The Sport Shooter Missed His Shot, Now a Skater Holds My Heart

“You're seriously ditching Caleb... to manage a bunch of upandcoming rookies instead?"

My friend—HR manager at a rival agency—stared at me like I’d lost my mind.

I kept my voice calm, detached. “I'm getting a divorce.”

Her eyes widened. “Divorce?  But you literally built Caleb’s career. He just won Olympic gold, for God’s sake. After all those years… he never fell for you? He’s the one who asked for the divorce?!”

No. I did.

Though, I’m not even sure Caleb realizes it yet.

Three days ago, I handed him the divorce papers. He barely glanced at them before signing—too busy nursing his precious protégé through a fever. The same girl he can’t seem to stop hovering over.

One week more and I’ll be free.

My friend stared at me like I’d grown two heads. She couldn’t wrap her head around why someone like me—so obviously in love with Caleb Murdaugh—would walk away.

She didn’t know the half of it.

She didn’t know that I was three months pregnant when I was kidnapped. That I was locked in a damp basement, dunked in freezing water for three days straight. My blood mixed with filth until I couldn’t tell one from the other.

And where was the man I’d loved for seven years—married for five?

Winning gold. Standing under a shower of confetti, arms wrapped around his sweet little protégé under the Olympic lights.

At first, I thought Caleb didn’t know. But then Lilith shattered that illusion with a sneer I’ll never forget.

“Oh, Caleb knew you were kidnapped. Lilith had told me, her voice syrupy and cruel. “But all I had to say was I had a headache… and he dropped everything to be with me. So? How’s it feel to lose a baby you were so desperate to keep?"

She’d smiled as she said it. Sent me a photo—one of those private shots. His chest bare, her skin marked with kisses, the bedsheets wrinkled from everything they’d done.

That was the moment I stopped lying to myself.

I was a fire trying to warm stone. Caleb would never melt for me. But for her? He already had.

So I let go.

Outside the café, his car pulled up. His car gleamed under the streetlamp.

I didn’t speak. Not right away. And my silence must have startled him because he asked out of the blue, “That document you had me sign a few days ago… What was that?”

——

I turned to look at him, the man I’d loved fiercely and quietly for so long.

“That was the di—”

“Caleb!”

My words died, sharp and bitter in my throat.

His car’s Bluetooth had automatically picked up an incoming call. And her voice, unmistakably Lilith’s, spilled through the speakers like spiked honey.

“I drank too much… Can you come get me?” she purred.

Caleb’s brow furrowed. His voice tightened. “I’ll send my assistant.”

“I don’t want your assistant,” she whined. “I only want you.”

“Lilith,” he snapped, voice rising with rare frustration, “I’ve told you—I think of you as a sister. That’s never going to change. Don’t say things like that again.”

I knew that tone. He was performing for me. Trying to prove there was nothing between them.

But I didn’t lift my eyes.

“A sister?”

Her giggle was sharp as broken glass. “Do brothers and sisters sleep together now?”

“Enough!” Caleb barked, cutting her off just in time.

She just laughed. “Relax. Fine, if you won’t come… I’ll just find some other man to keep me company.”

“Lilith!”

The irritation on his face morphed into panic. The line went dead and suddenly he looked like he couldn’t breathe.

He turned to me, his expression pleading. “Babe… she’s drunk and alone. I can’t just leave her like that. I’ll go and be back right away. Okay?”

I smiled faintly, voice cool. “Go. I don’t want to get blamed if something happens to her.”

“I…” He faltered, guilt flashing across his face. “I’m sorry.”

He reached for my hand, but I pulled away.

He turned the wheel, heading in the other direction.

When we stopped at a curb, I stepped out. Just before the door shut, I heard him on the phone again.

“Lilith… you never listen to me. What am I supposed to do with you, huh?”

There it was—tenderness. The kind I begged for, waited years for. Given so effortlessly to someone else.

I went home.

Pulled out my suitcase.

Five years of marriage fit into three boxes and a single zipped case.

