Todos os capítulos de My Ex-Boyfriend is my New Step-Brother: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 10

The emerald velvet was a second skin, and right now, it was suffocating me."Stop fidgeting, Scarlett," Chloe muttered, her knees hitting the hardwood as she pinned the hem. "This dress is the difference between a 'rising star' and an 'A-lister.' The back is the selling point. It’s supposed to look like you’re wearing nothing but a prayer."I looked in the triple-mirror. The front was high-necked and regal, but when I turned, the gown vanished. It scooped down to the very base of my spine, exposing every inch of my pale skin to the cool air of the dressing room."I feel exposed," I whispered."You feel like a fantasy," Chloe corrected, standing up and grabbing her phone. "Stay. Do not move. I need to grab the body tape from the kit in the hallway. One slip and the tabloids get a show they didn't pay for."She disappeared, the heavy oak door clicking shut.The silence of the Reed mansion always felt heavy, but today it felt electric. I stared at my reflection, tracing the line of my co

"It’s a fresh start, Scarlett. For both of us."My mother was glowing. She sat across from me in our cramped apartment, clutching a glass of expensive champagne that looked out of place next to our chipped IKEA plates."His name is Marcus Reed," she continued, her eyes wide with a manic kind of hope. "He’s brilliant, he’s wealthy, and he wants to take care of us. No more struggling for roles to pay the rent. No more debt."The name Reed hit me like a physical blow. My fork clattered against the table."Reed?" I whispered. "As in... Reed Technologies?""Yes! He’s a visionary. And Scarlett, he has a son your age. He said you two might even know each other from school."I couldn't breathe. My mother knew Roman and I had dated, but she had always treated it like a "teenage phase." She didn't know that Roman Reed was the reason I woke up screaming in the middle of the night for a year. She didn't know he was the reason I didn't trust a soul in Hollywood."Mom, you can't marry him," I said,

The high of walking away with Zane Miller lasted exactly forty-two minutes. It died the second I reached my locker in the junior wing of Northcrest Academy.I was still smiling at a joke Zane had made—something about the school cafeteria’s "organic, hand-picked kale" being a front for a money-laundering scheme—when I twisted the combination lock. The metallic click echoed in the hallway, which was starting to thin out as students headed to their elective blocks. I pulled the heavy locker door open, expecting to find my history textbook and perhaps a stray script for my upcoming table read.Instead, a single slip of glossy paper fluttered out from the vents of the locker door, dancing through the air before landing face-down on the linoleum.I reached down, my brow furrowing. I expected a flyer for the winter formal or maybe a handwritten note from a fan—the kind of thing my manager, Chloe, usually intercepted before it reached my hands. But Chloe wasn't here. I was alone in a hallway

Three Years AgoThe air in Roman’s room was thick with the smell of rain and that woodsy cologne he always wore. We were supposed to be finishing our history project, but the textbooks were currently face-down on the floor, forgotten.I was pinned under him on the duvet, my face aching from laughing so hard."Stop! Roman, I’m serious, I’m going to pee!" I gasped, twisting my hips to get away from his hands. He was relentless, his fingers digging into my ribs in that one spot he knew I couldn't handle."Say it," he grinned, his hair messy and falling into his eyes. "Say my car is faster. I’m not stopping until you admit you almost stalled at the light.""I did not stall! The light was yellow!" I shrieked, finally catching his wrists and pinning them to the mattress.He stopped, but he didn't pull away. The laughter died out, replaced by a sudden, heavy heat that made my heart hammer against my ribs. He looked down at me, his gaze dropping to my mouth, and for a second, the rest of the

The room smelled like stale air and the harsh lemon scent they use in cheap motels to cover up the cigarette smoke. Roman pushed the door shut and immediately turned the deadbolt, the metal click echoing in the small space. He didn't sit down. Instead, he started moving through the room, his eyes scanning the smoke detector, the back of the television, and the gap under the nightstand. "Roman, what are you doing?" I whispered. I stood by the door with my hood still pulled low over my face. My hands were shaking so hard I had to shove them into my pockets."Checking," he muttered. He checked the seal on the window and pulled the heavy, yellowed curtains shut until not even a sliver of the parking lot neon could get in. "Just stay back from the window."He finally stopped, but he didn't look relaxed. He just sat in the wooden chair next to the bed, leaning his head back against the wall. He looked tired—not just the kind of tired you get from a long day, but the kind that sits deep in