo had used finally caught up with them. Elise's acquaintance was Fin, and he had called himself her brother.

Fin was Elise's biological brother?

They looked at her with envy. He was handsome and one of the best players in esports. How lucky could she be?

Half an hour later, Elise sat in a restaurant beside Theo, facing a row of players sitting as properly as schoolchildren in class. The sight left her a little dazed.

Nora and Jade weren't with them. Theo had politely invited them to the late meal, but both had declined. Of course they wanted to eat with Fin, but he had arranged to meet Elise. Tagging along would have felt intrusive.