I still remember the first time I saw Caleb on a shooting range. He was nobody—scrawny, his white shirt faded, straps frayed, but when he raised his rifle, he looked like a blade drawn in battle. Sharp. Focused. Radiant.

I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

He lost that match. I found him later, quietly falling apart behind the bleachers.

That night, I decided to become his agent. I found him sponsors. Bought his ammo. Nursed his tornup hands from overtraining.

He once told me, “If it weren’t for you, I’d have been forgotten on that range forever.”

Two years later, we got married in a quiet civil ceremony.

He never said much. But that night, he held me in the dark and whispered, “I want you by my side. Forever.”

After the wedding, no matter how exhaushing his training day was he’d made time for me. Waited up when I worked late. Took me to the hospital when I got sick. Held my hand and said, “I’m here. Don’t be scared.”

He never said much, but in those quiet gestures, I thought I saw love.

I thought that was all he could give.

Until Lilith showed me otherwise.

She threw tantrums—he caved. She got stomach cramps—he dropped his schedule to cook her porridge himself. Before her competitions, he’d take her to Disneyland, laughing with her on the carousel like they were the only two people in the world.

He gave her the world, his whole heart. Reality slapped me hard as I realize that what I got was just crumbs of his love.

I thought he might change, especially when I got pregnant. But the Olympics proved me wrong.

While I was locked in a nightmare, tortured, bleeding, losing our child…

He was in bed with Lilith.

Lilith sent me pictures. All of them unbearable.

I forced myself to forget. To stop picturing them.

Three more days, I reminded myself. Then it’s over.

I was snapping my suitcase shut when my phone rang.

“Hey, Sabrina. Caleb’s pretty wasted. You should come get him. If you don’t… well, who knows what’s gonna happen.”

Then I heard Lilith’s voice—halfsobbing, halfdrunk.

“Caleb! Just tell me! Do you love me or not?!”

The line cut out.

A teammate texted me the location. I didn’t want to go. But technically, I was still his agent. I couldn’t let an Olympic gold medalist make a scene in public.

When I pushed open the door to the private lounge, the room fell silent.

No more laughter. No more clinking bottles. No more dares being shouted over the music.

I froze for half a second, taking it all in.

There, in the center of the room, Lilith leaned against Caleb’s arm, her lips pouting, voice sugarsweet.

“I lost the game, but I want you to feed me a drink.”

“That’s enough—you’ve had more than enough for one night.”

Caleb’s voice cut through the chatter, low but firm. He didn’t even notice I had entered. He reached over, gently but assertively plucking the shot glass out of Lilith’s hand. Without a second thought, he tossed the drink back himself.

A chorus of whoops and whistles erupted around him.

So, this was it—an impromptu celebration thrown by the training team. Caleb hadn’t planned to come. He’d promised to stay home with me tonight. But somehow, Lilith had talked him into showing up anyway.

Someone finally noticed me standing there, awkward and quiet in the doorway.

“Oh hey—Sabrina’s here!” one of them blurted, trying too hard to sound casual.

Lilith’s smile froze for half a second before she turned, lips curling like she’d just spotted fresh meat. “Welcome to our little gettogether, Sabrina,” she said, her voice sugary sweet, dragging the last word out just a little too long. Her eyes swept over me with a lazy kind of challenge.

I drew a breath, pasted on a polite smile. “Didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No, no, you’re not!” someone chimed in, a little too enthusiastically. “Come sit! Caleb said he was staying home to be with you, but we dragged him out anyway—sorry about that! You two should sit together.”

Before I could decline, Caleb pulled out the chair beside him. “Sit down,” he said softly.

I could tell he was trying to tread carefully—nervous, even. He knew how I felt about him drinking in public. He was an Olympic gold medalist now—every move scrutinized by the press. I’d warned him time and again: don’t let the tabloids catch you off guard.

In the past, I would’ve scolded him, lectured him quietly but firmly. But tonight, I said nothing. Not a word.

And that silence unsettled him.

I sat beside him, my spine stiff. I hadn’t even caught my breath when Lilith walked over, holding a fresh drink in her hand.

“Let’s have a toast, shall we?” she said, her tone overly friendly.

