All Chapters of Curvy and Off-limits: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Harper's POVVanessa cornered me in the library two days later. She slide into the seat across my table without invitation, her designer bag placed deliberately atop my open notebook like she needed the reminder I wasn't in a position to ignore her."We need to talk." She said it quietly, none of her usual performative brightness underneath it. And something about the shift immediately put me on edge."About what?""About the way Declan looked at you Friday night." She kept her voice low, glancing once toward the nearest study table before continuing. "I've known that boy since freshman year. I've watched him ignore literally every girl who's ever tried for his attention, myself included, more times than I'm comfortable admitting out loud.""Vanessa —""Let me finish." Something angry flashed behind her composed expression enough that I caught a glimpse of whatever sat underneath the polish she usually wore like armor. "I spent two years trying to get that boy to notice me. Two years.

Harper's POVSunday mornings had started feeling different lately and I couldn't quite pinpoint when the shift happened.Theodore had the radio on low in the kitchen when I came downstairs, some old jazz station he claimed reminded him of his own father, humming along slightly off key while he attempted pancakes despite the chef's clear disapproval hovering near the doorway."He's terrible at this." Natasha appeared behind me, still in pajamas, hair unstyled for once. She looks more like the mother I remembered from before all the wealth and performance than she had in months. "But don't tell him. He's very proud of the effort.""I heard that." Theodore didn't turn around, flipping a pancake with more confidence than the resulting shape probably warranted. "This one's for Harper. I'm perfecting my technique.""Please don't.""Too late. Already committed." He slid a slightly lopsided pancake onto a plate and presented it with the same pride he probably brought to closing multi-million

Declan's POVI knew about the date before she even left the house. Not because she told me. She didn’t said a word about it, careful in a way that felt almost like an apology she wasn't ready to voice out loud yet. I knew because the chef mentioned that Miss Carter had asked about borrowing the good iron for a dress that needed pressing. I knew Harper well enough by now to recognize exactly which dress that meant and which occasion warranted it.I sat in my room that evening doing everything possible to avoid thinking about where she actually was, which meant thinking about nothing else at all.This is an experiment I told myself, lying on my bed with a textbook open to a page I hadn't actually read in twenty minutes. See if you can actually let her have this without losing your mind over it. See if two years of controlling every lady in your life extends to controlling this too or if you're finally about to discover a limit you can't push past through sheer force of will.I lasted

Harper's POVI couldn't sleep. I lay there for an hour staring at the ceiling, replaying every word from the kitchen until my chest hurt from turning them over so many times. A soft knock came at my door a little after midnight. I already knew who it was."Come in."Declan stepped inside, hair messy like he'd been running his hands through it for the last hour too. He didn't say anything right away. He just stood there, hands loose at his sides looking at me like he come up with a hundred things to say on the way here and lost every single one of them at the door."I don't have a clean apology." His voice came out low. "I just know I don't want to leave things the way we left them.""Me neither."He crossed the room slowly and sat on the edge of my bed, close enough that I could feel the warmth coming off him. "I don't know how to give you an answer yet. But I know I don't want you thinking I don't feel this.""Then show me." I said it quietly, more honestly than I meant it to sound.

Harper's POVGhe feeling of refreshment that whole morning lasted until I checked my phone at breakfast. Blair had sent three messages in a row, all variations of the same thing. Have you seen Vanessa's story?? followed by a screenshot that made my stomach drop the second it loaded.It wasn't a name. It wasn't even a full sentence really. Just a photo of the Kings Manor gate from outside, captioned with something short and pointed. -Some people really will share anything with their "family." Interesting how close some step-siblings get these days.No names tagged. No direct accusation. Just enough to make anyone who knew us pause and wonder because everybody knows who the step siblings are. My hands went cold around my phone.What's wrong? Blair's next text lit up the screen before I could even process the first one. Blair: People are already asking me if it's true. What do I tell them???I sat frozen at the table, breakfast forgotten, the easy warmth from this morning already curd