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LXXVII — Too Close for Pretend
Last Updated:
2025-04-19 22:35:04
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Stealing My Sister's Fiancee LXXVIII —The Calm Before the Wreck
Morning came without a sound.I sat at the edge of the bed, wearing a thin T-shirt and sleep shorts, while the early sunlight slipped quietly through the gap in the curtains, casting strange patterns on the wooden floor.My phone buzzed on the nightstand. The screen lit up: Mom.I let out a reflexive sigh. Answering a call from my mother wasn’t just a conversation—it was like walking into a job interview without knowing what position you were applying for.I hit the green button.“Maya.”Her voice was cold and firm as always—no hello, no small talk.“Morning, Mom.”“I spoke to Mellan last night.”I straightened up, suddenly feeling like a little girl caught breaking the house rules.“Yeah?” I answered cautiously.“We’re going sailing next week. The Blackwood family’s private yacht. Summer vacation. We leave Monday. I want you to come.”I froze. “I have a shoot next week.”“I checked your schedule. Nothing that can’t be moved,” she said quickly, like she’d already planned this far in a
Last Updated : 2025-04-20Stealing My Sister's Fiancee LXXVI : Half a Heart, Fully Sketched
The house had gone still. Even the waves sounded farther away than usual, as if intentionally giving space to the worries stacking quietly in my chest.An open suitcase sat on the bed. Summer dresses folded neatly. A straw hat. Leather sandals. Two bikinis I chose not because I planned to swim, but because I thought—that's just how it’s supposed to look. That’s how a woman should show up on a vacation with her younger sister’s fiancé’s family.Tonight, I wasn’t Maya. I was just… a prop in someone else’s story.I opened the drawer on the right side of the wardrobe, looking for sunscreen or maybe a light t-shirt—anything to fold, just to keep my hands busy. But the drawer stuck. I tugged a little harder… and as it opened, something slipped out from underneath.A dark brown leather notebook. The corners worn. No label. No name.My heart started pounding.I stared at the thing for a few seconds. It felt like stealing. But this was… my room too, wasn’t it? At least, by our agreement.My fi
Last Updated : 2025-04-21Stealing My Sister's Fiancee I Packed a Smile and Left My Heart
The sky looked freshly washed from the night before. The morning air was still cool, the sun hadn’t turned harsh yet, and the street outside Aaric’s house felt too peaceful for a day I knew would slowly tear me apart.A black SUV had been waiting in front of the gate since 8:10.I walked down with a small suitcase, lips glossed just enough, sunglasses covering half my face, and a professional smile I’d been practicing in the mirror all morning. The same smile I used to wear for the press when I was with Marcus. Now I wore it for my own family.The car door opened.My mom sat inside, dressed in an ivory blazer and an expensive scarf wrapped too perfectly around her neck. Her eyes scanned me quickly, then she gave a small nod. No compliments, no critique. That meant: “acceptable.”Next to her, Dad was busy on his phone as always, giving a half-nod without even looking up.And in the backseat—someone who made my breath catch for just a second.Mellan.Her face was glowing. Her long hair
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The room was spacious. Dark wood panels lined the walls, streaked with shiny gold accents, and the floor was covered in thick cream-colored carpet—too soft for shoes to tread on. Sheer white linen curtains danced in the ocean breeze, revealing an endless blue beyond the private balcony.I should have been grateful to be here.But all my body wanted to do was collapse.Ever since we boarded the yacht this afternoon, I hadn’t had a single second to just sit still without someone approaching me—family, guests, or people Mom had invited solely because their last names carried weight.“Maya! I’m a huge fan of Helena!”“You still look as gorgeous as ever. Are you filming something new?”“Is it true you and Marcus are still friends? You two are just perfect together.”All of it with wide smiles. All of them with eyes waiting for a slip. A crack. A weakness.And me?I smiled. I nodded. I recited the answers I’d memorized. “Thank you. Yes, we’re still close. Filming starts again next month.”T
Last Updated : 2025-04-23Stealing My Sister's Fiancee A Seat at the Table
