All Chapters of While Marrying Mr. Steele: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

198 Chapters

Chapter 32: Ethan's Story

Ethan's Pov"Are you sure?" I asked softly, looking over at Amelia, who stood by the window, staring out at the vast city below us, her back turned against me.Amelia didn't say anything. She hadn't been saying much lately—she seemed too lost in her thoughts, too far away. I had been noticing it all week. The emptiness in her eyes, the way she floated through the days like a ghost. It made me angry. I hated that I couldn't reach her.She had lost so much—her mom, her sense of self—because nothing had ever really shifted. It seemed like time itself had stopped for her, as if the world had stopped for a moment to notice pain she held.I could see it even in the way her smile had become a receding memory, even as I used every bit of strength to pull her back from the precipice. For the most part, she held herself together, though cracks were now clearly visible. Grief started seeping through."Amelia?" I said again, my voice a little louder. "I implore you, please speak with me."Finally

Last Updated : 2025-05-11

Chapter 31

(Amelia's POV), The tip came in just after midnight. It was a burner number, no voice—just a location pinged to Ethan’s phone with the message: “You want your mom back? Come alone.”But we didn’t come alone. We brought everything we had—courage scraped together with trembling hands, desperation so thick it clung to our skin like sweat, and a quiet, burning fury that had settled deep in our bones. Jared had gone too far, and this time, we weren’t going to let him vanish like smoke.The address led us to the outskirts of the city, to a rusted-out train depot that looked like it hadn’t seen movement in years. The air smelled of iron and oil, and the quiet was unnatural. Ethan parked a few yards out, breathing heavily, his knuckles pale against the steering wheel. His leg was trembling, I'd asked him to take clutches to help with his legs, but he didn’t say a word. I knew better than to ask if he was okay now.“Are you sure?” I asked instead, hand on the door.He gave a tight nod. “I’

Last Updated : 2025-05-14

Chapter 33 – The Ghost Who Walked In

Amelia –I did not recognise him at first.The moment he came towards me, the world around us froze—the soft music, the hushed talk, the clinking glasses—all melted away into a thick, humming silence.The crowd separated nearly of its own accord, heads turning to the tall, dark-dressed man, his face lined by years and something more sinister.Behind me, Ethan tensed. His hand tightened around mine in a pained grasp before he pulled away.I blinked at him. "Ethan?"He remained motionless. His chest was still. He wasn't breathing."Ethan," I whispered once more, barely audible. My heart hammered in confusion, then in terror.He stared at the man as if he had seen a ghost. Perhaps he had.I reached for him a second time, but slowly, for fear he might pull away. He did not. His hands were icy, but he allowed me to hold them."Who is that?" I questioned, gazing at the white face. "Do you recognize him?"He kept quiet.The man approached now, through the astonished crowd, eyes fixed on us—o

Last Updated : 2025-05-14

Chapter 34 - The One Reason for His Longing

Ethan –I could not breathe.The instant he spoke that line—"You can't be free. Not while I'm breathing."—something inside of me broke.I remained unaware of the crowd. The gasps, the voice of Amelia, the whispers circling like vultures, went unnoticed to me. All that concerned me was the desperate urge to flee.My legs moved before my brain had caught up, cutting through the stunned silence and weaving around guests who were not sure if they were watching a performance or a scandal. I pushed past someone— perhaps Veronica’s cousin, perhaps a stranger—our shoulders touching, as I heard my name being called from behind.I didn’t stop.My toes hit the lawn just past the reception pavilion. The sun dipped toward the horizon, the clouds massing like the entire universe had judged this day inconsequential. I reached the border of the clearing, coming to the remote area at the back of the leased vineyard, where no one would have a reason to venture.And then my legs gave out.In a moment.T

Last Updated : 2025-05-14

Chapter 35 – Her Strength, His Weak Spot

Amelia –He tried to walk away from me.Again.But his legs gave way before he had even taken three steps."Ethan..." I reached for him in time, grabbing for him just as he stumbled forward. He cursed softly under his breath and pulled away like the touch burned him."I'm fine," he growled.He wasn't. His knees trembled. His eyes glazed. And he seemed not to have taken a deep breath since Ryan got there."You are not okay," I whispered softly."I said I'm fine!" he growled, louder this time, jerking his arm away from me.The noise reverberated off the vineyard wall behind us.A few frightened birds took flight from a surrounding tree. Far away, even, the door of some automobile slammed shut. Perhaps people were indeed departing. Perhaps a conversation about the bride who stood the groom up was in progress. None of that was important anymore.Him aloneHe tried to stand up straight, to pretend that everything was okay. His jaw hurt. Fists had been clenched. Pride tried to carry him whe

