All Chapters of Stepdaughter by Day, Wife by Night: Chapter 161 - Chapter 170

LENAI didn’t know how long I stood there holding Isabella, trying to calm her down without falling apart myself. Thankfully she didn’t ask again. She just hugged me tighter, like she sensed that if she loosened her grip, I might crumble into pieces right in front of her.When Ava arrived and saw my face—red, swollen, exhausted—she immediately pulled me into the kitchen while Isabella went to play in the living room.“What happened? You look like you haven’t slept in a year,” she said, her voice soft but trembling with worry.I didn’t answer at first. I only slid the envelope across the table toward her.Ava frowned, picked it up, and pulled out the photos.The exact second her eyes landed on the first picture, she gasped so sharply I knew she wasn’t prepared for what she saw.“Oh my God…” Her hand flew to her mouth. “Lena… what is this? When… how…”I sank into the chair across from her. My hands were cold. My chest felt hollow.“It was on the dining table this morning,” I whispered.

LENAI didn’t even realize how fast the tears were falling until my vision blurred so badly I couldn’t see the steering wheel. My palms trembled against it, my breath coming in these short, broken pulls that didn’t feel like mine. Everything Vivian said kept repeating in my head like a recording I couldn’t shut off.I was pregnant once, and Roman asked me to abort it because of you.I pressed the heel of my hand against my forehead, choking on a soft, pathetic sound that barely escaped my throat. It felt unreal. It felt like something that belonged in another woman’s life, not mine. But the worst part was… I knew my mother. I knew when she was lying, and I knew when she wasn’t.Today, she wasn’t.My phone sat useless on the passenger seat, screen still lit up from the last attempt I’d made to call Roman. I didn’t even know how many times I had tried at this point. Five? Ten? Maybe more. Every time it just rang and rang until the call died on its own.Why, Roman? Why couldn’t you just

LENAI didn’t sleep last night. Or maybe I did, but it was the kind of sleep that felt like drowning and floating at the same time. Roman’s confession echoed over and over in my head—his voice, the guilt in it, the way he said Vivian's name as if she was his lifeline and I was a burden.That hurt more than anything.Even now, as I stood in the kitchen staring at the empty fridge, I felt hollow. I couldn’t even taste the coffee Ava forced me to drink before she practically pushed me out the door.“You need air,” she said. “Go buy groceries. I got the kids. Just… breathe.”So now here I was, pushing a trolley through the supermarket, but my mind wasn’t here. It was still replaying everything. Vivian’s face. Her voice. Roman’s voice. The photos in my hand.It was all too much.I didn’t even realize I turned into another aisle until—Bang.My trolley hit something. Someone.A loud yelp snapped me back to reality.“Ah—! Watch it!”I gasped. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!”I rushed forward, hear

LENAI shouldn’t have given Billy my number.That thought haunted me for hours, looping in my mind like a stubborn echo I couldn’t shut off. It was stupid, careless, too impulsive—maybe even selfish. And I knew one day… one way or another… I would have to take responsibility for it.Especially because Roman forbade me from having my own phone in the first place. And now I had one. And Billy had my number. And I picked up his call.But honestly? That wasn’t even the biggest disaster in my life right now.Everything else was worse.Everything else was burning.It was late afternoon when the living room door suddenly opened. I didn’t hear footsteps. No warning. No voice.Just the door swinging, and then—Roman stepped inside.For a second, my heart literally stopped. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Could only stare.Ava gasped from the sofa. Isabella froze beside her with a half-drawn picture in her hand, the colored pencil falling to the floor.“Daddy!” she screamed, her entire face

LENAFor a moment, I couldn’t move. My phone vibrated again, Billy’s name on the screen, bright and loud in the silence that Roman and I had just drowned in.Before I could even blink, Roman grabbed my wrist. Not harshly, but firmly enough that I froze.“Pick it up,” he demanded.His voice… God. It wasn’t him. It wasn’t the Roman who whispered to me in the dark or kissed my forehead when I had nightmares. This voice was sharp, cracked, angry, desperate. It hurt to hear.I didn’t pick it up.The call stopped, the room went quiet—too quiet—and then my phone lit up again.Billy.I pulled my hand back, clutching the phone to my chest.“Lena,” Roman snapped. “Answer it.”“No.”His eyes widened, disbelief turning into something sharper. Something painful.“Why not?” he said, voice rising. “Who the hell is calling you at this hour? On a phone I gave you? A phone that has only my number inside it?”I swallowed, my throat dry. “Roman, stop.”“No. Tell me. Who is it?”I didn’t answer. Not becau