All Chapters of Taken by my stepfathers: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

161 Chapters

Come here

Daniel’s POVThe heavy oak doors of the master suite clicked shut behind us, the sound echoing like a gavel in the vastness of the room. This was the sanctum. Outside, in the hallways and the restaurants of the city, I was a name, a legacy, a threat. But inside these four walls, I was simply the man who had taken a shattered girl and decided to see if she could be made into a weapon.I didn't turn on the lamps. The moon was a cold, silver blade cutting through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting long, skeletal shadows across the charcoal-silk duvets. The air in here always smelled of cedar, old books, and the faint tang of the estate’s history, but tonight, it was dominated by Eden, my little firebird.She stood at the foot of the bed, her breath coming in shallow, jagged hitches. The dress was a pool of midnight at her feet, leaving her standing in nothing but the black diamond ring and the brutal map of the day.I stood by the door for a long minute, just watching her.Most women

You were a placeholder

Luca’s POVThe penthouse of the Grand Regency felt like a gilded cage. It was the kind of place my father sent people when he wanted them out of his sight but still under his thumb. As I stood in the foyer, the scent of expensive lilies and stale gin hit me, a fragrance that had become Lilian’s signature over the last forty-eight hours.She was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, a robe draped over her shoulders, looking out at the skyline as if she still owned it. When she turned, her face was a mask of grief. The swelling from the hallway fight had gone down, but the bruising was still there, hidden under a thick layer of concealer."Luca," she breathed, reaching out her hands. "Thank God. You’re the only one who hasn't abandoned me to that... that animal."I didn't take her hands. I stood by the door, my coat still on, my heart feeling like a cold stone in my chest. "He didn't abandon you, Lilian. He evicted you. There’s a difference."Her face contorted for a second before sh

The biggest monster of them all

Daniel’s POVThe basement of the old warehouse on the outskirts of the city was a far cry from the refined, leather-scented dungeon of my estate. This place was raw. It smelled of damp concrete, rusted iron, and the pervasive, cloying scent of fear. I had chosen it for its lack of history, a blank canvas for the absolute ruin I was about to paint.Marcus had been efficient. The two of them were already there, zip-tied to heavy industrial chairs in the center of the room under the hum of a single, flickering halogen bulb.Thomas and Sarah Jacobs.I stood in the shadows, watching them. Thomas was a thick-necked man with a face like a slab of raw meat, his breath coming in jagged, wheezing hitches. Sarah was a bird-like woman, her eyes darting, her lips moving in a silent prayer. They looked like nothing. They looked like the kind of people you pass in a grocery store and forget before you reach your car. It was infuriating that creatures so small had left scars so deep.I stepped into t

The Shepherd and the Wolf

Daniel’s POVThe file on Deacon Arthur Vance made my fucking skin crawl. It wasn't just the abuse; it was the meticulous, holy-rolling theater he used to cloak it. This prick didn't just break children; he did it in the name of a god he didn't believe in, using a pulpit as a hunting blind.He was the reason Eden couldn’t walk past a church without her breath hitching. She’d told me, in a rare moment of splintered vulnerability, how the smell of incense and the sound of a choir made her feel like she was suffocating. Vance had taken her spiritual sanctuary and turned it into a slaughterhouse, using the "grace of God" as a silencer for her screams.The memory of her voice was small, hollow, and utterly defeated when she spoke of the "cleansing" rituals he’d forced on her. That was the only fucking fuel I needed.I sat in the back of the Maybach, watching the steeple of Grace Community Church cut into the gray morning sky like a jagged tooth. Marcus sat up front, his silence as heavy as

The beast had arrived for his final payment.

Lilian’s POVThe hotel suite was a tomb of white marble and gold leaf, a space designed for luxury that felt like a waiting room for a funeral. I sat at the vanity, my fingers trembling as I clutched my tablet. The screen was a blur of blue light and headlines that were currently tearing my world into serrated pieces.I had spent the last hour refreshing the local news feeds, waiting for some sign that Daniel’s "little project" had failed, that the board had intervened, or that the police had finally noticed the monster living in the Schmidt estate.But the news that broke wasn’t about Daniel. It was about the ghosts I had spent twenty years trying to bury."LOCAL DEACON FOUND MUTILATED ON POLICE STATION STEPS; EVIDENCE OF DECADES-LONG ABUSE REVEALED."My stomach turned over, a cold, oily wave of nausea hitting me. Arthur Vance. The man I had entrusted with the "rebellious" child I couldn't handle. Not that I raised her; when she got kicked out from one foster family to another, I too

