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Tristan Michelson ~•~Nicole didn’t call me to ask me directly.She just brought her friend to the house.I was in the living room, deliberately waiting, when the front door suddenly opened. Nicole came in first, dragging a suitcase behind her, then her friend followed suit. They paused when they saw me.Nicole recovered faster. She dragged the suitcase along with her, pulling her friend with the other hand until they were in front of me. “Clara, this is Tristan, my stepfather. Tristan, this is Clara, my roommate back in college.”My jaw ticked. She was getting bolder by the day. Did she directly bring her in because she knew I wouldn’t kick them out?“Nice to meet you, sir.” The Clara girl put on a smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”My eyes flicked to Nicole, but she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at her friend instead. “He gets nonverbal sometimes. Let’s go.”With that, she grabbed her friend out of my sight.I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to suppress my irritati

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Nicole Harper ~•~I wasn’t dense enough not to notice that Sebastian was flirting with me, but I didn’t stop it because of how Tristan reacted whenever he saw us together. His veins were almost popping out of his neck but he kept a straight face anyway, pretending he didn’t care. It was amusing. He was so clearly affected yet he pretended like he wasn’t. I’d told him I wanted to end everything with him, but I couldn’t help but mess with him a little.“Do you always ignore people when they talk to you or am I just lucky?” Sebastian asked, tilting his head as he studied me.“I’m working,” I replied flatly, my eyes still on my screen.“You’ve been staring at that same page for five minutes.”I paused, then slowly looked up at him. “And you’ve been talking for five minutes straight. We all have our flaws.”He laughed, clearly entertained. “I like you.”“I didn’t ask.”“That’s what makes it better.”I rolled my eyes and went back to typing, pretending I didn’t feel the weight of multiple

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Nicole Harper~•~“Not today, Sebastian,” I said just as a shadow fell over me the next morning. I looked up to see that it was indeed him.“It seems like you’re in a bad mood today.” He responded but I didn’t answer. “Did your boss threaten to dock your pay if you keep entertaining me? You can always come work for me.”I closed my eyes briefly. It wasn’t that. It was the fact that everyone in the office knew he was married yet he was flirting with me under the guise of familial relationships to piss Tristan off. Instead, it made everyone believe I was trying to get with a married man.They weren’t entirely wrong. Just not this Michelson.I gritted my teeth at my traitorous thoughts. My phone buzzed on the table and I picked it up to see that it was Tristan. I instinctively looked behind me even if I couldn’t see anything through the glass. Tristan hadn’t texted me for weeks. Ever since I slapped him at his cottage and told him we were over, he didn’t try anymore.He had self-respect

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Nicole Harper ~•~ No one said anything. I stood up from my seat, still unable to process the fact that a complete stranger had just laid their hand on me. When I met the woman’s gaze, her eyes were filled with hatred. This wasn’t some fucking joke. I raised my hand with the intent to return the favor, but my hand froze in the air when I realized I was at my workplace. I wasn’t sure whether or not I had the right to slap her back. What if she were a client? Then again, I never directly dealt with clients. I had no reason to. All I did was sit behind a computer and do my job. I dropped my hand by my side, my chest heaving. She scoffed at the sight. “As if you’d dare.” Her tone was mocking. “Guilty sluts like you have no choice but to suffer the consequences of their actions.” My cheeks reddened and it didn’t come from the slap. The embarrassment was louder than the silence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, trying to level my voice and not show just how fuck

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Nicole Harper~•~“I’m suing.”“No.” Tristan’s response was immediate.It caught me off guard. He knew I was wrong. He had even stepped in to intervene. I blinked at him. “Excuse me?”“I said no.” Tristan’s tone didn’t change. It was calm and firm like he’d already made the decision for me.Annoyance flared instantly in my chest. I couldn’t dial back my annoyance even if I tried. He was just trying to comfort me. Now he was already starting to piss me off. “Why the fuck not?”His gaze didn’t falter. “Because it’s not happening.”My chest rose and fell rapidly. “It is happening,” I snapped. “She slapped me in front of the entire office. She accused me of sleeping with her husband. Do you have any idea how humiliating that was?”“I do.”“Then why are you trying to stop me?” I demanded. “I deserve to be compensated for that.”There was a pause, then, “How much?”I frowned. “What?”“How much do you want?” he repeated, like we were discussing a business deal and not the humiliation done by

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Tristan Michelson ~•~“Tristan Michelson calling,” Sebastian’s voice rang out on the other end of the call. “This must be a miracle.”“Seeing as you are in high spirits, I take it that you do not know that your wife was just announcing to everyone that you’re a cheater.”I could literally feel him straighten up. “What?”“And she embarrassed my employee,” I gritted out. “The petty games you’ve been playing to piss me off have consequences, Seb, and Nicole took the brunt of it.”“Fuck,” he hissed. “How bad?”“She slapped her.” I pointed out, the memory causing my grip to tighten around my phone. I’d never been a violent man, especially not to women, but I didn’t know what to do with all this rage burning in me. I was proud when Nicole raised her hand, but somehow, even prouder when she restrained herself. “Deal with it as you see fit, but if it repeats itself, I won’t be polite.”He sighed, unable to say anything.“Also, Sebastian?”“What?” He grumbled.“You’re banned from my floor.”I

All Chapters of My Stepfather, My Ruin: Chapter 61 - Chapter 66

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