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Chapter 18: What remains
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2026-07-28 11:09:45Bronte’s POV
The days after that night felt strange. Mom came back from her conference on Monday evening, full of stories about boring meetings and bad hotel coffee. She hugged me tightly at the door, and for a second I almost broke down and told her everything. The words sat on my tongue like poison. Instead, I hugged her back and forced a smile. “Missed you, Mom.” “I missed you too, baby.” She pulled away and looked at me carefully. “You look tired. Everything okay while I was gone?” “Yeah. Just stayed in. Chloe came over for a night.” Rufus appeared behind her then, kissing her cheek like the perfect husband. His eyes met mine over her shoulder looking calm, knowing and possessive. That night, after Mom went to bed, Rufus came to my room. He didn’t say anything at first, he just sat on the edge of my bed and pulled me into his lap, holding me against his chest. “You’re quiet,” he murmured into my hair. “I keep thinking about her,” I admitted. “Chloe. What if she finds out? What if she looks at me differently?” Rufus was silent for a long moment. His fingers traced slow patterns on my back. “She won’t find out unless you tell her,” he finally said. “And even if she does… people leave. People judge. What matters is what you choose to keep.” I lifted my head to look at him. “And what if I choose wrong?” He cupped my face, his expression softer than usual. “There is no wrong choice here Bronte, Only the one that makes you feel alive and the one that makes you feel empty. You’ve already felt both.” His words settled deep in my chest. We didn’t have sex that night. He just held me until I fell asleep, his heartbeat steady under my ear. It was almost more intimate than anything we’d done before. The next few days passed in a strange haze. School felt distant. Jake’s messages grew more frequent and more desperate. He sent screenshots of company filings, cryptic notes about “irregular transactions” connected to Rufus’s firm. I deleted most of them without reading fully. The ones I did read made my stomach twist. On Thursday afternoon, I was sitting in the campus library when my phone buzzed. "I found something. Something real this time, meet me after your last class. Please, I’m not trying to control you. I’m trying to protect you." This was what Jake sent to me. I stared at the message for a long time. Part of me wanted to ignore it while another part that still remembered the girl who once believed in simple love felt a pull toward him. I typed back before I could stop myself. Okay, the coffee shop near campus. 5:30. When I looked up from my phone, my hands were shaking. Because deep down, I already knew the truth. No matter what Jake found and no matter what he said I wasn’t sure I could walk away from Rufus even if I wanted to. And that terrified me more than anything else.
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Craving My Stepdaddy chapter 31: what she walks into
bronte’s The hours before Mom came home moved too slowly and too fast at the same time.I tried to keep busy. I cleaned the kitchen. I folded laundry that didn’t need folding. I sat on the edge of my bed and stared at the wall. Nothing helped. Every sound in the house felt louder than it should have. Every time a car passed outside, my stomach tightened.Rufus stayed close without crowding me. He worked in his office with the door open, glancing up whenever I walked past. Once he called me in and pulled me into his lap, kissing me slowly while his hand slid under my shirt. We didn’t go further. He just held me there for a while, forehead against mine, like he was steadying himself as much as me.“Whatever happens when she walks in,” he said quietly, “you don’t have to face it alone.”I wanted to believe that. Part of me did. Another part of me kept hearing Jake’s messages and Chloe’s warnings and the way Mom’s voice had sounded the last time she left.Around six thirty, headlight
Craving My Stepdaddy Chapter 30: Lines drawn
Bronte’s The next morning felt heavier than the ones before it.I woke up in Rufus’s bed again. He was already gone from the room, but I could hear him downstairs on a call. His voice was low and controlled the same tone he used when he was handling something important. I lay there for a while, staring at the ceiling, trying to ignore the knot in my stomach.Mom still hadn’t come home.I checked my phone. Two missed calls from Chloe. One long message from Jake that I didn’t open. And a short text from Mom"I’ll be back this evening. We need to talk properly. No more avoiding it."I sat up slowly, the sheet falling around my waist. The necklace felt colder than usual against my skin.When I finally went downstairs, Rufus was in the kitchen making coffee. He looked up when he saw me and held out a mug. I took it without speaking.“She’s coming back tonight,” I said.“I know.”“She’s going to ask again.”Rufus leaned against the counter and studied me. “And what are you going to say