The Reclamation

Daniel’s POVThe car slowed as we reached the end of the dirt road, the tires crunching over gravel and dried leaves. The air out here was different, stale, and heavy with the scent of pine and neglect. It was the edge of the county, a place where the law was a suggestion and the neighbors were far enough away that a scream wouldn't carry.This was the Miller property. The first house Eden had ever called "home" after I’d lost her to the system.I felt her stiffen beside me. Her hand, the one wearing the black diamond, was gripped so tightly around the door handle that her knuckles were white. She hadn't said a word for the entire hour-long drive. She didn't need to. I could feel the tremors in her soul through the seat."We don't have to get out," I said, my voice low. "I can have the demolition crew here by sunset. We can watch it burn from the car."Eden turned to look at me. Her eyes were hard, the honey-gold shards in them burning with a dark, cold fire. "No. I want to stand on t

The Final Liquidation

Daniel’s POVThe hallway of the Grand Regency felt like a tunnel of expensive air. Every step I took toward Suite 902 was a strike against the floor, the sound of my boots echoing like a closing coffin lid. I didn't need a key. The security team I paid for had already bypassed the locks, standing aside like gargoyles as I approached the threshold of Lilian’s temporary sanctuary.I pushed the door open.The suite was a chaotic mess of lace and desperation. Suitcases lay half-packed on the velvet ottoman, overflowing with designer labels that carried the stench of a life she no longer owned. Lilian was standing by the window, carrying a glass of gin in her hand, her hair disheveled in a way that signaled the onset of a total mental collapse.When she saw me, the glass slipped from her fingers. It didn't shatter on the thick carpet; it just soaked into the fibers, a quiet, pathetic stain."Daniel," she whispered, her voice cracking like dry parchment.I walked into the center of the room

The Ghost of a Boy

Eden’s POVThe afternoon had been deceptively normal, or as normal as life could be when you were tethered to a man who breathed fire. Daniel had taken me to a gallery opening in Chelsea, a high-ceilinged space filled with minimalist art and people who looked like they were made of glass. I was draped in a charcoal dress, the black diamond on my finger acting as a silent warning to anyone who dared look too long.He was in a rare, expansive mood. His hand stayed possessively at the small of my back, his thumb tracing the spine he had claimed. We were the "It" couple of the season, the builder and his mystery, and I was finally starting to enjoy the weight of the crown.And then, "Eden?"The voice hit me like a bucket of ice water. It was a voice from months ago—from the brief, blurry window of time before Daniel had found me, when I was trying to pretend I was just a normal student at college.I turned, my heart hammering against my ribs. Standing there was Leo.Leo was everything Dan

The Erasure of Yesterday

Eden’s POVThe morning light was a cruel intrusion. It spilled across the dark wood of the room like a jagged blade, highlighting the wreckage of the night before. My body felt heavy, etched with the phantom sensations of the leather and the cold floor of the North Wing. Daniel had been relentless. He hadn't just punished me; he had overwritten every nerve ending until the only thing I could remember was the weight of his hands and the sound of his voice calling me his property.I stirred, and a soft groan escaped my parched throat. The bed beside me was empty, but the sheets were still warm."Wake up, Eden."The voice came from the armchair by the window. Daniel was already dressed in a crisp, white shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, with a cup of black coffee in one hand and a tablet in the other. He didn't look like a man who had spent the night in a fever of possessive rage. He looked like a man who had just finished a morning workout; he was invigorated, calm, and utterly le

You want war, I'll give you war

Eden’s POVThe university was no longer the place I remembered. The lecture halls felt smaller, the chatter of the students sounded like white noise, and there was the unspoken awareness of the two men in dark suits standing outside my door. I wasn't a student anymore; I was a curiosity. A girl who had vanished and reappeared as the centerpiece of the Schmidt empire.Daniel had let me go back to my business studies. I had spent the morning navigating the stares and the hushed whispers, my hand instinctively twisting the black diamond on my finger. I sometimes miss Claire; she is the only person who never judged me.By noon, I needed to breathe.I slipped out of the side exit of the library, dodging my security detail for a fleeting five minutes of supposed freedom. I found myself in the campus garden, a small, manicured patch of green that felt like the only honest place left. I sat on a stone bench, resting my head against the cool backrest, closing my eyes against the relentless gla

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