MasukGabriel's POV The steps to that podium felt like walking to my own funeral. I was shaking. Not the kind of shaking where you are nervous, but the kind where your body is actively trying to shut down. The crowd was a blur of expensive dresses and fake smiles. My mom, looking so proud she could burst, and Mr. Miller, the guy who just married into our lives to ruin them.I gripped the sides of the microphone. It was cold. I opened my mouth. I had it all planned out. I was going to tell them, the whole truth I just witnessed.A hand clamped onto my shoulder. It wasn't a grab, it was a vice. Derek. He leaned in, and his breath was hot against my ear."What do you think you want to say?"I tried to shrug him off, but he held me there. "I have an announcement," I hissed. My voice was cracking. I hated how small I sounded.He smirked. I could feel it against my neck. "Zip it, Gabe. We are leaving, we have a party to attend."He dragged me off that stage before I could get another word out.
Gabriel's POV He didn’t care. The look on his face that dead eyed, hungry look it wasn't about love or even lust. It was about owning me and humiliating me anytime. His hands were everywhere, cold and firm, and when he grabbed my belt, the click of the metal sounded like a gunshot in his room."Derek, stop," I gasped. My voice was trash, shaky, pathetic. I was pushing against his shoulders, but it was like trying to shove a wall over. "This is a sin. We are stepbrothers. Stop."He didn’t even blink. He just dragged my pants down, his fingers rough against my skin, my boxers following suit. My head was spinning. My ribs were throbbing, his weight was crushing me against the door, and the worst part, the part that made me want to scream was that my body didn't give a damn about this sin. I was hard, I was fucking hard. My body was betraying me, betraying us, because of some sick, fucked up chemical reaction I couldn't control."Sin?" He laughed. It was low, right against my ear, vi
Gabriel's POV The knock stopped.I stood there, frozen, my hands pressed against the wood of the door like I was trying to push the sound away. The house felt huge and empty all of a sudden. I heard footsteps walking closer, slow deliberate. They were familiar footsteps, exactly Derek's pace."Dad? What are you doing at the front of my room?"I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding. My knees felt like jelly. I just needed to get out. I needed to go downstairs, find a corner, and just... exist without having a panic attack. They should just leave the hallway pleaseeee."Oh," Mr. Miller’s voice sounded weirdly tight. "I thought you were in there. Let me go downstairs now."Footsteps faded. I waited a second, then two, then five. My heart was still hammering, like a bird hitting a window. I straightened my tie in the reflection of the glass. My hair was a mess. My face looked pale, like I was about to faint. I forced a smile fake, ugly, whatever and unlocked the door.I swun
Gabriel's POV I stared at my phone screen until my eyes burned. Refresh. Nothing. Refresh again. Still nothing. The video was gone. The group chats were quiet. Like it never happened. Like I never got dragged across that club floor or had someone’s boot against my ribs. I should have felt relieved. Instead, I just felt sick. Derek hadn't deleted it because he cared about my feelings or because he was sorry. He deleted it because the Miller name couldn't have a stain on it. I was just the stain he needed to wash out. The truth should have been out. Everybody knew I was being bullied and almost murdered by Connor but no one was saying the actual truth of what happened. I tossed the phone onto my desk and crawled into bed, my ribs still aching with every breath. I wanted to just turn my brain off. But of course, that didn’t happen. The door creaked open. Derek. I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt. Couldn’t he just leave me alone for five minutes? "How do you do, brother?" he said.
Gabriel's POVThe car ride back was a funeral procession for my pride. Brandon had stormed out, slamming the door so hard I thought the glass would spiderweb, and now it was just the hum of the engine and the sound of Derek’s breathing.Brandon had been a fool, of course. He thought he could pull the boyfriend card on a guy who didn't even see people as human, let alone equals."So, you are just going to keep me quiet, huh?" Brandon had spat, his voice trembling with a mix of rage and genuine hurt. "You did what with this... this ugly duckling? You dragged him into our life and now you are acting like I am the one out of line?"Derek hadn't even flicked an eye toward him. He just tightened his grip on the leather steering wheel until his knuckles looked like they were going to pierce through his skin."He is your stepbrother, dammit!" Brandon shrieked, hitting the dashboard. "This is insane, Derek. You can cheat on me with anyone but I mean your step brother, really?"Derek’s voice w
Gabriel's POVThe dinner table felt like a pressure cooker that was about to blow. My mother was still on the floor, her hands trembling as she tried to fix her hair, her face a blotchy, frantic mess.Derek's dad didn’t even look down at her. He just poured more wine, his eyes fixed on my mum with a terrifying kind of amusement."What is the problem, Sarah?" Mr Miller asked, his voice calm, almost bored. "I thought I told you months ago, my son likes men. Did you think I was joking?"My mother’s face turned a shade of gray that made me think she was actually going to be sick.She looked at him, then at the guy who was still standing there like he owned the place. She opened her mouth to scream, but then her gaze flickered toward the expensive wine, the crystal, the sheer scale of the power sitting at this table.Her spine snapped straight. She stood up, dusting off her skirt with shaking hands. "Oh... oh, don't mind me. I was just joking. A little... a little family humor, you know?







