All Chapters of Bound By Blood: The Step-Brothers' Temptation: Chapter 281 - Chapter 290

_Amelie’s POV_I tried to convince myself that I was only dreaming, that there was no way Nico was currently standing before me.This was a bad dream... A nightmare… It had started out good but the twist just occurred and very soon, I would open my eyes and find myself wrapped in Elias’ arms.But no matter how much I tried to convince myself, he was right in front of me. Alive. And certainly not a dream.After all these years…He was right in front of me, once again. “Nico…” I breathed, barely a whisper.His jaw tightened, his throat moving as if swallowing back words. “Hi,” he said finally, voice low, rough, like it had been dragged through gravel.I told myself when I saw him next, I would act like I didn't care. I would greet and keep walking. But my hand rushed fast before I could think, coming in contact with his face. His head whipped to the side, and he looked stunned like he wasn't expecting me to. I blinked, tears already burning at the back of my eyes. “You—” I couldn’

Nico’s POVI stood across the street, leaning lightly against the lamppost, my eyes fixed on her. Amelie. Or Chiara, as she called herself now. The name still felt foreign on my tongue, but the person beneath it—her laughter, the way she tucked her hair behind her ear, the tilt of her head as she listened to him—was unmistakable. She had grown into herself, into this life, and yet, she was still hers, still untouchable in a way that made my chest ache.The man with her—Elias—moved with that careful ease, arms occasionally brushing hers, his voice soft but sure, protective in a way that made my skin crawl. I had done my research. I knew Elias wouldn’t harm her. He had no reason to. He had no connection to the chaos that had defined her life before she disappeared from mine. And yet, every laugh they shared, every small, intimate gesture, twisted the knife deeper into me.I hated it. Seeing her happy with someone that wasn’t me. But that was all I wanted, to see her happy even if it was

_Amelie’s POV_The air was too still.Too bright.Too wrong.The doors had burst open with a bang , and there they stood. The three people I never wanted to see.Nico, Matteo, and Luca. The triplets. My ruin and my past.For a moment, no one moved. Not even me.My lips parted but no sound came out. The church bells that had once sounded like music now felt like knives in my ears. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t understand how this was real.It wasn’t supposed to be.Nico’s eyes found mine immediately, the same eyes that had once promised protection, warmth, everything I thought I’d never lose. Now, they burned with something else—something darker, heavier, something that cut deeper than I was ready for.“Did you really think I would let you get married to another?” he said.The words fell like thunder.My body froze.The room spun.I heard people whispering. I saw Elias’s face shift from confusion to concern. I felt Sofia’s hand brush my arm as she whispered my name, but

_Amelie’s POV_The morning after felt like stepping into a dream I hadn’t chosen.Elias had insisted I take the day off, but work was the only place where my mind could breathe. At least there, people only expected results — not answers.I left the house before he could argue, telling him I needed distraction. He kissed my forehead, reluctant but trusting, and let me go.The city moved in its usual rhythm — cars honking, heels tapping against pavement, vendors shouting over the morning buzz. The normalcy of it all felt wrong. After everything that had happened, I wanted the world to look different. But it didn’t. It never did.At the hospital, I smiled at the receptionist, forced and brief, then went straight to change my clothes . I buried myself in clinicals, rushing between patients as I tried not to think about the wedding that never was, the names I’d tried to forget, the faces I couldn’t escape.For a while, it worked. Talking to the patients took everything off my mind.Until i

_Amelie’s POV_How did it all end up like this? Today wasn’t supposed to end like this. It was meant to have gone well. But ever since they came back into my life, bothing has ever been the same. “Because this time, if I don’t, I will die.”I stood frozen on the pavement, my pulse shaking through me like a trapped bird. The restaurant behind us was chaos — broken glass, people shouting, flashing red and blue lights bouncing off the windows.And in front of me stood Nico.He looked so calm it made me sick. Black shirt, dark jacket, the faintest bruise shadowing his jaw. His men lingered a few feet away, silent and unreadable. It was all too much, too familiar — the control, the precision, the danger wrapped in stillness.I was shaking when I whispered, “Why are you really here?”He didn’t answer. His eyes flicked past me, toward the restaurant doors.And then I heard it — my name.“Chiara!”I turned just as Elias pushed through the crowd, his shirt streaked with dust and smoke, his