All Chapters of DESPISED AND DEVOURED BY MY STEP FATHER : Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Danny's POV The neon sign outside the motel buzzed like a dying insect, casting a sickly, flickering red light over the cramped room. We were covered in road dust, our clothes stained with sweat and the lingering smell of exhaust. I looked at Chadwick, the billionaire, the untouchable professor and he looked like a runaway teenager. His shirt was missing three buttons, and he was leaning against the peeling wallpaper, panting. "I can't believe we did that," I said, a laugh escaping me. "We did," he breathed, his eyes tracking me. He didn't look like a man with cold heart anymore. For once, he just looked… tired. We had stopped at a 24 hour super center three miles back. It felt like a fever dream. We had bought cheap, oversized hoodies, boxes of fiery Ginger hair dye, and bags of junk food. Now, standing in the cramped, humid bathroom of a room that smelled like stale cigarettes and lemon cleaner, it felt like the world outside didn't exist anymore. "You go first," I said, handi

Danny's POV The phone vibrated against the bedside table, a relentless, buzzing sound that made my skin crawl. Noah. Again.I swiped the notification away. I didn't want to hear about Gabriel. I didn't want to hear about Noah’s truth. Since we got back from Hawaii he had been blowing up my phone non-stop with text and calls and honestly I really didn't care. I mean I didn't care about him or Gabriel, let's be frank I never liked Noah, so he could go fuck Gabriel I don't care anymore.I picked up the phone and saw a call coming in from Erica. I didn't even have time to reject it before she was already screaming through the speaker."Danny! Where the fuck have you been? You are acting like a damn ghost!"I paced the length of my room, my grip tightening on the phone. "I have been busy, Erica. Just… leave me alone.""Busy? Busy doing what? You are acting weird, Danny. Wait you have always been weird anyway ." She paused, her tone shifting into something sharper, something prying. "Tell

Danny's POV The room was black, save for the sliver of moonlight cutting across the floorboards. I was dead to the world, buried under the duvet, until the mattress dipped.It wasn't a subtle movement. It was a heavy, deliberate shift of weight that knocked the air right out of my lungs. I bolted upright, my heart slamming against my ribs like a trapped bird, and fumbled for the bedside lamp.The click of the switch felt deafening. A silhouette stood over me. Tall. Imposing. The smell hit me before I could even process the shape, that sharp, expensive, familiar mix of cedarwood and cold skin.Chadwick."Shh," he breathed, the sound barely a ripple in the dark.He didn't explain. He didn't ask. He just moved, closing the distance between us in a single, fluid motion. He climbed onto the bed, his weight pinning me down before I could even find my voice. He caught my wrists, pinning my arms against the pillows, and for a second, I felt like prey."What are you....." I started, but my vo

Danny's POV The cafe on 5th floor was loud, but it sounded like background noise a hum of people living lives that didn't feel like a slow motion. Erica sat across from me, her sharp nails tapping on the marble table. She looked like she knew something I didn't, her eyes scanning my face with that predatory, bored look that usually meant my life was about to get complicated. "You look like shit, Danny," she said, blunt as a blade. I leaned back, my iced coffee sweating onto the table. "Thanks. Good to see you too." "I saw Noah," she said, dropping the bomb without even looking at me. "He is loosing it. He wants you, Danny. But that’s not why I am here." She pulled out a heavy, cream colored envelope and slid it toward me. "An art competition, hosting in Paris. Full funding, studio space, the works, which is perfect for you. If you win the final contest in Paris, you are made for life." I stared at the envelope. My heart jumped, that familiar, sharp ache of hope that usually en

Chadwicks POV The rain in this city doesn't wash anything away. It just turns the grime into a slick, black sludge. I had been driving for hours, my knuckles aching against the steering wheel, my eyes scanning every goddamn shadow. My phone was a dead weight in my pocket, but I had checked it every thirty seconds. Nothing. No word from Erica, no word from his friends, no word from the kid.My gut was a knot of pure, unadulterated acid. Sarah was back at the house, probably nursing her bruised ego, but I didn't care about her. I didn't care about the scandal. I didn't care about anything except the fact that Danny was out there, somewhere in the dark, caught in a storm he wasn't built to survive. The kid caught a cold if the wind blew the wrong way. If he was out in this…I pulled the car over, not because I had a lead, but because I couldn't keep driving blindly. I stepped out into the downpour. The water hit me like gravel, freezing and unforgiving. I ducked into a dive bar on t