All Chapters of All That Glitters Is My StepDad.: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

George's POV The hospital corridor felt too white, too clean, like a place where truth went to get sterilized before it was handed back to you. I stood there with Cierra’s phone in my hand, my thumb hovering over a number I had no business calling, yet couldn’t avoid.Jamal.The name burned quietly in my chest, not loud rage yet, but the kind that settled deep and waited. I told myself this wasn’t jealousy. It was necessity. Truth had a way of demanding ugly conversations.I pressed call.The ring echoed once in my ear, then again, stretching longer than it should have. I almost hoped he wouldn’t answer, almost hoped fate would spare me this humiliation.“Hello?” His voice came rough, irritated, like I’d interrupted something important.I swallowed. “Jamal.”Silence. The kind that wasn’t confusion, but calculation.“…Who is this?” he asked.“Someone who needs to talk to you,” I said, keeping my voice level even as my pulse climbed. “And before you hang up...this concerns Cierra.”

Cierra's POV The room felt too small for all the tension trapped inside it.The air was thick, heavy, like it hadn’t moved in hours. Even the soft hum of the hospital machines sounded loud, irritating, like they were mocking my fear. The white walls closed in on me, pressing against my chest until breathing felt like work.I sat on the edge of the bed, my feet dangling just above the cold tiled floor. My hands rested on my thighs, fingers clenched so tight they hurt. I didn’t know when I started shaking, but I couldn’t stop. It wasn’t cold. It was fear...pure, raw fear.George stood beside me.He hadn’t sat down once. He kept pacing, stopping, then pacing again, like he was trying to outrun the moment we were waiting for. Every few seconds, his eyes would come back to me, scanning my face, checking if I was still holding together.The doctor stood near the door, pretending to review his notes. He kept clearing his throat, shifting his weight, looking uncomfortable. We were all waiti

Cierra's POV I woke up slowly.Not the normal kind of waking where your eyes open and the world makes sense. This one came with pain first. Sharp, sudden pain that cut through my lower back and spread like fire through my waist. My body reacted before my mind did... I gasped, my fingers curling into the sheets beneath me as my breath caught painfully in my chest.Everything felt heavy.My head throbbed, my eyes burned, and for a moment, I couldn’t remember where I was or how I got there. The smell of the room was unfamiliar...clean, but not like a hospital. Softer. Warmer. The air felt still, like nothing had moved in hours.I blinked slowly. The ceiling above me wasn’t white. It wasn’t cracked or dull. It was smooth, cream-colored, with a faint shadow from a fan that wasn’t moving. That was when fear slipped into my chest.This wasn’t home. And this wasn’t the hospital either.My heart began to beat faster as I pushed myself up slightly, my palm pressing against the mattress for s

Cierra's POV Darkness did not come softly.It crashed into me like a wave, heavy and cold, swallowing every sound, every thought, every bit of strength I had left. I did not know if my eyes were closed or open. I did not know if I was breathing or not. All I knew was that fear was still alive inside me, even when everything else felt gone.Slowly, painfully, awareness returned.My head throbbed as if someone had struck it from the inside. There was a sharp ache at the back of my skull, and when I tried to move, pain spread through my body in long, burning lines. I groaned quietly, the sound dry and weak in my throat.I was lying on something hard. The floor. Totally Naked.The room felt different now. Colder. Heavier. The air no longer carried the faint warmth it had earlier when Roger was with me. That thought alone made my chest tighten painfully.Roger.My eyes fluttered open, but my vision was blurred. Shapes moved slowly above me, dark and tall, like shadows without faces. Panic

The room was small and unfinished, built from bare concrete and neglect. The walls carried cracks like old scars, and the single bulb hanging from the ceiling flickered as if it might give up at any moment. The air was thick...dust, sweat, and fear pressed together until breathing felt like work.Cierra sat on a wooden chair at the center of the room.Her hands were tied tightly behind her back, rope twisted hard enough to burn her skin. Her ankles were bound too, forcing her feet close together, leaving her no balance, no strength. Every small movement sent pain through her wrists and shoulders. Whoever did this had tied her carefully, not to restrain, but to break.Her head pounded dully. Not sharp, not sudden. The kind of pain that reminded her she had been hit, dragged, handled without care. Her mouth felt dry, her throat tight. Fear sat in her chest, heavy and unmoving.She lifted her eyes slowly.Avatar stood near the door, his body relaxed, one shoulder leaning against the wall