Chapter 4: The Sound of Shattered Ice<\/p>\n
Chloe\u2019s own voice, crisp, entitled, and unmistakable, boomed through the Starlight Arena.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t care how you do it, Dr. Evans. Swap the urine samples in the transit cooler. Put the metabolites in her protein powder. Just make sure Harper\u2019s name is on a positive test before the Gala.\u201d
\nA man\u2019s voice\u2014the Chief Medical Officer of the Federation\u2014answered on the recording, sounding terrified. \u201cChloe, if WADA audits the chain of custody, we\u2019re both ruined. And what about the judging panel?\u201d
\nChloe\u2019s recorded voice laughed, a chilling, careless sound that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. \u201cMy father took care of the judges. Three of them got their offshore deposits yesterday. They\u2019ll underscore her components. If she still manages to out-jump me, the doping scandal will strip her of the gold anyway. Just do your job.\u201d
\nThe audio clicked off.
\nThe four hundred athletes, officials, and eighteen thousand guests were paralyzed, trapped in a nightmare they had bought premium tickets for.
\n\u201cYou set me up,\u201d Chloe hissed, her composure shattering into raw, venomous hatred. She pointed a trembling finger at me, but her hand was shaking so badly she could barely keep it straight.
\n\u201cYou spent months planting stories, Chloe,\u201d I said, my voice steady, projecting to the VIP boxes. \u201cI spent months cooperating with the World Anti-Doping Agency and Interpol.\u201d
\nAs if summoned by the name, the heavy security gates at the far end of the rink swung open.
\nA dozen men and women in dark windbreakers bearing federal and international insignias stepped out onto the ice. They wore heavy grip-shoes, marching over the pristine surface with a grim, militaristic purpose that destroyed the illusion of the graceful Gala.
\nThe crowd parted for them. No one breathed.
\nThe lead investigator walked straight past the stunned elite, his eyes fixed on Chloe.
\n\u201cChloe Sterling,\u201d he said, flashing a badge. \u201cYou are under investigation for sports fraud, bribery, and tampering with international athletic testing protocols.\u201d
\nChloe staggered back as if she had been slapped. Her skates wobbled. She looked up toward the glass-enclosed VIP box hovering over center ice.
\n\u201cDad!\u201d she screamed, her voice cracking into a pathetic, terrified whine. \u201cDad, do something! Tell them this is a misunderstanding. Fix it!\u201d
\nEvery camera lens in the stadium pivoted upward, zooming in on Richard Sterling, the billionaire President of the World Skating Federation. He was standing at the edge of the glass, his face flushed a dangerous, mottled red.
\nHe hadn\u2019t built a sports empire by playing fair, but he also hadn\u2019t built it by sinking with a sinking ship. He understood, with terrifying clarity, what the presence of Interpol meant. It meant I wasn\u2019t bluffing. It meant they already had the bank records.
\nRichard reached for the microphone on the podium in his suite.
\nThe entire world held its breath to see how a king would save his princess.
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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