Sinful Obsession: My Billionaire Stepbrother

Isabel's POV (Thirty Hours Ahead) Twenty minutes later, I pushed open a pair of double doors. The dining room glowed under a giant crystal chandelier. Arthur Sterling sat at the head of the table and laughing at something my had mother said. He looked exactly like his photos: silver at the temples, a sharp suit, and the kind of calm that came from owning billions. My mother looked like a totally different person. She ditched the struggling mom vibe, draped herself in fancy clothes with a diamond necklace sitting pretty on her neck. She looked like she had lived this rich all her life. "Bel! You’re here!" She got up, kissed my cheek right away. She smelled like expensive rose oil, not the vanilla lotion I remembered. "Arthur, this is my Isabel." Arthur stood up with a warm smile. His eyes looked kind, but sharp...like he already calculated my worth. "Welcome, Isabel. I hope the flight went okay?" "It was... fine. Thank you, Mr. Sterling. For everything." "None

~~Isabel~~ 5:45 AM! It was already morning, my alarm jolted me up, cutting straight through my skull like an emergency siren. I sat up, my heart racing as my eyes try to adjust to the dim light in the room. The sheets beneath me felt too soft, a mocking reminder of a luxury lifestyle I hadn't earned. I stood in the center of a walk-in closet the size of my old apartment. My eyes landed on the floral dress hanging near the front, my fingers touched the fabric then I remembered exactly what William said last night: 'Take this off and burn it.' Who was he to tell me what to wear or burn! That thought just made me angry. I didn't want to do anything he told me to do. I pushed the dress aside, grabbed a stiff charcoal blazer and a plain white shirt from my suitcase, putting on the bed on instead. After I showered, I dressed, looked at myself in the full-length mirror. My reflection looked like a stranger trapped in a borrowed life. Why am I doing this? I didn't come

~Isabel~ Fifty-nine minutes. That was all the time I had before my life either became a success or crashed and burned in front of a dozen live television cameras. I hurried away from William’s office, my mind spinning. He hadn't even given me the details of the crisis. Was the company in trouble? Was William? It felt like walking directly into a trap with a blindfold on. Needing a moment to breathe, I ducked into a breakroom to grab a glass of water. "You look like you're about to faint," a voice said from the corner. "Or maybe you just saw something you shouldn't have. Either way, you should probably sit down." I jumped, nearly spilling the water down my blazer. Sitting at the corner table was a guy leaning over a tablet. He had a mass of dark curls that fell perfectly over his forehead, sharp jawline that contrasted with his relaxed posture, he was wearing a vest cardigan over his tailored white shirt, his glasses gave him a look that was effortlessly cool…like a bri

The ride back to the Sterling manor was supposed to feel like a victory lap. I had survived the cameras, handled the reporters, and saved the project. But inside the Bentley, it felt like I was being transported to a high-security prison. William sat in the driver’s seat, his face looking like it had been carved out of stone, He hadn't looked at me once, just stared at the road, with knuckles turning white as he held the steering wheel. "You realise," he finally said, his voice low. "that what you did today wasn't saving anything. It was a disaster." "The stock price went up, William!" I snapped back though my heart still racing from the adrenaline. "The reporters were actually smiling. People like the project now! How is that a disaster?" "Because you promised them the impossible, Isabel!" He finally looked at me, his eyes flashed like fire. "A three-month deadline to start construction? We don't have the permits. We don't have the builders. We don't even have the final safe

Sunlight poked through the curtains the next morning, but it felt like needles pressing into my eyes. My head was thumping too fast and every time I tried to swallow, it felt like I was gulping down broken glass. I tried to sit up, but my world spurned. I was shivering, even though my skin felt like it was on fire. The clock on the bedside table read 9:00 AM. "Oh no," I croaked, my voice sounded rusty in my ears. " The University..." Today was my first day of classes. My dream of starting fresh at a top-tier London school was supposed to begin today, but my body had other plans. The cold rain and the long walk in the dark had finally caught up with me. A soft knock at the door made me jump, and then it swung open. My mom and Arthur walked in, still dressed in their elegant clothes from the night before, looking like they had just stepped off a private jet. "Isabel? Honey, you aren't even dressed yet," Mom said, her brow furrowing with worry as she walked toward the