LOGINShare
Chapter 1
publish date:
2026-08-07 16:52:09Amelia's POV
My phone buzzed against the nightstand, breaking the silence of my small room. I already knew who it was before I looked. Victoria never called unless she wanted something.
"I'm sending you an address," Victoria said, without so much as a hello. Her voice carried that familiar sharpness, the tone she used when she expected obedience and nothing less. "You're coming to my new husband's house. Today. And Amelia, behave yourself. Don't embarrass me."
"Yes, Mum," I said quietly, the words automatic, worn smooth from years of repetition. It didn't matter that they tasted sour in my mouth every time I said them. Victoria demanded it, and I had learned long ago that refusing cost more than it was worth.
"I mean it," Victoria pressed. "This one is important. Don't ruin this for me."
"I understand, Mum."
The line went dead.
I set the phone down and stared at the ceiling for a long moment. A new husband. A new house. A new man to smile for, to be careful around.
I muttered to myself as I rose from the bed. "Another stepfather. Let's hope this one isn't as foolish as the rest."
The others had been easy to read men, who mistook Victoria's beauty for warmth, who never noticed that Victoria was only there for what they could offer, who found some quiet pleasure in mistreating me. I didn't expect this one to be any different. I just hoped he wouldn't be as unkind as the others had been.
I picked up my phone again and dialed Maya.
"She's married again," I said, before Maya could even finish her greeting. "I'm heading to his place today."
"Already?" Maya sighed on the other end. "You okay?"
"I will be." I moved to my closet, pulling out a small worn bag. "It's just another house. Another man to stay invisible around. Another man to call 'dad,' or by his name, if that's what he'd prefer."
"Call me the second you get settled," Maya said. "And Amelia, if it gets bad, you call me first. Promise me."
"I promise." My voice softened. "Thank you, Maya. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"You'd survive," Maya said gently. "You always do. Just be careful today, okay?"
I hung up and turned to my desk, my favorite spot, where I kept the magazine, my little secret, the one only Maya knew about. I picked it up carefully, the way I always did, like it might crumble if I wasn't gentle enough.
Leonardo Moretti stared back at me from the glossy page, jaw set, eyes unreadable even in print. I'd read the article a hundred times. I'd memorized every detail of his face long before I memorized the words.
My fingers traced the line of his jaw, then up along his cheekbone, slow, like I could feel the warmth of real skin instead of cold paper.
I pressed my lips to the magazine, a small, almost embarrassed gesture, and folded it back with careful hands before sliding it deep into my bag, beneath my clothes, where no one would think to look.
‘I wish I could meet you one day,’ I thought.
Then I zipped the bag shut, took one last look around my small room, and left.
The address led me to a penthouse that made my breath catch the moment I stepped out of the car. Glass walls rose toward the sky, catching the afternoon light in sharp, clean lines. I felt uneasy for a moment, double-checking the address on my phone to be sure I was in the right place. Once I was certain, I stepped inside.
A doorman greeted me with practiced politeness and led me up in a private elevator that opened directly into the apartment.
The space inside was vast marble floors, floor-to-ceiling windows, furniture that looked like it cost more than everything I had ever owned combined. I stood in the entryway for a moment, gripping the strap of my bag, that same uneasy feeling settling low in my stomach.
Then I saw him.
He was standing out on the balcony, his back to me, one hand resting on the railing as he looked out over the city. Dark hair graying faintly at the temples, broad shoulders beneath a perfectly tailored shirt, the kind of stillness that suggested a man used to being obeyed rather than questioned.
Something about the shape of him tugged at my memory, but I dismissed it, surely my mind was playing tricks, drawing comparisons where there weren't any.
He must have heard my heels against the marble, because he turned.
And the world stopped.
It was him. The same face from the magazine. The same sharp jaw. The man I had wished to meet my whole life. The man folded away in my bag at this very moment, pressed against my side like a secret I hadn't meant to bring with me.
Leonardo studied me for a moment, something unreadable passing behind his eyes, and then he offered a small, polite smile.
"You must be Amelia." His voice was low, measured, carrying the same quiet authority I remembered even from a photograph. "Victoria told me you'd be arriving today." He extended a hand toward me, unhurried, certain. "Welcome. I suppose that makes me your stepfather now."
My whole body went still.
The bag on my shoulder suddenly felt impossibly heavy. I couldn't believe my ears. My mouth opened, but no sound came out.
He's the man from the magazine. My crush.
He's the man Mum just married.
He's the man I was supposed to hate.
And instead, standing a few feet away from him, alI I could think was that I never wanted to stop looking at his face.
I swallowed hard, forced my frozen lips into the ghost of a smile, and reached out to shake his hand.
The moment our palms touched, something shifted in the air between us, subtle, dangerous, unnamed.
Leonardo's grip lingered a beat longer than it should have. His eyes flickered, just slightly, down to my lips, then back up as if he, too, had felt something he couldn't name and didn't like that he'd felt it.
I still held his hand until the elevator chime sounded behind me.
