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34. A little girl

Author: Anne Joyce
last update Last Updated: 2025-01-23 21:59:24

BECK

Living at Blackwood Estate, I felt like a part of me was missing. I never touched a brush or scribbled a sketch, there was no spark of color burning on the canvas. Life here was too quiet, too controlled, making me feel like a bird that had lost its wings.

But when Sera told me I could use this pavilion as my own personal art studio, hope flickered back to life. I spent my free time ever since doing a major renovation—with a little help from some of the super reliable house staff. And though she might not realize it, Sera gave me more than just this pavilion. She gave me hope, freedom, and a reason to live again.

“I want to take a look around,” she said softly, her eyes sparkling with curiosity, mixed with a little bit of challenge.

I chuckled a little as I bowed my head—God, she’s something else. I kissed her lips quickly before lifting her off the table. She gave me a small smile, her cheeks flushed, then stepped away while gently shaking her hair back over her shoulder.

She wa
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  • The Heiress and the Four Brothers   103. Don’t stay out too long

    CALThe hallway was quiet when Sera’s door opened. My body reacted before my mind had time to catch up. “Sera.”She looked up fast, startled for a second, then asked right away, “Any news? About Damon?” Her voice was rough, full of hope, like that was the only thing that mattered this morning.“Not yet,” I said quietly.She exhaled, shoulders falling. Disappointed. Her hand rubbed her arm, like she was grounding herself. “Did Beck say anything?” I asked. “Maybe he knows where Damon went.”She shook her head. “I didn’t ask. Beck—apparently he wasn’t okay last night.” There was a small pause before she added softly, “So, I stayed with him.”I froze for half a second. It hit me right in the chest, but I swallowed it down, forcing a small nod like I understood. “I see.” My voice came out almost flat. The words I really wanted to say—that I was falling apart too, that I also wanted to be held like that—stayed unspoken, trapped somewhere between my ribs.In her eyes I probably wasn’t the

  • The Heiress and the Four Brothers   102. You know what really hurts?

    SERAI held his hand gently as we walked to my room. Beck’s hand was warm, even though the morning outside was still cold. We didn’t talk on the way there. Maybe because we both knew that words couldn’t fix anything.When we arrived, I guided him to the bathroom. I grabbed a clean towel, a toothbrush, a hoodie, and a pair of loose pants. I placed everything neatly on the edge of the sink, then stood by the door for a moment.“Take a shower first,” I said. “I’ll take care of your hand later.”While he was in there, I sat at the edge of the bed and opened the first-aid kit. I arranged the antiseptic, sterile gauze, and bandage on a tray; but my mind was far away.Beck told me he loved me. God. I didn’t know how to respond to a love like that. Because caring for Beck meant I didn’t want to hurt him. And when he stopped me from answering, it was because he chose to delay the pain, just to hold me a little longer.I care about him, truly. But … love? I’m not even sure when was the last t

  • The Heiress and the Four Brothers   101. I know it’s stupid

    BECKDamon didn’t come home last night. By two in the morning, there was still no trace of his shoes in the hallway, no familiar sound of his door being slammed carelessly, no cheap tobacco smell from his leather jacket.And I knew why. Because I saw him last night.Damon pulled Sera into the corner of a dark hallway, a spot everyone ignored because the jazz music was playing and everyone was busy raising their glasses for Ace. But I always knew where Sera’s eyes went that night, even when she pretended she didn’t.I was standing there, in the shadow of the chandelier, holding a glass of something non-alcoholic. My eyes just happened to sweep in their direction.There was an intensity there. Words I couldn’t hear clearly but could feel. And then, a kiss that was rough and desperate, like a man who knows he’s losing the only good thing in his life and is too much of a coward to let go peacefully.What drove me half-mad was the fact that Sera didn’t push him away immediately.For a sec

  • The Heiress and the Four Brothers   100. I trust you

    SERAHis hand was still pinning both of my wrists above my head. Just one hand was enough to keep me in place. My body lifted slightly toward him with every movement he made, and all I could do was look at his face. God, that face. So close, yet still far. So beautiful, and yet untouchable.“Ace—” My voice cracked.He turned slightly, his lips brushing the edge of my cheek. “Yes, sweetheart?”I squirmed just a little, trying to free one hand because I just … I really needed to— “Let me touch you.” I closed my eyes, feeling the slow, deep movements of his body inside mine. He filled me completely, achingly. “Please, I need to.”His breath grazed the side of my neck, hot and steady, so different from my own, which was ragged and uneven. “Tell me why,” he murmured lowly.A helpless sigh left me. My body tensed beneath him, full and aching for more and he knew it. I looked up at him, silently begging. My fingers curled, aching to reach, to feel the skin that had always seemed too perfect

  • The Heiress and the Four Brothers   99. Be a good girl and open your mouth

    SERAThe hallway in that old house was silent, only the ticking of a clock echoed with Ace’s footsteps. And somehow, it felt sacred. Like we were walking through history, rewriting something that had already been written.I leaned against his chest, still naked. He didn’t put his jacket on me after all. And I knew, behind those security cameras, someone—anyone—might be watching. But strangely, I wasn’t scared or ashamed.I felt seen. And I wanted to be seen as his.A door opened then closed behind us. The scent of old wood and cleaning solution lingered in the air, softly mixed with the warmth of his skin.He laid me down on the bed and crouched to take off my shoes. His smile was impossibly gentle—almost not his own—when he looked at me and unhooked the chain from my thigh. “You good?”I nodded, even though my chest was starting to tremble again.He kissed my thigh softly before standing up. His shirt came undone slowly, one button at a time. He wasn’t moving like someone in a hurry t

  • The Heiress and the Four Brothers   98. This is how I rewrite the family legacy

    ACE“This is how you should be remembered,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to her right knee. “Not as an heiress or a symbol, but as a woman who chose to submit only to the man who earned it.”My fingers brushed the chain on her thigh. I twisted the A pendant slightly, then gave it a tug, just enough to make it sting.She exhaled, shaky.“Do you know what this chain means, Sera?” I asked calmly.Her eyes met mine, pupils blown wide. “Yours.”I nodded, rising slowly but still leaning in close. “Exactly. But not just your body.” My fingers traced her waist, then her stomach, finally reaching the sharp line of her jaw. “Your mind, too. Your choices. When you stood beside me at that gala wearing this, you were already mine.”She swallowed, but didn’t look away.I kissed her chin. Then her neck. Then lower, down to her collarbone.And when my lips touched her nipple and she tensed under me, I laughed quietly. “Too sensitive tonight,” I murmured, then licked her again, slower. My hand anchore

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