He used to chase a ball. Now he runs from who he’s become.

Since the day Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. left Al-Nassr, he hadn’t been the same.

At first, it was just silence. He didn’t respond to Nawaf’s texts. He left Mekky on delivered. He told himself he needed to focus, to adjust, that he wasn’t ignoring them—just moving forward.

But the truth was... he was already slipping.

The new city welcomed him like a snake. Cold. Glossy. Twisted. It didn’t care that he was Ronaldo’s son. In fact, that made him a target.

So when a boy with a cracked tooth and blood under his nails pulled him into a corner and offered him a cigarette with a grin, Junior took it. And then came the nights. The cars. The girls. The darkness.

It started with small things. Sneaking out. Fighting. Then came the games.

They were never innocent. And the “family” he’d been pulled into didn’t believe in rules. They believed in control.

One of the boys—Leon—had a history no one dared ask about. His basement was soundproofed. Girls came in. They didn’t always come out the same.

Junior watched. Said nothing. Until he stopped feeling sick about it.

“This one’s yours,” Leon told him one night, nodding toward a girl in the back. Her wrists were red. Her voice, gone. “She looks your type. Quiet. Scared.”

Junior’s jaw tensed. That name—Junior—felt so far away. Who was he now?

The worst part? This wasn’t new. It was his fourth time.

He looked at her. And for the first time in months, something broke inside him. Her eyes reminded him of Nawaf’s little sister. The way she looked when she used to wave goodbye after training.

He couldn’t do this. Not again.

He backed away. Lit a cigarette with shaking fingers.

“You good?” Leon asked.

Junior exhaled. The smoke blurred his face like a mask. “I’m fine.”

But he wasn’t.

He was a ghost wearing someone else's name.

He missed the boy who used to laugh at memes, chase goals, and blush around girls.

But he didn’t know how to go back. Not after everything he’d done.

And worst of all?

If his dad ever found out…

He’d stop calling him Junior too.