Latest chapter
Forbidden Touch: Taming my stepfather Chapter 43
Leonardo’s POVWith the way he’s been looking at me, I just need to tell him the truth.He’s been sitting across from me for the last five minutes, arms crossed, studying my face like he’s trying to read something I haven’t said out loud yet. He knows me too well for his own good. Years of building this company side by side does that to two men. It strips away the ability to hide anything, even the things you’d rather keep buried.“I don’t like that woman Victoria.” I said.The words came out heavier than I meant them to, like they’d been sitting in my chest for days waiting for permission to leave.He looked at me, confused, his brow pulling together in that way it does when something doesn’t add up for him.“You aren’t even supposed to like her, it’s just a contract.” He said, like he was reminding a child of the rules of a game.“I don’t want the contract anymore.” I replied.I watched the words land on him.
Forbidden Touch: Taming my stepfather Chapter 42
Leonardo’s povI got to the office earlier than usual that morning. The glass doors slid open with their familiar soft hiss, and the polished marble floor of the lobby reflected the early light streaming in from the tall windows. A few of the staff were already at their desks, heads bent over screens or murmuring into phones.As I passed the reception area, they looked up one by one. Greetings rose in a low chorus.Good morning, sirMorning, Mr. Leonardo,I answered with a short nod, the same way I always did. Nothing more, nothing less.I kept walking, my shoes made quiet, even sounds against the floor.Behind me, just loud enough for me to catch if I chose to listen, the background talking s&z
Forbidden Touch: Taming my stepfather Chapter 41
Leonardo’s povI woke to the sun rising and everywhere was bright. The light spilled through the tall windows in soft golden streams, painting the room in shades of warmth that made the shadows retreat into the corners. For a moment I simply lay there, blinking against the sudden clarity of morning, my body still heavy with the remnants of sleep. Then I turned to my side and saw Amelia sleeping comfortably facing the other side of the bed. The sight of her settled something deep in my chest. Oh, it wasn’t a dream. The steady rise and fall of her shoulders, the way her dark hair spilled across the pillow, the faint crease of the sheet where her arm rested all of it was real. I tried to read her breathing and it was stable, quiet and even, which meant she could still be sleeping. I watched her for a few long seconds, letting the reality of last night settle over me again. The way she had looked at me, the way she had trusted me eno
Forbidden Touch: Taming my stepfather Chapter 40
Leonardo’s povWhen she said she had never done this, everything stopped. The words left her lips so quietly, so simply, that they hit me harder than any confession I had ever heard. Her head moved in that small, hesitant shake, and everything inside me shifted. She looked so innocent in that moment, eyes wide, cheeks flushed, body still trembling from what we had started, that the thought of continuing made something tight and heavy settle in my chest. I will forever feel bad if I make her do all this. The knowledge sat there like a stone. She had no experience, no frame of reference for the things my hands had already begun to ask of her. Pushing forward now would not be passion; it would be taking something she was not ready to give. I refused to be the man who left that kind of ma
Forbidden Touch: Taming my stepfather Chapter 39
Amelia’s povThe moment I shivered, he stopped. His hands, which had been exploring me with a tenderness that set every nerve ending alight, went still against my skin. I felt the sudden absence of that heat like a physical loss, and my breath caught in my throat. For a few long seconds he simply looked at me. His eyes searched my face in the dim light of the room, and I could not read what lived in them. Concern? Surprise? Something deeper that made my stomach twist with uncertainty?Then his voice came, low and careful. “Have you ever done this before?”I shook my head. The motion was small, almost reluctant, but it was the only answer I could give. No, necery. Not like this. Not with anyone who made my pulse race the way he did. The sing
Forbidden Touch: Taming my stepfather Chapter 38
Amelia's POVThe contact was soft at first, careful, as if he were giving me time to pull away. His mouth met mine and the rest of the room disappeared. I felt the gentle pressure of his lips, the warmth of them, the way they fit against mine like they had been waiting for this exact moment. My eyes closed on their own. The kiss deepened just enough that I could feel the careful intention behind it, the way he held himself still except for the slow movement of his lips. My hand, without any real decision from me, found the edge of the sheet between us and curled into the fabric. Heat spread from my face down my neck and into my chest. I could taste the quiet of the moment, the shared breath, the soft sound that passed between us when the kiss shifted again.He didn’t rush. He stayed close, the kiss lingering, and I stayed right there with him, every earlier doubt and daydream dissolving into the present. The cei
You May Also Like
Addicted to Loving You: The Paranoid and Domineering Boss's Convicted Wife
Gu family's Little Bamboo692.1K viewsMy Best Friend's Father
Thorns636.5K viewsThe Heartbreak Prescription
Glazed Snow1.4M viewsShe Accepted Divorce, He Panicked
Nyx Rai764.9K viewsClaimed By My CEO Stepdad
ifex125 viewsThe man who kept my almost ✨
Diamond 75 viewsI Donated My Bone Marrow to the Wrong Man
Shubby66 viewsA ONE NIGHT STAND WITH MY BOSS, A LIFETIME AS HIS WIFE
THE QUING'S QUILL94 views
