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CHAPTER 79
Fecha de publicación:
2026-06-28 19:08:36
Último capítulo
IN LOVE WITH MY STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 79
TESSIE'S POV~~ five years later...The bell above the bookstore door jingled as the last customer left. I glanced at the clock on the wall-- 6:47 pm. My shift had technically ended twenty minutes ago, but Mrs. Langford always appreciated when I stayed to straighten the new releases shelf. I wiped my hands on my jeans and shelved the final copy of the romance novel I had been eyeing for weeks. The cover showed two people kissing under a sunset. My chest tightened the way it always did with reminders like that. "Heading out, Tess?" Mrs Langford called from behind the counter as I grabbed my jacket. "Yeah. I've got my cap and gown fitting tomorrow morning, then other... stuff," I tried to sound casual, but my voice wavered just a little. "Big day coming up," She smiled warmly. "Your dad must be so proud you are graduating from college." I forced a smile and nodded. Dad and I were... better. Not close, but better. He had shown up to a few ceremonies over the years and got me thro
IN LOVE WITH MY STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 78
TESSIE'S POVThe first thing I noticed was the pain in my throat, burning like someone had scraped it with sandpaper. Every swallow felt like swallowing glass. The beeps around me were too loud, cutting through the fog in my head. My eyelids felt heavy, fluttered shut. I tried to move my fingers and felt the tug of an IV line. Where am I?Memories trickled back slowly-- Harmony Ridge, the sheet, the drop, the darkness. I forced my eyes open. The hospital room swam into view, sterile white walls and the faint smell of antiseptic and flowers. Dad was there in the chair closest to the bed, hunched forward, looking like he hadn't slept in days. Diane stood a little behind him and then... "Jace," I uttered.He stood near the door, shoulders tense, arms firmly at his sides like he was holding himself back from running to me. His eyes locked on mine and the whole world narrowed to just him. My chest cracked open with a mix of relief and fresh agony. He was here, not in my subconscious.
IN LOVE WITH MY STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 77
JASON'S POVThe cheap motel room smelled like stale cigarettes and old carpet, even though Mom sprayed that lavender shit every morning. I had lost count of how many weeks we had been bouncing between places like this. Two months? Summer was bleeding away fast, the days getting shorter, and I still couldn't bring myself to care.I lay on the lumpy bed, staring at my phone screen again. The same messages I had sent Tessie a hundred times, "I'm still here. I love you. Tell me where you are" were still undelivered. Her number was disconnected or blocked or something. I had tried calling from Mom's phone too. Nothing. I even drove by the house twice last week, my heart hammering the whole way, but her dad's car was always in the driveway and the curtains stayed closed. No sign of her. Ava hadn't seen or heard from her either and her attempts to find out where she was from her dad bore no fruit. He just said that Tessie was in summer camp, but the abruptness of it all had all of us questi
IN LOVE WITH MY STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 76
TESSIE'S POVWARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SENSITIVE CONTENT. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.The first week at Harmony Ridge felt like drowning in slow motion. The place was nothing like the "healing environment" they promised in the brochures Dad must have read. It was a prison dressed up in bland walls and motivational posters. Every door locked with a loud buzz that made me feel like I was disappearing every time it sounded.Mornings started with group therapy at 7 a.m. sharp. We sat in a circle of plastic chairs, ten other "troubled teens" like me, most of them staring at the floor or picking at their nails. A counselor named Ms Rivera would ask questions in this calm, fake soothing voice, "What brought you here, Tessie? How do you feel about your choices?" I hadn't spoken for four days. What was I supposed to say? I fell in love with my stepbrother and my dad had a meltdown? They would twist it, make it sound sick. So I just shrugged and let them fill the silence with their own a
IN LOVE WITH MY STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 75
TESSIE'S POVThe days after Jace and Diane left blurred into a gray, suffocating fog. Three days, to be exact. Seventy two hours of silence so thick that it felt like the house itself was holding its breath, waiting for something to break. I barely left my room. The bed still smelled faintly like him from the times we had snuck moments together, his cologne mixed with the laundry detergent Mom-- I mean, Diane, used. I buried my face in the pillow every night, willing myself to feel him there, but it only made the emptiness worse.Dad still tried talking to me multiple times. He would knock softly, like he was approaching a wounded animal, and say things like, "Tessie, honey, you need to eat something" or "This is temporary. You will see it was for the best." It was the same things over and over. I hadn't said a word to him because if I did, the only words that would come out were the ones constantly in my head. I hated him, but I knew if I said that, I couldn't take it back. So, I
IN LOVE WITH MY STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 74
TESSIE'S POVThe photos in Dad’s hand trembled as he thrust them forward like weapons. My stomach twisted violently. There we were, clear as daylight; Jace's hands on my waist outside where we thought no one was watching, another one where I was laughing against his chest. Whoever took them had been following us for weeks.We barely made it past the front door before everything exploded. Dad didn't even give us a chance to sit down or catch our breath. The second we stepped into the living room, he slammed the folder onto the coffee table and yanked out the photos, spreading them across the surface like damning evidence. "Explain this!" he repeated, his face flushed with rage. "Right now, both of you!" I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Jace stood rigid beside me, his body tense like he was ready to take the full force of whatever was coming.Diane picked up one of the photos with shaking hands, staring at it in disbelief. "Jason... Tessie...?" She looked at us. "Is this r
IN LOVE WITH MY STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 60
JASON'S POV We searched for her for almost twenty minutes without seeing any sign of her or Evan. I hated myself for thinking that maybe she had gone home with him and used feeling unwell as an excuse. I couldn't stop thinking that they were off somewhere in the backseat of Evan's car or his bedroom
Última actualización : 2026-04-01IN LOVE WITH MY STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 55
TESSIE'S POVThe level of scrutinizing I was getting at home ever since Jace moved out was too high. There had been numerous questions about what had happened, all to which I had responded the best way I could — feigned oblivion. I hated that my Dad blamed himself for going off on him for getting hom
Última actualización : 2026-03-31IN LOVE WITH MY STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 54
AVA'S POV "So... tomorrow, just you and me hanging out without any boy drama?" I asked Tessie excitedly and wrapped my hand around her shoulder as we walked out of class on Friday evening. It was a week since officially breaking up with Evan and she was a mess. She let out an exhausted sigh
Última actualización : 2026-03-30IN LOVE WITH MY STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 41
TESSIE'S POV Helping out at Ava's mother's cafe had it's advantages. Some included getting free meals or drinks and sometimes even money. That day however, neither of those were appealing enough to keep me focused on the job. Instead of helping, I was doing much worse than just idling around gossipi
Última actualización : 2026-03-26
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