Dinner on the main deck started promptly at seven.They even sent out little invitations to our cabins, like this was a small wedding, not a family vacation wrapped in pretense.The dinner table stretched long across the deck, covered in crisp white linen with a centerpiece of white flowers and tall, slender candles. Each place had a cushioned chair and a small name card tucked neatly above the plate.The waitstaff looked like they were serving dinner to senators.I showed up five minutes late. Just enough to signal disinterest, but not long enough to start a scene.“Yes, Maya’s sitting next to Marcus,” my mom said as I arrived, her voice cheerful but her eyes already issuing a warning before I could say a word.Of course.Marcus stood and pulled out my chair, polite as always. “You look great,” he said quietly as I sat down. “Santorini colors suit you.”I gave him a small smile. “Thanks.”Across the table, Mellan was sitting with Aaric, showing him photos on her phone, laughing, chat
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I didn’t know why I agreed. Maybe because I was too tired to say no, or maybe because Marcus said it so casually—like he was inviting me to watch the sunrise. Not like he was asking me to walk to the quieter part of the ship and watch a theater rehearsal up close.“We’ll just take a quick look,” he’d said, like fifteen minutes could erase all the tension from the dinner we’d just survived.The back deck of the ship felt like another world. No elegant dining tables here, no classical piano music, and most importantly—no Mellan and no Aaric. Just a small, semi-permanent stage with rows of stage lights hanging above like manmade stars. Around it, the crew and cast moved in rehearsal clothes—some in dance shoes, others in loose shorts and tight black tees.Marcus stood beside me, hands in his pockets, eyes fixed on the stage like a man who genuinely appreciated art. I, on the other hand, stood with my arms crossed, trying to calm the heartbeat that hadn’t settled since dinner.“You know w
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Marcus and I walked slowly down the glossy corridor, the chandelier lights shimmering overhead. The soft echo of our footsteps mixed with the low hum of the ship’s engines in the distance. I pulled my thin cardigan tighter around me, the night air starting to bite at skin that had gotten used to the warm Los Angeles sun.When we stopped in front of my cabin door, Marcus slipped his hands into his pockets, his face relaxed—but there was something in his eyes. A small, unspoken hope.“Hey,” he said, leaning in just a little. “After coffee on deck tomorrow... want to go snorkeling? We can head to the quieter side of the beach. They say the water’s crystal clear.”I smiled, raising an eyebrow with my best acting skills. “Snorkeling? Sounds like a plan. I definitely need something more exciting than watching Mellan and Aaric show off their couple goals all day.”Marcus chuckled softly, his voice low and easy. “That’s the spirit. I’ll book the spot later, so we can just head out tomorrow.”
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The morning on this ship felt different.The salty air from the open sea brushed against my face, blending with the rich scent of fresh coffee steaming from the cup in my hand. A pale blue sky stretched endlessly above, decorated only by wisps of thin clouds, while below, the deep blue ocean rolled in gentle waves.This ship—The White Siren—had set sail from Marina del Rey just last night.I still remembered pulling away from the dock, the city lights twinkling in the distance, skyscrapers waving us off lazily in the dark.Now, all that was left was the endless sea and the occasional cry of seabirds.I sat in a white rattan chair on the main deck, under the shade of a large umbrella.Across from me, Marcus sat with his laptop open, headset on, speaking into it in a rapid, technical business language I couldn’t even begin to follow.He leaned into the screen, occasionally scribbling something in a small notebook, his face focused. His fingers tapped away at the keyboard while his coffe
Last Updated : 2025-04-27
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Stealing My Sister's Fiancee Flashback — Glances and Gray Beanies
