Chapter One: The Farewell Letter

Eighteen years took one morning to delete from a database. In the car park, Lin put the box into his seven-year-old Volvo. His phone held ninety-seven messages: stunned former teammates, reporters asking about “the brutality of elite academies,” and an agent listing four offers. The best paid one hundred and twenty thousand pounds a year. Then an old name appeared. Danny Ward: Heard the news. At least they gave you a letter. Danny had once been Lin's closest friend. At fifteen, they combined for forty-one academy goals. At nineteen, Danny destroyed his knee. Bluehaven emptied his locker and sent no physio. Their last meeting had been in a hospital corridor. “If they stop wanting you,” Danny had asked, “will you still call it home?”