All Chapters of Owned By My Stepdad(MxM): Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

I didn’t process the kiss at first.It happened too suddenly, too close, too quiet for my brain to immediately label it as real. One second Kai was standing in front of me, the next his lips were on mine, steady and certain in a way that made everything around us fade for a second.My body froze completely.Not because I wanted to pull away.Because I didn’t know what I was supposed to do with it.When he finally pulled back, he stayed close enough that I could still feel him. His eyes searched mine like he was waiting for a reaction that would decide everything.“I like you,” Kai said.The words didn’t sink in immediately.They just hovered in the space between us, heavy and impossible to ignore.I blinked at him, my mind struggling to catch up. “You what?”Kai exhaled slowly, like he had been holding it in for too long. “I like you, Elias. I have for a while.”I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.I wasn’t prepared for that.Not here. Not like this. Not when my life already felt

Nobody spoke after that.The street suddenly felt too small for all of us standing there. Cars passed behind us, people laughed somewhere nearby, but everything around me sounded distant now.Bella looked between everyone slowly, her iced coffee still in her hand. “Okay… what the hell is going on?”I looked straight at Vane. “You said they were after me.”His face tightened immediately.That alone told me enough.“The organization my father worked for…” he started carefully, “they’ve been looking for you for years.”I frowned hard. “Looking for me why?”“Because of who your father was. Because of what he knew.”I stared at him blankly.“No,” I muttered. “No, this is crazy.”“I wanted to keep you away from it,” Vane said quietly.Something clicked in my head then.All the weird rules.The protection.The constant watching.The lies.“That’s why you were always hovering around me?” I asked.He nodded slowly.Then I looked at him properly and something else hit me.“But somewhere along t

The next morning felt strangely normal.Not fully normal, obviously. My life was still a complete disaster, but for the first time in days, things felt quieter. Less heavy.I woke up to Bella yelling from the kitchen.“Elias! If you don’t wake up now I’m eating your share!”I groaned into my pillow. “You’re evil.”“And hungry!”I dragged myself out of bed slowly, still half asleep. The apartment smelled like toast and coffee already. Bella was definitely awake-awake.I grabbed my towel and headed to the bathroom while hearing her loudly singing some random song completely off-key.“Please stop singing,” I shouted.“I sound amazing!”“You sound sick!”Her offended gasp made me laugh quietly.I turned the shower on and stood under the water for a while, letting the warmth wake me up properly. Honestly, it felt nice focusing on something simple again.School.Breakfast. Getting ready. Normal things. Not gangs. Not secrets.Not Nikolai’s intense staring problem.Definitely not Kai confess

It was that specific, heavy brand of silence where twenty-five people simultaneously pretend to study their notebooks while their ears are practically twitching toward the door. Even the lecturer, mid-sentence and marker poised over the whiteboard, went still.I couldn't even blame them for the theatrics.Nikolai looked like he had been copy-pasted from a high-end noir film into a bland university lecture hall. Between the tailored dark coat, the calm, predatory stillness, and the watch that probably cost more than my tuition, he radiated a level of "do not touch" that made the air in the room feel thin.Kai was on his feet before Nikolai could even take a second step. "You’ve got to be kidding me."Nikolai didn't even give him the courtesy of a glance. His focus was a laser beam, and I was the target. "Come with me."I blinked, my fingers tightening around the strap of my bag. "Absolutely not."The room exhaled in a flurry of hushed, frantic whispers."Is that him?""The guy from yes

The moment things started feeling normal again, Bella ruined it.Actually, strike that. Bella saved it.Because the second she came barreling down the hallway at a dead sprint, screaming my name like the building was on fire, both Kai and Nikolai were forced to stop their brooding staredown just to avoid being trampled.“ELIAS!”I turned just in time to see her nearly skid into my chest. She looked like she’d just finished a marathon, her hair a mess and her eyes wide.“What happened?” I asked, reaching out to steady her. “Is someone chasing you?”She grabbed my arm with the grip of a Victorian widow. “Lisa... held... my hand.”I blinked. Once. Twice.“That’s why you’re running? A moderate display of affection?”“You don’t understand the emotional subtext behind the grip strength, Elias!”Kai looked genuinely baffled, his eyebrows creeping toward his hairline. Nikolai, on the other hand, just looked irritated, like he was counting the seconds until he could get back to being mysteriou