His Dangerous Love On Ice Chapter 106: Olive's Pov

Hopkins Enterprise looked normal when I arrived.

Same glass building. Same security guard at the front. The same people moved through the lobby as if it were just another Thursday afternoon.

But something felt wrong. Off. Like the calm before a storm.

I took the elevator to the executive floor, my heels clicking against the marble as I walked toward Grayson's office.

His assistant, Margaret, looked up when I approached.

"He's waiting for you," she said, her expression unreadable. "Go right in."

I took a deep breath, knocked once, and waited before entering.

Grayson was standing at his window, back to the door, hands clasped behind him in a way that suggested he was thinking through something complicated.

"You wanted to see me?" I said.

He turned, and I was struck by how tired he looked. Older. Like what had happened aged him overnight.

"Sit down, Olive," he said.

I sat. He remained standing.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"We have a problem," he said bluntly. "A big one. Someone's trying to buy controlling interest in Hopkins Enterprise."

My stomach dropped. "What?"

"Three board members received offers yesterday," Grayson continued. "Substantial offers. Enough to make them seriously consider selling their shares. If they do, whoever's behind this will have enough voting power to remove me as CEO."

"Who?" I demanded. "Who's trying to buy them out?"

"That's the problem," Grayson said. "I don't know. The offers came through a shell corporation. Multiple layers of protection. Whoever's behind this doesn't want to be identified."

"But you have suspicions," I said.

"Of course I have suspicions," Grayson said, his voice bitter. "The timing is too convenient. Right after we partnered with Mercer Company. Right after your relationship with Zane became public. Right after—" He stopped, jaw tightening.

"You think Zane's behind this," I said flatly.

"I think someone connected to Zane is behind this," Grayson corrected. "Maybe his father. Maybe someone else in the Mercer family. But the timing suggests this is related to our partnership. To you and Zane. To all of it."

I wanted to defend Zane. Wanted to say he wouldn't do this.

But after what had just happened between us, after he'd made it clear I was just temporary, could I really be sure what he was capable of?

"What does this mean?" I asked. "If they sell?"

"It means I lose control of my own company," Grayson said. "The company I built from nothing. The company that's been in this family for eight years. And it means whoever takes over will have power over all of us. Over your job. Over your mother's investments. Over everything. I can't allow the same thing to happen to me again. I can't allow the Mercer Company take what's mine. Even if they are related to this or not. Can't allow them watch me lose. To fail, Olive."

That last part caught my attention. "Again?"

"Will you tell me what they did?" I asked quietly. "Why do you hate Zane so much? The real reason, not just the corporate rivalry?"

Grayson stared at me for a long moment, and I saw something shift in his eyes—like he was remembering something painful, something he'd buried for years.

The way his hands clenched on the desk, I knew it wasn't something ordinary.

"Ten years ago," he started, his voice tight, "I had been a coach. And not just a coach. I was quite popular. Successful. On track to become one of the youngest VPs in NHL history."

He paused, jaw working.

"But everything was wiped from the records the day I fell," he continued. "The last game was supposed to be my final game as a coach. Because I was going to contest for the VP position for the NHL. And this position was also being contested by Gary Mercer—you know him as William, but I knew him as Gary. We were..." He stopped, the word seeming to choke him. "We were best friends."

My eyes widened. I'd never known that. Never even suspected.

"Best friends?" I repeated.

"Since college," Grayson confirmed, and his teeth gritted like the words were poison. "We built our careers together. Supported each other through everything. I was going to be his best man at his wedding. He was godfather to—" He stopped, shook his head. "It doesn't matter now. What matters is that Gary wasn't happy that I was contesting for the same position as him. And he knew I'd win. I would have won. Everyone knew I was the most capable candidate."

"What did he do?" I asked, though I was afraid of the answer.

"Gary, the conniving bastard, went behind my back and plotted against me," Grayson said, his voice shaking with barely controlled rage. "Framed me for embezzlement. Made it look like I'd been stealing from the league for years. Planted evidence, bribed officials, paid off witnesses. He destroyed me systematically and thoroughly."

I felt sick.

"That was enough to terminate my career in the game," Grayson continued. "As a coach and as an opponent for the VP position. Gary ended up becoming the new VP while my career was destroyed, my image ruined, and my name dragged through the mud. I was lucky—due to my previous good records in the game—that I wasn't sent to jail. But I lost everything else. My reputation. My friends. My future in hockey."

"How did you..." I trailed off.

"It took me years to start building up again," Grayson said. "Your mother came into my life during the darkest period. She helped me out and believed in me when no one else did. Pushed me to create my own company. The Hopkins Enterprise you see today—I built it from nothing, with her support, to prove that Gary Mercer couldn't destroy me completely."

He looked at me directly now, and I saw the full weight of his hatred.

"I don't just hate Gary," he said. "I hate his family and everything he has, including Zane. And I don't trust that kid. Because he's like his father. Or could be like him. The same ruthlessness. The same willingness to destroy anyone who gets in his way."

"Zane isn't—" I started.

"Isn't he? Yes, I knew I supported your relationship the last time you came to the house, but…" Grayson challenged. "Look at what's happening right now, Olive. My company is under attack. Just like Gary attacked me ten years ago. The pattern is the same. The methods are the same. And the only new variable is Zane Mercer entering our lives."

I wanted to argue. Wanted to defend Zane.

But I couldn't. Not after this morning. Not after he'd made it clear I meant nothing to him beyond a two-month arrangement.