The sun wasn’t fully up yet when I woke to a ticklish feeling.Not the alarm. Not the sunlight. But something moving slowly across my stomach—warm breath, then a soft nip at my rib. And a voice I knew far too well growling low in my ear.“What the...” I mumbled, half-asleep.“Guess who fell asleep on her laptop with the screen still on,” Aaric whispered between quiet chuckles. “And guess who’s been snoring just a little for the past two hours?”I slowly opened my eyes and looked around.We were still in the workspace. The desk lamp was still glowing dimly. My laptop screen was frozen on a half-finished presentation, the cursor blinking at a sentence that read: “Emotion and space influence each other—so honest design is living design.”My head felt heavy. My neck ached. But my body was warm.Because Aaric was still there.He was now lying on his side on the rug, facing me, his head resting against my bent leg on the couch. His hair was a mess. His eyes were barely open. But that smile—
Stealing My Sister's Fiancee Flashback — When Deadlines Meet Distractions (and Love)
I stared at my laptop screen for a full five minutes and still hadn’t typed a single sentence. My thesis deadline was breathing down my neck, my advisor’s voice echoing in my head, and the blank screen in front of me stared back like a bottomless pit.Then, as if to add spice to the chaos—“BRO! BROOOOO—NO WAY, DID YOU SEE THAT SNIPE?!”The voice exploded from the living room. Followed by loud laughter and half-muttered curses from the guy sitting on the floor, black headset on his head, controller gripped tight, and a triumphant expression like he just conquered the world.I looked up from my laptop and glared toward the couch where Aaric was cross-legged, surrounded by empty water bottles and chip crumbs. The TV glowed brightly, showing a fast-paced virtual war zone. Player names blinked at the edge of the screen—“Lucif3r,” “Tino_Tornado,” and of course, “Bernardi_Blast.”“Dude, did you see that?! YOU SAW THAT, RIGHT? I said ‘cover me’ and you ran off to loot? Tino, I swear, if we’r
Stealing My Sister's Fiancee Flashback — What They Can't Control
The light from the floor lamp cast a faint silhouette on the wall, and the steady sound of rain outside made my head sink deeper into the pillow. The call with Elle and Joy had ended just a few minutes ago, and I hadn’t moved since placing my phone on my stomach.My body was tired, but it wasn’t just physical. It was the kind of exhaustion that runs deeper—the kind that comes from places that are supposed to bring you comfort, but only make it harder to breathe.I pulled the blanket up to my chest, curling into myself. My shoes were still on. My hair was half a mess. But I didn’t have the energy to care.The apartment door creaked open softly. Footsteps came in, slow, then stopped.Aaric.I didn’t open my eyes. Didn’t say anything. But I think my breathing changed, and he knew.His steps came closer, then silence again. Then something warm, heavy, and deeply familiar sank down slowly against my back. His arms wrapped around my waist, his chin touched the edge of my shoulder.I could s
Stealing My Sister's Fiancee Flashback — Calamity
I slammed the door to Aaric’s apartment a little too hard, then tossed my bag onto the couch without bothering to unpack it. The jingle of keys hitting the floor blended with the deep breath I finally let out after hours of holding it in.The New York sky was gray that night—like a mirror of my brain. And after a full day inside a house that called me family but felt more like an opera stage run by a director obsessed with reputation, I needed to hear another human voice. A real one. One not wrapped in expensive linen shirts and layered passive-aggressive remarks.I grabbed my phone and opened the Flat Fam (drama edition) group call. The screen rang once, twice, and then two faces I knew like my own popped up: Elle, with a half-dried face mask, and Joy, lying sideways wrapped in a blanket like a lazy burrito.“De Cruuuuuuuz!” Elle yelled as soon as my face appeared. “Why do you look like you just walked out of a royal family’s funeral?”Joy squinted. “You look like someone who got tra
Stealing My Sister's Fiancee Flashback — Mess it Up
The next morning, just past six, I woke up to the sound of running water from the bathroom. The morning air still hung damp beneath the ceiling of the flat, and from the slightly open window, I could hear the faint rumble of a garbage truck making its rounds on the back street.I got out of bed, still half-asleep, and shuffled to the kitchen, where I found a small note on the table.Meet me at the campus park at eight. Bring your sketchbook. No pink. —AA small smile tugged at my lips as I rolled up the note and tucked it into my shirt. He knew I always carried my sketchbook, and he knew pink was never my go-to color. But Aaric had this habit of turning instructions into jokes—it was his way of making sure I was still thinking about him, even when he wasn’t around.By the time I arrived at the campus park, still half-empty that early in the morning, he was already there—sitting on a bench near the small lake, wearing a gray hoodie and jeans, his face partly hidden behind a sketchbook
