Semua Bab MY STEP SISTER'S MARRIAGE: I AM HER SUBSTITUTE : Bab 11 - Bab 20

I don’t know how long I sat there, looking at that damn file. Could’ve been minutes. Could’ve have been hours. It felt like a lifetime, honestly. Time just stopped or maybe it never really started. It was there, sitting right in front of me. A monster, ugly, thick. I had this temptation to burn it, tear it apart, smash it against the wall and scream until there was nothing left. But i couldn’t, I was stuck. Stuck in the kind of way that made your heart beat like a war drum and make your body feel like it was made of stone. It was too loud, I couldn’t escape it. The clock was breathing down my neck, counting down to something i wasn’t prepared for. “You sure?” Reeves asked. His voice was rough, low, like it was coming from the bottom of a deep pit. It was too real and too much.I wanted to laugh, I wanted to cry, I wanted to punch him in the face. Punch all of them. Punch the whole damn world. But was I sure? That I was about to burn my bridges? That I was about to sign away whatev

I barely slept the night before. I don’t think i even closed my eyes, just laid there, staring at the ceiling while the hum of the fridge and the ticking of the wall clock took turns in mocking me.Every second dragged like it was trying to suffocate me. At 4:16 a.m, I got out of bed and took a shower. Hot water. Too hot. I let it burn my skin just to feel something different from panic. The pain helped somehow, it reminded me that I was still here, still fighting.By the time the sun rose, I’d already ironed my clothes, reviewed my statements and packed Mera’s lunch twice and she didn’t even have school today.Habit.Survival.When I stepped out of the elevator into the courthouse lobby, the air felt different. It was heavier than last time, tighter, like the walls were holding their last breath.Reeves was waiting for me near the metal detectors, suit perfect, hair slicked back, eyes scanning the room like a sniper. “You ready,” he asked.I nodded, even though the answer was no.H

I show up early for the next visit. Too early, I sit in my car outside the center with my hands locked around the steering wheel, staring at the brick wall in front of me like it owes me something. The engine’s off and the silence in the car feels too loud. I’ve got twenty minutes to kill, and no part of me knows what to do with them.I already know I won’t go inside early. I don’t want Aaron to see me waiting like I’m desperate even though I am.Desperate doesn’t even cover what I’m feeling.I’m not waiting for a miracle. I’m just waiting for something small a smile, a joke, a flicker of trust. I’d settle for him looking me in the eyes a full five seconds without shutting down.That would be enough, that would be everything.When I finally step inside, the counselor gives me a nod like she’s trying not to smile. “He’s in the room already.”I blink. “He’s early?”She shrugs. “He came in quiet. Said he didn’t want to wait in the car anymore.” That lands heavy, quiet but sharp. He did

The waiting room felt unusually sterile today, the quiet hum of the fluorescent lights above me doing little to drown out the thoughts running through my head. I held the crumpled, old piece of paper that Mera had drawn on her usual messy but beautiful sketch of two stick figures in spacesuits one holding a book and the other reaching out. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to show it to Aaron yet, but I wanted to have it with me, it felt like a bridge I could offer him.The time had come for our next visit. The counselor had told me Aaron was eager to share his story with me, a book he had been working on about a boy lost in space. I could almost feel my pulse quicken.This was a moment, a turning point. I was about to meet Aaron where he was, and this time, it wasn’t going to be through some cold, clinical sheet of paper or a session monitored by someone else. This was us.The door opened, and I saw him standing there, holding a book close to his chest, eyes downcast, shifting from foot

Ryan’s pov I stood outside the building, watching the silhouettes shift behind the glass, my fists clenched in the pockets of my coat. The late afternoon sun had already slipped behind the buildings, casting long shadows across the pavement, the air was sharp with that kind of cold that bit at your skin, but I didn’t move. I couldn’t move.Inside, I’d watched Clara walk out first her posture rigid, her lips tight, there was something in her eyes I hadn’t seen in a long time. Not control, command or fear. Maybe even something close to defeat.That was new.Aaron followed a few steps behind, his shoulders hunched, but his gait more steady than usual. Not like a kid being dragged through the motions anymore. No, he looked like he’d chosen to walk forward. That scared the hell out of me more than anything because he hadn’t looked for me. He hadn’t scanned the sidewalk for my face and when his eyes did catch mine, he didn’t stop. He just kept walking and maybe I deserved that.“Ryan?”I tu