Semua Bab Bound by Sin: My Stepbrother’s Obsession: Bab 101 - Bab 110

AndreWhen Ella finally stops talking, the silence feels louder than any argument we have ever had.I stand there, watching her chest rise and fall, watching the way she is holding herself together with sheer will. I have known her my whole life, every tell, every carefully placed pause. And right now, she is bracing for impact even though she doesn’t know what the impact is yet.I rub a hand over my face, exhaustion settling into my bones. Anger has a shelf life. Once it burns through, all that’s left is clarity you didn’t ask for.“Sit down,” I say quietly.She doesn’t argue. That alone tells me everything. Ella only complies when she is either very sure or very afraid.She perches on the edge of the bed, hands resting on her thighs, fingers tapping once, twice, then stilling. I take a breath and sit beside her, close enough to feel her warmth but not touching yet.“There is something I need to tell you,” I say.Her shoulders tense. “You are scaring me, what is it now?”“I am not tr

AndreI step into the hallway and close the exam room door quietly behind me, my chest tight like I have forgotten how to breathe properly. The fluorescent lights hum overhead, too bright, too clean for what just happened inside that room. Ella is dressing, trying to pull herself together, and I need answers before I completely lose my grip on reality.The doctor is standing a few feet away, tablet tucked under his arm, his expression careful. He already knows what I’m about to ask. I can see it in the way his shoulders tense when I approach.“Doctor,” I say, keeping my voice low. Controlled. “I need you to be straight with me.”He nods once. “Of course.”“Was she ever pregnant?” I ask. The question burns on the way out, like saying it might make it real in a way I’m not ready for.He doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, he gestures toward a quiet corner of the hallway, away from passing nurses and curious ears. I follow him, my heart pounding harder with every step.“Yes,” he says fi

AndreOne moment I am sitting on my father’s couch, the weight of their words pressing down on my chest, and the next I’m on my feet, keys already in my hand, the front door slamming shut behind me with a force that rattles the windows. I don’t look back. If I do, I might break apart right there in the doorway, and I don’t trust myself to put the pieces back togetherThe night air hits my face as I step outside, sharp and cold, like it’s trying to wake me up. It doesn’t work.I get into my car and start the engine, the familiar rumble vibrating through my bones. For a second, I just sit there, hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles ache. My chest feels too full, like my heart has swollen beyond what my body can contain.Theo is gone.The thought slices through me, clean and brutal. My son. Halfway across the world, Rosa said. Like that was a reasonable distance. Like that was nothing.And Sage.Sage packing up her life in silence, taking my child, leaving without a g

Andre. I wake up to different noises, it takes a while before my body starts registering pain. It’s a steady beeping, rhythmic and annoying, like someone is tapping a pen against my skull from the inside. At first I thought I was dreaming. Then the smell hits me clean, sharp, and chemical. I am definitely not at home in my room. My eyelids feel like they weigh a thousand kilos as I try to force them open. There is a white ceiling,it's too bright. I blink hard, my vision blurring a little and refocusing in waves. There is a tube in my arm. Another machine to my left. My head throbs like it’s been split open and poorly stitched back together.I try to swallow, but my throat is dry.“What?” My voice comes out cracked, barely a sound.Someone moves beside me. A chair scrapes softly against the floor. A face leans into my line of vision female, familiar in a way that doesn’t connect to anything solid in my head. She has long hair. Carefully done makeup that looks slept in. Eyes a little

Ella.The drive to my parent's house was a few minutes away from the hospital. It took me close to ten minutes to get there. I sit in my car long after I turn the engine off gathering the strength to walk in. The house looms in front of me large, pristine, perfectly maintained. White walls. Tall windows. A place that has never known warmth, only appearances. From the outside, it looks like safety. Stability. Success. It still looks the exact same way it did when I was growing up. From the inside, it’s a cage.My hands are clenched so tightly around the steering wheel that my fingers ache. I don’t notice it at first. I’m too busy breathing in short, shallow bursts, trying to calm the storm raging in my chest. My heart won’t slow down. My thoughts won’t line up.I press my forehead against the steering wheel and close my eyes and whisper to myself, Get it together, Ella.Crying won’t save you here. Weakness has never been tolerated in this house.I glance at the front door, half expe