Semua Bab My Stepbrother, My Ruin: Bab 121 - Bab 130

Evie's POV One month. It had been exactly one month since I'd spoken to Ryder beyond polite pleasantries in front of our parents. One month of avoiding his calls, ducking into bathrooms when I saw him in the hallway, and pretending my heart didn't shatter a little more each time our eyes met across a room.But it was working. My GPA had climbed to a 3.1—safely above the cheerleading requirement. I'd aced my last three exams, turned in every assignment on time, and even earned praise from Professor Chen for my improvement in calculus. For the first time in months, I felt like I had control over at least one aspect of my life.The Halloween party at Delta Phi was supposed to be my reward—a chance to celebrate surviving the worst month of my life with something approaching normalcy. Maya had convinced me to go, arguing that I needed to get out of the library and actually enjoy being twenty-one for once."You look hot," she said, adjusting my costume in the mirror of the sorority hous

Evie's POV The pounding on my apartment door came at 2:47 AM, according to the glowing red numbers on my alarm clock. I'd been lying awake anyway, staring at the ceiling and trying not to think about gray eyes and broken angel wings, so the sound didn't startle me as much as it should have.What did startle me was Nate's voice through the door intercom. "Evie? I'm sorry to wake you, but I've got a situation here."I threw on a robe and opened the door to find Nate standing in the hallway, looking frazzled and exhausted. His usually perfect hair was disheveled, and there were dark circles under his eyes."What's wrong?" I asked, then noticed he wasn't alone. "Is that—""Ryder's in my car," Nate said grimly. "Passed out drunk. Has been for the last hour."My stomach dropped. "What happened?""I found him at Murphy's Bar downtown, three sheets to the wind and picking fights with anyone who looked at him wrong. Bartender said he'd been there since the party ended, drinking everything t

After we finished our terrible diner food- which was actually pretty good–we drove to the arcade attached to the bowling alley downtown. It was the kind of place that catered to kids' birthday parties and date nights for people who couldn't afford fancy restaurants—in other words, perfect for two people trying to remember how to be normal."Skee-ball," Ryder announced, heading straight for the row of lanes. "I'm going to destroy you.""Is that a challenge?""It's a promise."I was terrible at skee-ball. Ryder was worse. We spent twenty dollars in tokens and barely managed to win enough tickets for a plastic spider ring and a piece of candy that tasted like it had been manufactured with too many chemicals. "This was a waste of money," I said, examining the spider ring."Are you kidding? This is the best twenty dollars I've ever spent," Ryder replied, sliding the ring onto my finger with mock solemnity. "With this ring, I thee wed to terrible arcade games and questionable candy.""Tha

The ride to the Caldwell mansion felt like a funeral procession.Neither of us spoke, both lost in our own thoughts about what we might be walking into. The security gates were closed when we arrived, and there were news vans parked along the street outside, reporters and cameramen waiting for any glimpse of the scandal-ridden family."Jesus," Ryder muttered as we drove through the gates. "It's like a circus out there."Inside the house, the atmosphere was thick with tension. We found Alexander in his study, along with Mom, who looked like she'd been crying. She was clutching a tissue in one hand and a copy of the newspaper in the other."Sit down," Alexander said without preamble.We sat in the chairs across from his desk like children called to the principal's office. Mom wouldn't look at me directly, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy."I'm going to ask you both one question, and I want a straight answer," Alexander continued, his voice eerily calm. "How long has this been going on?"Ry

The headlines were brutal. "CALDWELL EMPIRE CRUMBLES AS INVESTORS FLEE FAMILY SCANDAL""ALEXANDER CALDWELL: BUSINESS TITAN OR FAMILY FAILURE?""INSIDE THE TWISTED CALDWELL HOUSEHOLD: HOW A BILLIONAIRE LOST CONTROL"I scrolled through the news feeds on my laptop, each article worse than the last. What had started as a story about Ryder and me had morphed into a full-scale character assassination of Alexander and, by extension, the entire Caldwell business empire."Meridian Holdings announced this morning they're withdrawing their 2.3 billion dollar partnership with Caldwell Industries, citing 'concerns about leadership stability and family values,'" the business reporter droned from the TV. "This marks the third major investor to pull out since the stepsibling scandal broke four days ago."Four days. It had only been four days since our world imploded, and already Alexander's carefully constructed empire was showing cracks. Four days since we sneaked into Ryder's penthouse like thieve