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Walls of Pride
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2026-08-10 23:54:43Aurora
I stood at the bus stop long after his car disappeared, rain seeping through my clothes and into my bones. The absolute nerve of him. “Need a ride, stepsister?” He had said it like it was a joke, like my entire life being turned upside down was nothing more than entertainment for him. That lazy smile, the amusement in his eyes it made my blood boil. Prescott Zane didn’t see me as a person, he saw me as a new toy to provoke. I finally boarded the bus when it arrived, dripping wet and furious. The entire ride home I kept replaying the moment, hating how my stomach had flipped when he first pulled up. Not because I wanted the ride because some stupid, traitorous part of me had noticed how good he looked even while I wanted to slap him. I hated that part of myself the most. When I got home, my mother was on the phone with the wedding planner, laughing about cake flavors. She barely glanced at me as I walked in soaked. “You’re wet,” she said absently. “Go change before you catch a cold we have a tasting appointment this weekend. I want you there.” “I have job interviews this weekend,” I replied, keeping my voice even. She covered the phone. “Cancel them, this is more important.” “No.” The single word came out sharper than I intended. My mother stared at me. “Aurora…” “I already told you. I’m not going to stop building my own life just because you’re marrying into money.” I pulled my damp cardigan tighter around myself. “I’ll come to the important things, but I’m not canceling real opportunities so I can sit around choosing flowers.” Her expression tightened. “You’re being ungrateful.” “I’m being practical.” I met her eyes without flinching. “Someone in this family should be.” I walked to my room before she could answer and shut the door. My hands were shaking, from the effort of holding my ground it was getting harder every day. The closer the wedding got, the more she expected me to simply fold into the Zane world like it was a privilege I should be thankful for. I refuse. That night I sat at my small desk and updated my résumé for the third time. I applied to three more entry-level positions, none of them connected to Zane Enterprises. I didn’t care if Dominic had “kindly” offered me a job accepting it would feel like admitting I needed them. And I would rather work twice as hard than give Prescott the satisfaction of seeing me rely on his family’s name. My phone buzzed with a text from Zoe. Zoe: How are you holding up with the whole stepbrother thing? I stared at the message for a long time before answering. Aurora: I’m fine. Just counting down the days until I have to live in the same house as him. Zoe: is he that bad? Aurora: Worse. He thinks this is funny, Like my life is a game. I put the phone down and rubbed my face. The truth was, I was scared, not of Prescott of course but of what living under the same roof might do to the careful walls I had built. He already got under my skin more than anyone ever had. Proximity would only make it worse. The following days blurred into a tense routine, my mother dragged me to two dress fittings. I stood on the platform in a soft pink bridesmaid dress while she and the seamstress discussed alterations. The mirror showed every curve I had spent years trying to hide, I kept my chin high anyway. “You have such a pretty face,” the seamstress said kindly. “If you just… lost some weight”. “I’m fine with how I look,” I cut in, my voice polite but firm. “Just make sure I can walk and sit comfortably that’s ll I need.” My mother sighed behind me I ignored it. Later that week I had two job interviews, they didn’t go well as the interviewer said I was “too big for the position”. Apparently as a plus sized girl I wasn’t befitting the job. The second job called me back for a second round though. For the first time in days, I felt a spark of real hope the kind that came from my own effort, not someone else’s money. On Friday evening I was in the kitchen making a simple dinner when my mother walked in holding a thick cream envelope. “Dominic sent over the final wedding schedule,” she said. “And a welcome packet for you. There’s information about your room at the mansion and the position waiting for you at the company.” She held it out. I didn’t take it. “I’m not accepting the position.” “Aurora, don’t be ridiculous. It’s a good opportunity.” “It’s a handout.” I turned back to the stove. “I’ll find my own job, I already have an interview next week.” “You’re going to embarrass me,” she said quietly. “Do you know how it looks if my daughter refuses everything they offer?” I set the spatula down and faced her fully. “I’m not embarrassing you, and I’ll stand on my own than become a project of Dominic and his son. I can’t trust them and I am not someone who needs saying” My voice stayed steady even though my chest felt tight. “I love you, I want you to be happy. But I will not trade my self-respect for a richer last name.” She looked at me for a long moment, something complicated passing through her eyes. Then she placed the envelope on the counter and walked out without another word. I stared at it after she left. Part of me wanted to open it. Curiosity itched at the back of my mind, what did the room look like? What position had they assigned me? I left it untouched. That night I lay in bed listening to the quiet of our small apartment, knowing it wouldn’t be mine for much longer. In a few weeks I would be sleeping under the same roof as Prescott Zane the man who represented everything I refused to become dependent on. I curled onto my side and made myself a silent promise. No matter how charming he was. No matter how much he teased or provoked. No matter how hard living there became. I would not break. I would walk into that mansion with my pride intact, and I would walk out the same way. Even if it killed me.
