All Chapters of Desired by My Stepdad and His Sons : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Chapter 60 – The Choice He Thought I’d Never MakeAriana’s POVI didn’t step back.I didn’t scream.I didn’t cry.I looked Victor Sterling straight in the eye and realized something terrifyingly clear.This man didn’t believe he was wrong.He believed he was entitled.Emily stood frozen beside me, her face pale, lips trembling. I could see the regret eating at her now—but regret didn’t erase damage. It didn’t undo months of silence, warnings disguised as concern, or the way she’d tried to push me away from Ethan while standing beside a monster.“You shouldn’t be here,” I said calmly, even though my heart was pounding so hard it hurt.Victor’s gaze flicked to Emily. “I told you not to speak.”“I’m done listening,” she whispered. “I won’t be part of this anymore.”His jaw tightened.“Go home, Emily.”She didn’t move.I felt it then—the shift. The air thickened, heavy with something dangerous. Victor took a step toward me, slow and deliberate, like he wasn’t worried I’d run. Like he alre

Chapter 62 – Fallout Has a NameAriana’s POVI didn’t wait to see what happened after I sent the recording.The moment it left my phone, I knew there was no undoing it. No pretending. No walking it back with apologies or explanations. Truth doesn’t care if you’re ready—it just arrives and starts breaking things.My hands were shaking by the time I reached the library steps.Ethan followed me in silence. Not close enough to touch. Not far enough to leave. That somehow hurt more than if he’d grabbed my hand.“You should sit,” he said quietly.“I don’t want to sit,” I replied. “If I sit, I’ll think.”“And if you think?”“I’ll panic.”That earned a faint, grim smile.Around us, the campus felt different—like a stage after the curtain drops. People weren’t whispering anymore. They were watching. Waiting.My phone vibrated nonstop.Messages. Missed calls. Notifications exploding faster than I could read them.Emily stood a few feet away, staring at her screen like it might combust. “It’s ev

Chapter 64 – The Price of KnowingAriana’s POVEthan’s mother didn’t sit back down.She stood there like she was bracing for impact, shoulders squared, eyes steady in a way that came from long practice. The kind of stillness you learn when moving only makes things worse.“He followed you,” she said to Ethan.“I followed her,” he replied, finally looking at me.“I didn’t want to involve you,” I said quietly.“You already did,” he said. Not angry. Just tired.The café felt smaller now. The shadows pressed closer. Every sound—the hum of the refrigerator behind the counter, the distant rush of the river outside—felt too loud.“He knows where you are,” I said to her. “Victor.”She nodded. “He’s always known.”“That’s not reassuring,” Ethan muttered.She met his gaze. “It’s reality.”I looked between them. “You said Emily was connected. Not the way I think.”Ethan stiffened at her name.His mother exhaled slowly. “Emily isn’t his pawn. She’s his insurance.”I frowned. “What does that mean?”

Chapter 66 – After the FallAriana’s POVVictor Sterling didn’t get arrested.That was the first thing I learned.By morning, every headline screamed investigation, inquiry, allegations. No cuffs. No walk of shame. Just carefully chosen words and too many unnamed sources.Power doesn’t collapse overnight.It adapts.I sat on the edge of my bed, laptop open, coffee untouched, watching the news cycle chew on my life like it was entertainment. Emily’s video replayed everywhere—slowed, dissected, captioned. My name trended beside words I didn’t recognize as my own.Across the room, my phone buzzed again.Ethan: They lifted the suspension. Temporarily.Relief loosened something in my chest. That’s good.A pause.Ethan: My father hasn’t called.That was worse.I closed my laptop and finally stood. The campus outside looked normal in the cruelest way—students rushing, laughing, living like the ground beneath them wasn’t cracking.A knock sounded at my door.I froze.Then another, softer this

Chapter 68 – The Cost of StayingAriana’s POVThe sirens weren’t for us.That was the cruelest part.They screamed past the house in a blur of red and blue, swallowed by the night, headed somewhere else—some other emergency, some other version of danger that still fit neatly inside rules and procedures.What we were standing in didn’t.Ethan pulled me down the steps, his grip tight but steady. Emily followed, breath ragged, phone clutched to her chest like proof she still existed.Behind us, the door closed.Not slammed.Closed.Controlled.“That wasn’t police,” Emily whispered once we reached the gate.“No,” Ethan said. “That was theater.”We didn’t stop moving until we were three streets away. Only then did we slow, leaning against the side of an unlit storefront, chests heaving.My hands were shaking.Not from fear.From clarity.“He wasn’t bluffing,” I said. “About rewriting the story.”Emily nodded. “It already started.”She showed me her phone.A fresh article. Same outlet. New