The baby my stepbrother never expected
BLURB
"You belong to me, Elena. Do you hear me? You belong to me."
Those words used to make her heart race. Now they made her stomach turn.
Elena Caruso spent four years hiding a forbidden secret with her stepbrother, Matteo Romano. Secret touches behind locked doors. Stolen kisses in dark hallways. A love so dangerous it could destroy two families overnight.
Then she overheard the truth.
Every whisper, every embrace, every promise he ever made was a calculated act of revenge against her mother for marrying into the Romano family.
Heartbroken and desperate to protect her mother from a devastating scandal, Elena did the only thing she could. She repaid every cent the Romano family ever spent on her, left a farewell letter on her desk, and disappeared to Florence without looking back.
"You don't need to be scared anymore," Adriano murmured, his dark eyes locking onto hers with fierce intensity. "You are in my city now."
A new city. A new man. A fresh start Elena never thought she deserved.
But Matteo Romano does not let go easily.
"I was lying to my friends that night, Elena. Every word I said was a lie."
He followed her across the country. He fought for her in ways he never did before. And standing between them was Valentina, the woman who shattered her father's ashes on cemetery steps and smiled while doing it.
One woman wants him at any cost. The other already paid the price of loving him once.
Now Elena faces an impossible choice between the man who broke her and the man who saved her. But when a dangerous secret grows inside her, the decision is no longer just about her heart.
Some loves you choose.
Others choose you.
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Chapter: Chapter fiveELENA'S POV I knelt on the cold grass, my shredded knees stinging through my jeans. I scooped carefully at the tiny handful of gray ash that had not blown away in the wind and put it inside the new stone container.“I am so sorry, Dad,” I thought, hot tears dripped off my chin. “Sorry for loving the wrong person all these years. I am sorry I could not save what little remains of you.”When I finally got home at sunset my hands were bloody and my heart was completely numb. I climbed the stairs, locked the door to my bedroom and set about erasing every last trace of my secret life with Matteo. I took my old paper diary from under my mattress, threw it into a metal trash can and burned the pages with a lighter until there was nothing left but black smoke. I grabbed a trash bag and tossed every expensive necklace, perfume bottle and birthday gift I’d ever bought him. Finally, I took out my sharp scissors and cut every hidden picture of us together into tiny, unrecognizable strips.An hou
Last Updated: 2026-07-22
Chapter: Chapter fourELENA’S POVThe second Valentina finished telling me about her wedding plans, my phone buzzed in my lap.It was a notice from my bank. The whole two hundred thousand dollars had just hit my account. Just beneath the bank alert was a text message from Valentina.”I paid you in full, Elena!Thanks for the great photos of me and my fiancé kissing. I cannot wait to print them and show Matteo how beautifully you captured our love.”I stared at the bright screen with only cold relief. I wrote a simple one-word reply: "Received."I pulled out my banking app and quickly transferred the payment to my main savings account. The last number on the screen updated. Three million dollars. I had finally reached my goal. I had every cent I needed to pay back the Romano family for everything they had paid for me in the last decade. A private, small smile flickered across my lips. I slipped away from the dinner table, went upstairs to change into a plain black dress and went out for farewell drinks with m
Last Updated: 2026-07-22
Chapter: Chapter threeELENA’S POVUncle Marco’s voice boomed across the front of the ballroom crowd. He laughed with delight and clapped his hands. "Y'all, we gotta start planning a wedding soon!"His joke about wedding planning made me snap back to attention. My mind was sliding into a cold numb daze but I quickly raised my heavy camera back to my eye. I snapped the shutter just in time to get the shot of the kiss, the exact moment the lips met under the bright lights. The instant the flash went off, Valentina moved away from him. With practiced shyness she waved the cheering crowd away, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear as her cheeks flushed a soft pink.A little while later when the main speeches were over I walked downstairs to the main floor with my heavy camera bags. My legs were weak and shaky from hours of standing still, but I forced myself to walk straight. I saw my mother by the great dessert table, talking pleasantly with Valentina, who was drinking a glass of punch.Uncle Marco ar
Last Updated: 2026-07-22
Chapter: Chapter twoELENA’S POVMy bad fever finally broke after three long days in bed. My body still felt weak and tired from getting soaked in the cold rain. Even so, my mind was wide awake. I pulled out my notebook, pulled out my calculator, and began to jot down numbers. I wanted to find out exactly what the Romano family spent on me in the last ten years.I pushed the calculator keys. “Let’s see,” I whispered to myself. “Four years of private high school tuition, three years of university tuition, art supplies and my camera gear.”I added up the share of groceries, utility bills and everyday living expenses since my mother married Uncle Marco 10 years ago. I pressed the equals button and the last number stared back at me from the small screen.Three million bucks.A weight fell upon my chest and a sense of foreboding came over me. I hurriedly reckoned up my own assets. My small life insurance inheritance from my late dad, proceeds from selling our old family home, and my own savings from side jobs.
Last Updated: 2026-07-22
Chapter: Chapter 1ELENA’S POV“I got in,” I said, clutching my acceptance letter. “I got into the study abroad program in Florence. I move out in ten days.”My mother gasped, letting her spoon fall to the table. “Florence? Oh, honey, that’s wonderful! But why does it go so fast? Ten days is not really enough time to pack."Uncle Marco smiled and leaned his coffee on the counter. That's good news, kid. "It's going to be a great adventure.”"An open spot came up late, and I took it right away," I said with a forced smile." You know, " my mother said with excitement, " my friend Sophia's son is studying over there too. You know Leo, right? We always joked that you two were made for each other when you were kids. “You'd better get in touch with him.”“Okay, Ma. I was numb. I’ll message him,” I said.My mother cocked her head. “So does that mean you and your boyfriend broke up? You haven't mentioned him in months.”The door swung open. My stepbrother Matteo walked into the kitchen and dropped his keys on
Last Updated: 2026-07-22
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