“I don’t drink,” I replied coldly.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” she said, leaning closer. “You’re already here.”

Her voice dropped to a whisper, just loud enough for me to hear.

“You got the photo I sent, right? Your husband’s incredible in bed. While you were off sobbing over your dead baby, I was moaning under him. Maybe I’ll carry the next one.”

That wound—the baby I lost—was something I didn’t even let myself touch. It lived buried in the darkest part of me. But Lilith had found it. And she ripped it open with glee.

Something in me cracked wide open.

I jerked up, reaching to shove her away, but before I could touch her, she gasped—stumbling backward—spilling her drink dramatically down her blouse.

“What the hell, Sabrina?!” she screeched. “You splashed me?!

“Don’t pin your clumsiness on me!” I snapped, voice rising. “You did that yourself—”

“What the hell is your problem, Sabrina?”

Caleb was on his feet in an instant, his expression thunderous. He stepped in front of Lilith like a shield, glaring at me.

“Lilith didn’t do anything to you! She’s just drunk,—and you splashed drink on her– practically humiliated her in front of everyone! You’re being crazy!”

I froze, my chest caving in.

“I’m crazy?” My voice cracked, laced with disbelief and rising anger. “You really think I’d do something like that for no reason?”

“But you just did,” Caleb snapped. His jaw clenched. “I saw it. We all did.”

He didn’t even try to hide the rage burning in his eyes—or the fact that he automatically positioned himself between us, like I was the threat.

“Why are you always targeting her? She’s just a teammate—my junior, for God’s sake! This kind of behavior is gonna make me—”

“Make you what?” I cut in, my voice shaking.

Caleb stiffened. I saw the sudden hitch in his breathing, but he kept his mouth clamped shut for a moment. Then he let out a slow breath, like he was forcing himself to stay calm.

“Just get a grip, okay? I know you’ve been emotionally fragile since the miscarriage. Lilith and I are just teammates. But you’re acting like some hysterical jealous girlfriend, making a scene in public. It’s—embarrassing.”

I let out a bitter laugh, but it caught in my throat. The weight of disappointment and humiliation crashed down on me like a wave.

“Caleb, that contract you signed a few days ago. It was—”

“Now’s not the time for that, damn it!” he snapped. “You messed up tonight. Just take some damn responsibility for once!”

He didn’t even look at me as he turned and scooped Lilith into his arms.

He carried her out the door.

Silence fell like a curtain. The other athletes exchanged awkward glances.

“Uh… Sabrina,” one of them offered hesitantly. “You might’ve gone a bit far just now. I mean, Lilith’s just his junior, you know?”

“Yeah,” another chimed in. “He’s always been so good to you. Don’t blow it all up over something small.”

“Come on, just go talk to him, apologize. It’s not worth ruining everything.”

I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms.

They kept trying to get me to apologize. To calm down. To smooth things over.

I left the room and stepped toward the restrooms.

Then I passed a room with the door slightly ajar.

I heard voices coming from the room—low, intimate.

“Lilith, please don’t cry,” Caleb’s voice was soft, pleading. “It’s killing me to see you like this…”

“Then kiss me,” she whispered. “Just once. And I’ll stop crying…”

There was silence.

Then the sound of a kiss—quiet, unmistakable.

I pushed open the door.

Lilith was clinging to him, her lips brushing his.

Caleb’s face went pale. “Sabrina—wait—it’s not what it looks like. She’s drunk. I didn’t want to hurt her by shoving her off.”

I let out a cold laugh. “You’re a grown man, Caleb. You couldn’t manage to push her off?”

He flinched like I’d slapped him.

Just as he finally shoved Lilith away, clearly trying to explain, she let out a scream.

“Ow! My ankle… I think it’s twisted…”

Caleb hesitated, his brows pinching together in guilt. “Damn. I—I didn’t mean to push that hard. I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

There it was again. With Lilith around, my emotions were always forced to come second.

I said nothing more. Just turned and walked away.

He moved like he wanted to follow, but Lilith tugged on his sleeve—and he stayed.

That night, Caleb never came home. I didn’t even bother wondering where he was.