Last Updated : 2025-05-14

Chapter 36 – Brothers and Burdens

POV: Ethan The silence hung between us. My hands continued shaking with what had gone before: with the fall; with her fingers touching me. But my body wasn’t the one that felt fragile any more. It was my mind. My heart.Because Ryan actually lived.He stood in the doorway with arms crossed as if it was any other day—not the day he'd decided to resurrect himself and wreak havoc on everything. Hair obscured his face now, his cheekbones more defined, older in a way that had nothing to do with the passing of time. But the eyes—I knew them. I'd never forgotten them.You have no business being here," I snarled, speaking low.He sneered. "You should say the same of me."Amelia stepped around between us, her hand brushing against my arm. "Why don't we just all sit down, talk—""Stay out of this" we both told the other simultaneously. The reverberation of the words sent a chill into the room.She withdrew slowly, the lips compressed into a tight line, but I saw there the need she had to learn

Last Updated : 2025-05-15

Chapter 37 – Scars in the Shape of You

POV: Amelia"Stop it!" I cried, throwing myself between them.Ethan's fist was knotted into Ryan's collar, his own body trembling with rage. Ryan would not back down—his smirk was contemptuous, merciless.I lay my hands flat on Ethan's chest. "Look at me. Not him. Me. This isn't you."His chest rose and fell with hard, rasping gasps. His eyes flashed to mine—wild and tormented—before focusing on Ryan.He doesn't get to say that to you, Ethan ground out."Perhaps he does not." I stood firm, however. "But you are never going to throw everything we have been through over him."Ryan snorted and stepped back, batting Ethan's fist off his shirt. "Touching. She speaks as if she's somebody."I cut him off. "You don't get to enter here after staging your own death and expect everyone to be indebted to you. What is your issue?"His smile wavered."You think he's told you everything? That you know what kind of man you're marrying?" He laughed. "He's not a hero. He's a consequence. Like me. Like

Last Updated : 2025-05-16

Chapter 38– In the Dark, He Shines

Ethan’s POV“You still good back there?” Amelia’s voice floated from the driver’s seat, warm and teasing.I shifted in the passenger seat, glancing at the narrow winding road ahead. “You almost threw us off a cliff fifteen minutes ago.”She laughed. “You call that a cliff? That was a bump. You sound like an old man.”“I am an old man. With healing legs and trauma-induced grumpiness, remember?”“Noted,” she said with a smirk. “Next time I’ll bring a walker and some chamomile tea.”I shot her a sideways look. “Are you always this sassy when you’re trying to seduce your husband?”Her smile faltered slightly—just enough to make my chest twist in anticipation—but she didn’t answer. Not with words. She reached across the console and took my hand.It was a short drive after that. The kind where the silence is full—not empty. Where the air feels softer, the quiet thicker.When we finally pulled up to the cabin nestled among tall, whispering pines, I didn’t say anything. I didn’t need to. The

Last Updated : 2025-05-17

Chapter 39– The Smell of Smoke

Amelia's povI could still smell smoke in my head, even though there wasn't any.I woke up with a blink, the jarring, unwelcome kind of waking where your body wakes up before your head. The sheets still rested upon me, warm, tangled. But the room was chillier than it should have been. Quiet. Waiting.Ethan wasn't sleeping.He sat up against the headboard, tense, his jaw muscle knotted in a hard band, so tense I could feel the shake in his cheek. His body, damp-backed, rose and fell in rough, ragged breaths. His hand gripped the edge of his phone, its screen shining his face with an entrancing light."Ethan?" My words fought to pass over a bump in my throat.He didn't answer. Didn't even blink. Didn't breathe. Just stared.I inched closer. His gaze snapped to me, then—reluctantly—he turned over the phone.A photo.Of myself.Sleeping. Here, from this very bed. Right now. The same way. Same quilt, half over shoulder, hair falling on pillow.My heart pounded impossibly loudly in my ears,

Last Updated : 2025-05-19

Chapter 40 – Smoke in the Hallways

POV: EthanThe first thing I noticed wasn’t the silence.It was the smell.Lemon-slick floors, wood polish, fresh ink. Everything too clean. Too perfect. Like someone had scrubbed the place down and tried to pretend nothing had changed.But everything had.Lorna walked beside me, heels quiet on the marble. “He’s been in and out,” she said, like she was talking about a delivery. Not a storm. “Stopping by different floors. Charming. People like him.”She didn’t look at me when she said it.I didn’t answer.What could I say?Of course, they liked him.Ryan always knew how to play the room. How to flash that stupid grin and tilt his head just enough to make people feel seen. Heard. Understood. Even when he wasn’t really listening.Even when he didn’t care.He was the type of person who made you think the room lit up when he walked in. He never had to prove anything. People just assumed he belonged.And now he was proving it, right here.At my company.The elevator doors opened, and I stepp

Last Updated : 2025-05-19

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