최신 챕터
MY STEPBROTHER’S CURVY TEMPTATION Old habits
Aurora’s POV I was reviewing a stack of reports at my desk when a shadow fell over me looking up, I found Marcus standing there with two cups of coffee in his hands and a careful expression on his face.“Before you tell me you’re busy,” he said, placing one of the cups on my desk, “this is just coffee no strings, no hidden agenda.”I glanced at the cup but didn’t reach for it. “You didn’t have to.”“I know.” He slipped his hands into his pockets. “Look, I keep thinking about yesterday. You shut down the moment you found out Press and I are friends I get it he doesn’t exactly have the best reputation. But I’m not him.” I met his eyes, keeping my voice even. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”“I feel like I do.” Marcus gave a small, self-deprecating smile. “I’m not asking you to trust me completely, I’m just asking you not to decide I’m the same type of man based on who I’m friends with. I’ve known Press
MY STEPBROTHER’S CURVY TEMPTATION One of the same kind
Aurora’s POV I returned to my desk with my jaw tightly clenched.“Best friends.”Of course they were.I should have known better than to let even a second of ease slip through. Marcus Hale had been polite, he had smiled without mockery and spoken to me like I was a normal person instead of an inconvenience or looked at my size weirdly a moment, I had almost believed he was different from the rest of the men in this building.Then he opened his mouth and told me he had been Prescott’s best friend since childhood.Birds of a feather flock together.If he was close enough to Prescott to call him his best friend, then he was cut from the same cloth rich, charming when he wanted to be, and very likely the same type of man who treated women as temporary entertainment. I had already seen what Prescott was capable multiple times now even in his office. I had no interest in giving another man like him the benefit of the doubt.
MY STEPBROTHER’S CURVY TEMPTATION Birds of a feather
Prescott’s POV I was reviewing the final clauses of the contract when my office door opened without a knock. Marcus walked in looking unusually pleased with himself, a wide grin already on his face. He dropped into the chair across from my desk and leaned back like he had the best news of the day.“I just met your stepsister,” he said.I slowly lifted my eyes from the screen. “You did?” “Aurora.” He said her name with clear interest. “You made her sound like a nightmare cold, difficult, always ready to argue. But she’s not that bad at all.”My expression didn’t change, but something in my chest tightened. “You spoke for what two minutes?”.“Long enough.” Marcus chuckled. “She’s polite Soft-spoken a little reserved, but not unfriendly. And honestly, Press… she’s beautiful. Those curves, that pretty face, you left that part out when you were complaining about her.”I leaned back in my chair, keeping my voice
MY STEPBROTHER’S CURVY TEMPTATION Someone new
Aurora’s POV The next day at the office felt heavier than the first.I kept my head down and focused on the tasks in front of me, determined not to give Lena any more reasons to look at me with that cold, superior expression. Prescott had been civil but distant since our argument, only speaking when he needed something. The silence between us was tense, but at least it was better than hearing him entertain his secretary again.I was returning from the printer with a stack of documents when I nearly collided with someone near the elevators.“Whoa…careful.”Strong hands steadied me by the shoulders. I looked up and met a pair of warm brown eyes and a polite, slightly amused smile. The man was tall, well-dressed in a navy suit, with an easy kind of handsomeness that felt different from Prescott’s sharp intensity.“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, stepping back.“No damage done.” He glanced at the company badge clip
MY STEPBROTHER’S CURVY TEMPTATION Chapter 18
Prescott‘s POV The house felt quieter than usual that night.I dropped my keys on the entrance table and watched as Aurora walked straight up the stairs without a single glance in my direction. Her back was rigid, her movements controlled. She didn’t slam her door when she reached her room, but the soft click still managed to sound final.I stood there for a moment longer than necessary, jaw tight.She was furious.Not the loud, explosive kind of anger I was used to provoking from her. This was colder, sharper, the kind that lingered.I loosened my tie and walked into the kitchen, pouring myself a drink. The image of her standing in my office that morning still replayed in my mind eyes wide, face pale, the stack of files clutched against her chest like a shield. Most women would have muttered an apology and fled. Some would have pretended they saw nothing and then start flirting with me. Aurora had looked at me like I had
MY STEPBROTHER’S CURVY TEMPTATION Aftermath
Aurora’s POV I don’t remember walking back to my desk.One moment I was standing in Prescott’s office, staring at the obscene scene in front of me his head between Lena’s thighs, her skirt bunched around her waist, the wet sounds still echoing in my ears and the next I was sitting in my chair with my hands clenched tightly in my lap. My face felt hot, my pulse was still racing.I couldn’t believe it.He had been doing *that* here. In his office, in the middle of the workday with his secretary. The same woman who had looked at me this morning like I was beneath her. The same woman whose moans I had been forced to listen to last night through the walls of the mansion.A bitter taste filled my mouth.This was the kind of man Prescott Zane truly was. He didn’t just use women in private he did it without shame, without caution, and without a single thought for anyone who might walk in not even in his father’s compan
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