Все главы IN LOVE WITH MY STEPSON: Глава 41 - Глава 50

EMILYIt had been one month since my life changed forever.The pain in my leg was no longer the sharp, burning agony it used to be, but it still pulsed and ached like a constant reminder of everything I had lost. My right leg was gone. Amputated. Just like that. One gunshot and everything spiraled.I had cried rivers, screamed into pillows, and cursed the world-but none of it brought my leg back. The only thing that kept me going now was the tiny life I cradled every morning.My son.Liam.He was four months old now. He had his father's lips and my stubborn eyes. Every time he smiled, something inside of me softened. I loved him fiercely, protectively, but the pain of everything that had happened... it hadn't faded.That afternoon, I was sitting on the couch, gently petting Liam's soft hair as he rested peacefully on my chest. His breathing was slow and steady and his tiny fingers curled against my collarbone. The silence in the room was almost sacred-until a knock interrupted it.Lia

JULIUSThe afternoon sun warmed the sitting room with a gentle glow. I had just settled on the couch with one of my favorite business magazines, a well-folded cushion behind my back, and a sense of calm I hadn't felt in a long time. For once, the house was quiet. No boardroom noise. No drama. Just the flipping of pages and the soft hum of the air conditioner.Harriet stepped in quietly, holding her notepad and wearing that same calm expression she always had. "Sir," she said, "would you prefer coffee or lemon tea today? I could add a few light snacks."I didn't even lift my eyes from the magazine. "Lemon tea will do," I replied casually.She nodded and walked off.I turned the page, scanning an article about market volatility and aggressive takeovers-something I'd once thrived on. Just as I reached the middle of the page, my phone buzzed once. A message. I ignored it. I'd told everyone to leave me alone today, and I had no interest in talking business or reading complaints.But then,

WILLIAMSThe cold breeze slicing through the South Side of Chicago wasn't the kind you could get used to. Even wrapped in a hoodie and face mask, I felt every sting of the wind, but it was better than being recognized. I didn't want anyone seeing my face-not when I had fallen this far.I shoved my hands into my pockets and walked briskly through the outdoor market on 71st Street. Stalls lined the sidewalk, busy with people haggling over fruit, meat, and cheap knockoff bags. The smell of roasted peanuts mixed with the scent of diesel from passing cars. I was here for one thing only-watermelon. Sasha hadn't been feeling well and had been craving it for days.As I approached the fruit stall with my hood drawn low, I kept my head down and picked up a medium-sized melon. I could almost feel Sasha's small smile when I imagined her biting into it.Just as I was about to pay, I heard a man's voice behind me."Wait... is that...isn't that the Williams guy?"My chest tightened. I kept my head d

CLAIREThe air in the office was always cold, but nothing froze me quite like the sight of him-Mr. Julius Edwards, my boss... and my biological father.He didn't know.And I wasn't ready for him to know. Not yet.I had taken the assistant role under him six months ago, not because I wanted a fancy title or the paycheck-but because I needed to get close. Close enough to watch the man who destroyed my mother's life, who abandoned her when she was at her most vulnerable... the man whose face haunted me since the day I read the diary.My mother's diary. Her heartbreaking confessions spilled across old pages, stained with tears and time. She had written about Julius. How they met when she worked as a flower gardener in a botanical park, how he had sweet-talked her, gotten her pregnant, and then turned on her when she refused to have an abortion."You'll ruin my name. You're nothing but a weed in a garden," he told her.And just like that, he vanished.He didn't just disappear, he told ever

SASHAChicago market was buzzing with life that morning-fruit vendors shouting prices, children running around with balloons, the smell of roasted corn hanging heavy in the air.I sat on my stool under the shade of my patched umbrella, arranging the mangoes and pineapples for the day. The sun hadn't even hit its peak, but my blouse was already sticking to my back with sweat.Beside me, my little boy was nowhere in sight-not because he wasn't with me, but because I had just dropped him off at Rhoda's home tutorial an hour ago.It was the first time I had been without him in months.I couldn't stop glancing at my phone, waiting for a call from Rhoda saying he cried too much or missed me-or something. Anything.But the phone remained still. Quiet.At least until it rang. I reached for it instantly, thinking it was Rhoda."Williams," the screen said.He should be out for his daily hustle and he was unlikely to call at this moment even for the smallest thing, Whatever it was, he'd wait til