Semua Bab My Ex-Boyfriend is my New Step-Brother: Bab 21 - Bab 30

The air in the dressing nook was stagnant, charged with the kind of electricity that precedes a lightning strike. Roman’s forehead was still pressed against mine, his breathing a ragged, rhythmic heat against my skin. In the triple-mirror, we were a blur of white silk and black cotton—a portrait of two people who shouldn't exist in the same frame."Roman," I whispered, my fingers tightening in the fabric of his hoodie. "Why did you act like I was invisible today? You let Sienna say those things. You let her treat me like a servant."He didn't pull away. If anything, he leaned harder into my space, his hand sliding from my hair to the side of my neck, his thumb resting right over my pulsing carotid artery."Sienna isn't just a girl I go to school with, Scarlett," he muttered, his voice a low, dangerous vibration. "Her father is the majority shareholder in Reed Tech’s European division. Marcus didn't just 'suggest' we date; it’s a merger. She reports every move I make back to her father

The silence of the Malibu mansion was never truly quiet. It was a pressurized, expensive hum—the sound of high-end security systems, climate control, and the distant, rhythmic thud of the Pacific Ocean hitting the cliffs below. It was the sound of a gilded cage keeping the world out, or perhaps, keeping the prey in.I sat on the edge of my bed, my fingers trembling as I clutched the small, battered locket I’d kept hidden for three years. It was a cheap piece of silver, tarnished at the edges, containing nothing but a scrap of a movie ticket from a night when we were just two teenagers hiding from the world in a darkened theater.In the dim glow of my bedside lamp, the locket looked like a relic from a different life. A life before "The Angel," before the Reed merger, and before Marcus Reed had looked me in the eye and told me that the boy I once loved was a predator.“He only knows how to possess, Scarlett,” Marcus’s voice echoed in my skull, smooth and paternal, yet sharp as a razor.

The athletic wing of Northcrest was a glass and steel tomb that smelled like expensive rubber and filtered oxygen. I walked down the hallway, my chest feeling like a zip-tie was being tightened around my lungs with every step.I had exactly forty-five minutes before Zane Miller expected me at the East Gate. Forty-five minutes to find Roman and figure out if Marcus’s new pet detective was just a scare tactic or the beginning of the end.I didn't bother knocking when I reached the private boxing suite. I just shoved the heavy door open.The room was dim, lit only by the blue hum of a sports drink fridge. Roman was there, shirtless, his back a map of tensed muscle as he absolutely unloaded on a heavy bag. Thud. Thud. Crack. He wasn't practicing form; he was trying to kill the thing. His knuckles were wrapped in white tape that was already starting to show red spots."Was it worth it?" I asked. My voice sounded small in the big, hollow room, but it stopped him cold.Roman caught the bag w

The silence in my room after the security team left was the kind that made your ears ring. Everything I owned had been touched, moved, or tossed. Marcus didn't just want my secrets; he wanted me to know that in this house, I didn't even own the air I breathed.The door pushed open. My mother, Lydia, was standing there with a glass of wine, her face tight and pale. She didn't look at the mattress hanging off the frame or my clothes piled on the floor. She looked at me with a pained, fragile sort of pity."I told him you wouldn't have anything," she said, her voice thin. "I told Marcus you were too smart to keep things that didn't belong to you anymore.""You told him?" I walked toward her, stepping over a heap of my own sweaters. "Or you helped him? Did you tell him about the vent, Mom? Or did you just stand in the hallway while they went through my life?"Lydia flinched. "He is trying to protect the merger, Scarlett. Everything we have depends on this deal going through. If Roman ruin

The red light on the keypad blinked. It was the only thing I could see in the dark. It felt like an eye. Marcus was watching. Even when he wasn't there, he was there.I didn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard the power drill. I heard the click of the lock.At 7:00 AM, my door beeped. Someone else had typed in the code. I sat up, pulling the blanket to my chin.It was my mother. She had a tray with green juice and a small bowl of fruit. Behind her, Harris stood in the hallway like a stone statue."Time to get up, sweetie," Lydia said. She sounded like she was talking to a toddler. Her voice was too high. Too happy. "We have a big day. The gala fitting is tomorrow, but Marcus wants a full run-through of the family talking points this morning.""Talking points?" I asked. My voice was scratchy. "We’re a family, Mom. Not a press release.""In this house, there is no difference," Marcus said.He walked into the room. He didn't knock. He never knocked anymore. He looked at the dre