Stealing My Sister's Fiancee Flashback — Where the City Forgot to Listen
This city always welcomes you the same way—loud, rushed, and utterly indifferent to whether you’ve just fallen in love or lost everything.On my first morning back in New York, I didn’t wake up to sunlight streaming through the windows like in Italy. Instead, it was the impatient honking of a yellow cab down below the apartment. Maybe that was the biggest difference between the place we’d just left and the one we were returning to.Life fell right back into its old rhythm. Aaric’s apartment was cold in the mornings, the bitter coffee he brewed half-asleep in the kitchen, and the work desk still cluttered with blueprints he hadn’t touched since the night before our flight.In the living room, I sat cross-legged on the carpet, laptop on my lap, my hair still damp from the shower. Design assignments piled up on my screen, and project revisions stared at me like little monsters waiting to devour my time. But my mind kept drifting back to the villa on the hill, to the evenings filled with
Stealing My Sister's Fiancee Flashback — Full of Paper and Promises
Dusk had fully fallen by the time we returned to the villa.The Italian sky had turned a deep blue, with streaks of orange lingering on the horizon like the final brushstrokes of a painting that refused to be finished. The air was cooler now, crisp against my skin as I stepped out of the car. But something warm was blooming quietly in my chest, something that had started growing ever since my conversation with Luciana. Not because her words were comforting—at least, not entirely. But because beneath all that elegance and grace, I’d seen that her heart wasn’t all that different from mine.She was just a mother, loving her son in the quietest, most anxious way.And me… somewhere along the way, I had begun to love Aaric not just as a lover, but as a wound I wanted to tend to, even knowing it might never fully heal.Inside, the villa felt warmer than usual. The fireplace was already lit—by whom, I didn’t know, as no staff had appeared since we got back. The scent of burning wood mingled w
Stealing My Sister's Fiancee Flashback — Where the Light Doesn’t Reach
The sky had begun to shift into shades of copper as the staff brought out the afternoon coffee. The last rays of sunlight pierced gently through the garden foliage, casting abstract patterns over the small marble table. Aaric and his father were standing near the fountain, discussing something that looked serious—judging by their gestures and the way their eyes kept darting toward the edge of the estate, I guessed it was about property or a construction project.Luciana sat next to me. A pair of sunglasses hung from the collar of her cream silk blouse, and her manicured fingers held a tiny espresso cup like she was observing the world, not just sipping coffee. In the golden light of late afternoon, she looked like an editorial photo straight out of a Milan lifestyle magazine—elegant, calm, and too perfectly composed to read clearly.But I could feel something. A subtle shift. A deliberate pause.“Aaric seems... more relaxed, doesn’t he?” she said suddenly, her tone light—but not empty
Stealing My Sister's Fiancee Flashback — Behind the Porcelain Smile
Luciana Bernardi served tea like an elegant witch brewing a secret potion—every movement slow and deliberate, yet never showy. Her gaze was sharp, but not piercing. Her smile was precise, but not fake. And from the beginning to the end of our little tea session, she called me darling—in an Italian-accented English that made the word sound like a cello melody.“Darling, this lemon cake was made by our family chef,” she said, handing me a small plate. “He has a soft spot for beautiful guests who know how to appreciate good food.”Beside me, Giancarlo—whose face looked like an older, more stone-cut version of Aaric’s—gave a slow nod.“We enjoy these relaxed lunches,” he said, his voice deep and full. “No need for stiff galas or exhausting charity events. At this table, we’re just family. No ‘Bernardi.’ Just Luciana, Giancarlo, Aaric… and now, Maya.”My heart swelled a little at that. Even my fingers stopped fidgeting with the napkin in my lap.“Thank you,” I said softly, my voice catchin