The next morning, I went straight to the training center and handed in my resignation.

This place—this building where I’d spent countless sleepless nights by Caleb’s side—where I watched him bleed and blister, where he clawed his way back to the top—now felt like a tomb.

“You’re really leaving?” one of my teammates asked, eyebrows knit with disbelief.

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “Seven years is long enough. Time for me to stop.”

“Does Caleb know?”

“I’ll tell him.” I offered a small, empty smile.

After I submitted the paperwork to administration, I stepped outside and exhaled, like I’d finally put down a weight I’d carried for years.

But just as I reached the exit, Lilith blocked my path.

“Leaving already?” she asked sweetly. “Here to watch Caleb train?”

“Move.” I wasn’t in the mood.

“Aww, don’t go just yet.” She lifted a training air gun and twirled it in her hand like a toy. “Want me to teach you how to use this? It’s actually fun. You’ve been with Caleb for years, right? Funny how you still don’t know how to use the thing he loves most.”

“I’m not interested,” I said flatly, trying to step around her.

But she slid right back in front of me, grinning like a child with a secret.

“Come on, don’t be boring. How are you two supposed to have anything in common if you don’t even get his world?” She leaned in, voice laced with venom. “Face it—you and Caleb were never a match. I’m the one who truly gets him. I’m the one who loves him.”

I stared at her, my voice dry. “Men always seem better when you steal them, huh?”

That hit a nerve. Her smile faltered, but only for a second.

“Well,” she huffed, “I didn’t say that. But Caleb did. Every time we’re together, he says you don’t understand him. That you’re oldfashioned. Boring.”

“You know Lilith, I think it’s better just shut up because then you’ll sound less dumb.”

She only smiled wider. “Angry now, are you? Then just take the gun. See how our worlds feel like.” She shoved it toward me.

I instinctively stepped back. But…

Bang!

The gun went off with a sharp crack, the sound slicing through the air like a whip. The echo made my heart stop.

Lilith shrieked. The gun fell from her hands. A red welt was rising on her skin.

Luckily, it had been unloaded. Just a misfire. If it had been a live round… her hand might’ve been ruined.

I stood frozen, ears ringing.

Across the training center, Caleb came running like the building was on fire.

“Lilith! What happened?!”

He skidded to a stop beside her. The second he saw the red mark on her skin, his face drained of all color.

“Caleb…” Lilith whimpered, grabbing his arm, tears spilling like she’d rehearsed them. “I just wanted to show Sabrina how to use the gun… But she to grab it and I—I lost my grip…”

“You shoved it at me!” I snapped. “You fired that thing!”

“Sabrina!” Caleb barked, turning to me, rage flashing in his eyes like lightning. “How long are you going to keep this up?!”

I laughed bitterly, pointing straight at Lilith. “She came at me with that gun. I never even touched her!”

Lilith burst into sobs, cradling her hand. “Sabrina, I know you don’t like me, but why would you do this? I was just trying to be nice.”

Caleb’s expression darkened. He bent, picked up the gun and turned it toward me—pointed it at me.

I froze. The air thinned.

His eyes were cold. Unfamiliar.

His eyes were cold. Unfamiliar. Like I was looking at a stranger wearing my husband’s skin.

“Is this a joke to you?!”

“You think I’d believe an athlete—an Olympianintraining—would accidentally pull the trigger?” His voice was low, dangerous. “Do you have any idea what it means if her hand is injured? What it could cost her career?”

My throat burned. “I told you—I never touched the gun!” I met his eyes, fury hot in my chest. “You believe her? Just like that?”

Caleb let out a bitter laugh, the kind that sounded like it hurt on the way out.

“You think Lilith would lie about this? She’s a nationallevel competitor. If her hand’s ruined, can you pay that price?!”

“So now what?” My voice cracked. “You’re gonna point a gun at me? Caleb—I’m your wife. Five years!”

He didn’t answer. His finger twitched.

Bang!

A plastic training round tore past my face. Heat exploded along the side of my head. A sharp, blinding pain bloomed in my ear.

