All Chapters of Stepdaughter by Day, Wife by Night: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

LENAThe house felt different after she left.Not quieter—no, Vivian’s absence didn’t leave silence behind. It left tension. Thick, suffocating, like smoke that lingered after a fire. Every step I took echoed too loudly against the floors, every breath felt like it might shatter the fragile walls we were standing behind.I couldn’t stop replaying her words.You’re not my daughter anymore.They burrowed under my skin, gnawed at the edges of my heart until it hurt to breathe.I sat curled on the couch in Roman’s suite, clutching a blanket around me even though the room wasn’t cold. My hands rested over my belly, instinctive, protective, as if I could shield the baby from all of it—from her, from the chaos, from the weight of secrets crashing down on us.Roman stood by the window, his silhouette sharp against the afternoon light. His jaw was tight, his shoulders coiled like a predator waiting to strike. He hadn’t said much since Vivian stormed out, but I could feel the storm building ins

LENAI thought I could hide.For days, I’d stayed inside, curtains drawn, my world shrinking to the size of the guesthouse. I avoided the staff, avoided the television, avoided the outside world that was tearing me apart. Roman told me not to look, not to listen. But it didn’t matter—shame found its way in anyway, like smoke seeping through every crack.It was impossible to keep pretending I was invisible when the world had already made me into a headline.The whispers reached me before the stares did.The first time I ventured outside, it was just to breathe fresh air, to feel sunlight on my skin. I slipped through the back garden, hands cradling my stomach, heart pounding as if I were sneaking into enemy territory. The estate gates were far beyond, but still I heard the faint clicking of cameras. I hurried back inside, my chest aching.By the next week, it wasn’t just the paparazzi. It was people.At the café near the bookstore I used to love, two women recognized me. Their eyes wid

LENAWhen Roman first suggested it, I laughed. Actually laughed.Me? Moving into his house—the main house, not the little tucked-away guesthouse where I’d been hiding like some secret? It felt like asking for trouble.“Roman, the whole world already hates me,” I told him, pacing the length of the guesthouse living room while he lounged casually against the wall. “Moving in here, into your fortress, will only make it worse. They’ll say I’m trying to play house with you, like I planned all of this.”“They already say that,” he replied simply, dark brows lifting as though he found my logic amusing.“Exactly!” I threw up my hands. “So why give them more ammunition?”He pushed away from the wall then, his movements deliberate, slow, like a predator closing in on its prey. My chest tightened. When he reached me, he tilted my chin up with one finger, his voice low but firm.“Because I don’t give a damn what they say. And neither should you. You’re carrying my child. You belong with me.”The

LENAThe text message kept replaying in my head.You don’t know what I know.At first, I convinced myself it was just another one of Vivian’s mind games—an empty threat meant to keep me awake at night. And it worked. I barely slept, tossing and turning beside Roman, staring at the ceiling as his arm weighed protectively across my waist.But two mornings later, reality slammed through the door.Roman’s attorney arrived at the house with a stack of documents. His expression was grim, his voice clipped as he handed them to Roman.“She’s filed,” he said.I frowned. “Filed what?”Roman’s jaw flexed, his eyes scanning the papers before flicking to me. “A lawsuit.”The room tilted. “What?”“She’s suing me,” he clarified, his tone flat but edged with steel. “Breach of promise to marry. Defamation. Emotional damages.” He set the papers down on the table with a sharp thud. “She’s dragging us into court.”My stomach dropped. “Can she even do that?”“Yes,” the attorney answered before Roman could

LENAThe words Vivian spat still echoed in my head like poison.“Not one more word, or I’ll destroy you both.”Roman had pulled me away before I could crumble in that hallway, before I could even decide whether I wanted to scream or collapse. My father’s face haunted me, his eyes filled with regret, but Vivian’s venom lingered heavier.By the time we got back to the house, I felt like every ounce of energy had been wrung from me. My body wasn’t mine anymore—it was heavy, trembling, sluggish. Roman guided me upstairs, his hand firm at the small of my back, but the moment I sank onto the edge of our bed, my hands flew to my stomach.The baby.My baby.Our baby.I pressed both palms against the soft curve of my belly, as though shielding the life inside from the chaos outside. But the more I tried to calm my breath, the more I realized something was wrong.Roman crouched in front of me, his hands bracketin