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Chapter 9

Author: JANE GREGORY
last update publish date: 2026-10-28 19:54:39

Ladina

The living room now felt incredibly dangerous. I stood perfectly still, staring at the tablet on the kitchen island. I couldn't stop reading the red words on the screen: I have hours of this video. Do exactly what I say, or I will send it to James.

Gabriel lost his temper first. He slammed his iron poker onto the counter, right next to the tablet. "I'll kill them," he yelled. "I will hunt down whoever is doing this."

"Gabe, stop," Oliver said calmly. He didn't grab a weapon. Instead, he
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  • Trapped with My step brothers    Chapter 15

    Knock TwiceLadina"Please don't read the message to me," I said quietly against the bedroom door. "Please, Gabe. I don't want to hear it."I stood perfectly still, my forehead pressed against the bedroom door. On the other side, Gabriel was gasping. He had just sprinted down the stairs to check the tablet, then ran back up in under a minute."The message isn't a bad one," Gabriel promised through the wood, desperate to comfort me."Saying it isn't bad doesn't mean it's good," I replied, digging my fingernails into my palms."I guess not," Gabriel agreed after a heavy pause. "It says: Seven. Thank you for your cooperation. Nothing will happen to Ladina tonight. That is a promise."The message hung in the air, heavy and suffocating."A promise," Oliver finally spoke, his voice full of doubt. "A polite promise from our blackmailer. And they keep using your full name, Dina. Did you notice?""My full name is printed on the official wedding program," I told him. "Anyone could have picked o

  • Trapped with My step brothers    Chapter 14

    ReceiptsLadina Gabriel smoothed the small security sticker flat against the marble kitchen island. He leaned over it, glaring down as if the tiny piece of adhesive was a living enemy."Twelve whole days," he said. His voice was thick with suffocating anger. "Twelve days before the wedding even happened, someone from my own father's company was inside this house setting up hidden cameras.""Someone from the company was here," Oliver pointed out. His tone was calm, though the tightness around his eyes showed his own rising panic. "That doesn't necessarily mean it was Dad. The company employs hundreds of people, Gabriel.""Don't defend him," Gabriel snapped, looking up to glare at his brother."I'm not defending him," Oliver replied softly. "A security sticker only proves that a stranger had a roll of company labels. It doesn't prove whose hand actually wrote the note, and it doesn't prove who set up this nightmare.""But it definitely proves whose name is printed on it," Gabriel argue

  • Trapped with My step brothers    Chapter 13

    Green, Yellow, RedLadina "Nobody should touch it," Oliver warned us.He was standing up high on the arm of the couch. He held his bright lantern in one hand. His face was only a few inches away from the ceiling beam. "If this camera is turned on, and we cover it up, the stranger might count that as destroying it," Oliver explained carefully. "You both read the typed page in the basement. They will punish us if we break the cameras. Gabe, please put the heavy iron poker down.""I am just holding it," Gabriel argued defensively."You are holding it like you want to smash something with it," Oliver pointed out.Gabriel did not put the heavy metal tool down, but he did not swing it, either. A small muscle twitched angrily in his jaw. "Is the camera turned on right now?" Gabriel asked.Oliver used his finger to trace the thin black wire. He followed it to where it disappeared right into the stone wall."No," Oliver answered. "The wire is cut completely clean, just like the wires in the

  • Trapped with My step brothers    Chapter 12

    The Girl in the DrawingLadina "Gabriel. Gabriel, please wake up," I called out, panicking in the dark.Before his eyes even opened, his hand reached out and grabbed my wrist. He held it very hard. He was ready to protect me. Then, he blinked and saw my face in the dim light. His tight grip immediately went soft. "What is it?" he asked quickly. "What happened?""It is the study," I said. I was shaking so much that I could barely get the words out of my mouth. "The wooden door is wide open. The small stove is lit and burning. Somebody was just in there."He did not even pause to think. He was up on his feet before I could finish my sentence. He leaned over and woke his brother. Suddenly, all three of us were running down the hallway. Gabriel ran first, holding the iron poker in his hand. Oliver ran right behind him, carrying the bright lantern to light our way. I followed behind both of them, running only in my socks. The wooden floor was freezing against my feet.When we reached th

  • Trapped with My step brothers    Chapter 11

    The Quiet Between TouchesLadina"We should just burn it," Gabriel said. His voice was full of anger. "We should burn the whole house. The walls, the floor, everything inside it.""And then where do we sleep?" Oliver asked. He did not even look up from the tin can of food he was opening. "Do we sleep outside in the freezing snow?"It was eight thirty in the morning, and nobody had touched their coffee yet. The typed piece of paper was on the kitchen counter. We all stared at it like it was a dangerous snake that might bite us. Tonight, leave the study door open. It was just a few short words. But I had read those words so many times that they did not even look like real words anymore. They just looked like a terrible promise."They just want to get a reaction out of us," Oliver said calmly. "That is all this game is about. They want to see what we will do.""Then I will show them exactly what I will do," Gabriel yelled. He slammed his fist down on the marble counter. He hit it so har

  • Trapped with My step brothers    Chapter 10

    The Only Room Without EyesLadina "Tell me again there are no cameras in here," I whispered.Oliver held up a lantern in the small study. "Nothing," he said. "I searched twice. I even took the clock apart."Gabriel stood behind me. "I searched it a third time," he added. "I checked every floorboard."I believed them, but I was still terrified to walk in. We just wanted one room where the stranger couldn't watch us or tell us what to do.Finally, I stepped inside. Gabriel locked the door, and Oliver started a fire in the stove. Gabriel brought blankets and made a bed on the floor.We sat down together by the fire. "I keep thinking about the video," I said. I am so scared. "I feel completely lost. "I don't know who I am right now," I whispered.Oliver looked at me gently. "You don't have to know what to do all the time if you don't want us here. Just tell us what you want. We can stay, or we can leave."Gabriel agreed. They left the choice completely up to me."Stay," I told them. "Bot

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