I stumbled back, hand flying up.

Blood. My fingers came away red.

Caleb’s hand trembled slightly, as if even he hadn’t expected the shot to land.

He straightened, masking it behind a chilling calm. “Don’t mess around with things you don’t understand. That was just a warning.”

I laughed. It came out broken and tears blurred my vision.

“You’re right,” I whispered. “I don’t understand guns… and I sure as hell don’t understand you!”

Caleb flinched. For a brief second, something flickered in his eyes. Regret, maybe. Too late.

ER Waiting Room

The antiseptic air stung worse than the wound. I sat on a stiff plastic bench, ears ringing like a swarm of bees had taken up residence in my skull.

“Miss? Can you hear me?” The doctor leaned in, raising his voice.

I blinked, then nodded slowly.

“You’ve got a surface burn near the ear. You’re lucky—it didn’t rupture anything, but you’ll have ringing for a few days. Might scar, though.”

My fingers hovered near the wound. It was warm. Wet. Pain bloomed at the slightest touch.

“Do you have anyone we can call?”

My mind blanked, until all I could see was the image of Caleb walking away, Lilith clinging to him.

I felt something tear open in my chest.

I gave a soft laugh, bitter as ash. “They’re all dead.”

The doctor froze. Clearly, he didn’t know how to respond.

I smiled faintly, waved him off. “Just wrap me up. I’ll manage.”

When I stepped out of the room, I passed by another door left halfopen.

Lilith’s voice drifted out—fragile, pleading.

“What if… what if I can’t shoot again, Caleb? What if my hand’s ruined? What will I do?”

His voice followed, low and steady. “Hey, it’s gonna be okay. It’s a minor injury. You’ll recover.”

“But I’m scared…” Her voice cracked. “If I lose this… will you think I’m worthless? I won’t even deserve to stand beside you anymore.”

He sighed, voice softening. “Of course not. I’d never think that.”

He never asked if I was okay. Never looked for me. But here he was—soothing her like she was porcelain.

I turned to leave. But then—Lilith’s voice again, hesitant.

“Caleb… would you ever consider… letting me take over as your manager? I don’t need to be your wife. But can’t I stay by your side… even just as that?”

There was a pause.

Caleb murmured something I couldn’t make out.

And then—Lilith’s soft, triumphant laughter.

“I just want to stay near you, Caleb. You know I’d do anything for you…”

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

A text from my lawyer: Divorce finalized. Papers filed.

I exhaled slowly, then pulled the envelope from my bag and placed it at the threshold of their room.

When I walked out of that hospital, I didn’t look back. I went home, grabbed my bags and booked a oneway ticket out of the city.

“Caleb, let’s pretend I never walked into that shooting range seven years ago.”

“Let’s pretend we never met.”

The faint scent of antiseptic lingered in the hospital air.

Lilith sat at the edge of the cot, voice trembling but urgent. “Caleb, I’m not asking to be your wife. But… can’t I be your manager? I just want to stay with you…”

Caleb’s jaw tightened. His eyes met hers—deep, conflicted.

Then, slowly, he shook his head.

“No, Lilith. She’s the only one I want as my manager.”

Lilith froze. Tears welled, clinging to her lashes.

“You mean… Sabrina?”

“She’s the one I chose,” he said firmly. “I promised her. That role doesn’t belong to anyone else.”

Lilith looked like she’d been slapped. She couldn’t understand. Even after everything, after he’d hurt me himself—he still wouldn’t let go of me.

Caleb dropped his gaze, rubbing at the rough calluses on his palm.

He thought back to the first time we met.

He’d been nobody. A noname kid with a secondhand rifle and no one who believed in him—not his coach, not his family. They all thought it was a waste of time.

It was a blazing hot summer. He’d just bombed a national qualifier, missed three rings in a row. Defeated, he wandered off the range and sat on the back steps alone, ready to quit.

That’s when I found him.

“You giving up already?” I had asked, standing there in a white shirt, calm but steady.

He looked up, stunned.

“Your hand’s steady,” I’d said. “You just need someone to show you how to use it.”