Craving My Stepdaddy Chapter 29: Weight of almost
Bronte’s After Mom left the second time, the house felt different.It wasn’t just quiet anymore. It felt judged. Like the walls had heard every lie and were waiting for the next one.Rufus didn’t say much after she drove away, he went back to his office and closed the door. I stood in the living room for a long time, staring at the spot where Mom had been sitting, replaying the look on her face when my phone lit up with Jake’s name. That look had said more than any of her words.She didn’t fully know yet.But she was close.I went upstairs and sat on the edge of my own bed for the first time in days. The room felt foreign. Smaller. I pulled the necklace off and held it in my palm, staring at the tiny engraving on the back. Property of R, for a moment I considered throwing it away. Instead I put it back on.My phone buzzed again.Jake, She called me after she left. She’s scared, Bronte. She asked me if I thought you were in danger.I told her the truth that I don’t know. But I’m no
Craving My Stepdaddy Chapter 28: The return
Bronte’s POVI woke up alone in Rufus’s bed.The sheets still smelled like him. My body ached in familiar places. For a few seconds I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, trying to remember what day it was. Then the quiet of the house came over me and I remembered Mom was supposed to come home.I sat up fast. The necklace shifted against my skin.Downstairs I could hear movement a door closing, the soft sound of keys being set on the counter. My stomach dropped.She was already here.I pulled on one of Rufus’s shirts and a pair of shorts, then forced myself downstairs. Mom stood in the kitchen with her back to me, still wearing the same clothes from two days ago. Her suitcase was by the wall. When she turned around, her eyes found me immediately.“Bronte.”That single word carried too much weight.“Hi, Mom.”She looked tired, older somehow. Her gaze drifted over the oversized shirt I was wearing, then away again.“Where’s Rufus?”“In his office, I think.”She nodded once. “I’d l
Craving My Stepdaddy Chapter 27: What I keep
Rufus’s POVI watched her sleep on the couch after I carried her upstairs and put her in my bed.Bronte always looked younger when she was unconscious softer, less haunted. The marks I’d left on her thighs and hips stood out against her skin in the low light. The necklace rested in the hollow of her throat. She still wore it even when she was alone. That detail pleased me more than it should have.Catherine was coming home tonight. I could feel it. The messages she’d sent earlier were careful, distant, full of the kind of quiet that meant she had already started making decisions. Jake was pushing harder. Chloe was calling more often. The walls were closing in, and Bronte was starting to feel the pressure in ways that made her hesitate.I didn’t like hesitation.I sat in the chair near the bed and opened my laptop. The security feeds from the house played in small windows on the side of the screen. The recordings from the guest lounge the night my friends came over were still encry
Craving My Stepdaddy chapter 26: The edge of knowing
Bronte’s By the second day of Mom’s absence, the house had settled into a strange, dangerous rhythm.Rufus worked from home more than usual. He kept me close sometimes in his office while he took calls, sometimes downstairs on the couch with my legs draped over his lap, his hand resting possessively on my thigh. We fucked in almost every room. On the kitchen counter while coffee cooled beside us. Against the hallway wall. In the shower with water running over both of us. Each time felt hungrier than the last, like he was trying to stamp himself deeper into me before the real world came back.I stopped fighting the need. That scared me more than anything else.On the afternoon of the second day, Chloe called. I almost didn’t answer.“Where are you?” she asked the second I picked up. “Your mom is still at the hotel. She’s talking about coming home tonight. And Jake is losing his mind. He showed up at my place again this morning with more files. He’s talking about going to the polic
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