Then I held out my hand. “Let me be your manager. Let’s build a champion together.”

And just like that, he believed.

From that day forward, there was only me.

Back in the present, his eyes sharpened. “Lilith, you don’t understand. Sabrina stood by me through hell. She’s the reason I made it this far.”

Lilith’s lips trembled. “But… during the Olympics, those nights—you and me—didn’t that mean anything?”

“That was a mistake!” Caleb’s voice cracked like thunder. “I was drunk. I thought you were her. Lilith, I’ve never seen you as anything but a little sister. Stop pushing this.”

Her body trembled.

Tears spilled. “A sister? Do you let your sister hold you like this? Whisper to them like this?”

He hesitated, clearly wanting to leave.

But then Lilith threw herself at him, arms wrapping tight around his waist.

“Please! I know I’m not her. I’m not asking for love or titles. Just let me stay by your side. Don’t push me away…”

Caleb froze—arms suspended in midair.

But he didn’t push her off.

Just then, the examination room door creaked open.

“Mr. Murdaugh, Miss Ashmore,” the nurse said gently, poking her head in. “The next doctor’s ready for shift change.”

The tension in the room shattered like glass.

Caleb blinked as if snapping out of a trance, then released Lilith. His voice was calm, flat. “Come on. Let’s get your scan done.”

Lilith didn’t answer. She kept her head low, eyes glossy, shoulders slumped like a kicked dog.

They walked out one after another, the silence between them thick enough to choke on. But just as Caleb stepped through the door, something crinkled beneath his shoe.

A stack of papers, scattered across the floor like fallen leaves.

He paused.

The top page was white, creased at the corners, I’d held it so long it had molded to my grip. But it wasn’t the paper that made him freeze—it was the red ink, the familiar curves of two signatures that punched the air out of his lungs.

Caleb stooped down, picked it up.

His gaze locked on the title.

Divorce Agreement.

Time stopped. The letters seemed to blur.

He scanned the page, breath caught somewhere between his ribs.

The date. Signed… seven days ago.

His hand trembled. The document nearly slipped through his fingers.

That was the day I came back from hell. The day I walked out of the hospital with bruises still blooming and resolve already planted.

I’d made up my mind.

His pulse roared in his ears and before he could even think, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Caleb fumbled it out, answering without looking.

“Hello?”

“Caleb, it’s me,” his coach said, a weary edge in his voice. “I just got notified. Sabrina handed in her resignation this morning. I tried to talk her out of it, but she was firm. From now on, you’ll be sharing an agent with the other athletes.”

The floor dropped out from under him.

“I thought you two had talked,” the coach said, confused. “She said she wouldn’t be managing your sponsorships anymore—that someone from the agency would take over.”

“That’s not possible!” His voice rose, raw and furious. “She wouldn’t just quit—she wouldn’t do that without telling me!”

“Hey—Caleb, calm down,” the coach said quickly. “Look, I was surprised too, but she looked… resolute. Like she’d made that decision long ago.”

Caleb's vision blurred. His lungs struggled to keep pace with the wild hammering of his heart. He turned on his heel and stormed down the corridor, voice tight with panic as he barked at the front desk nurse.

“The woman who came in earlier—the one who had her ear bandaged. Where is she?”

The nurse blinked at his tone, startled. “Miss Hartley? She left already. About half an hour ago.”

He stared at the divorce papers in his hand, her signature clean and deliberate. It sliced straight through his chest.

Seven days ago.

I made up my mind seven days ago.

Why?

Because he hadn’t once said my name on that podium.

Because when cameras flashed, he held her.

Because when the world was watching, he let them believe she was the one.

He staggered back, heart threatening to claw out of his chest. His fingers moved on instinct, pulling up her contact. He pressed call.

One ring.

Then the cold voice of the operator punched him in the face.

“We’re sorry. The number you’ve dialed has blocked your call.”

Caleb stood there in stunned silence.

Blocked?

She’d blocked him?

His jaw clenched. Eyes reddening, he gripped the phone like he could crush it in his palm.

“Sabrina… you blocked me?” he whispered. “You actually blocked me…”