Todos os capítulos de Claimed By My CEO Stepdad: Capítulo 21 - Capítulo 30

Aria Pov I managed to smile, looking at her.Victoria’s hand remained lightly over mine for another second, warm and familiar, before she withdrew it and turned her attention back toward the front of the hall. The simple touch steadied something in me that had been unsettled since the silent car ride with Alexander. I kept the smile in place a moment longer than necessary, then let it fade as I faced forward again. Around us the low murmur of conversation continued to rise and shift. The meeting was almost starting. Various people and respected figures kept arriving in steady streams—men in carefully tailored suits, women in elegant dresses that caught the light when they moved, small groups who greeted one another with the easy confidence of those who belonged in rooms like this without question.I watched them take their seats, exchange quiet handshakes, and settle into the kind of polished stillness that always preceded important gatherings. Servers moved between tables with trays

Aria Pov Something inside me finally snapped.The quiet, polished hall, the watching eyes, the way both of my parents were using me as evidence in an argument that had nothing to do with who I had become—it all pressed too hard against the last of my restraint. I stepped forward, placing myself more firmly between them, and spoke before either could add another word.“Stop.”The single command came out sharper than I intended, but I did not soften it. Victoria’s eyes widened slightly. Kelvin’s expression tightened. Nearby conversations had already quieted; now a few more people glanced in our direction before pretending to study their programs again.“I am not a prize,” I said, keeping my voice low but clear enough for both of them to hear. “I am not something you get to drag into the middle of an old fight every time you stand in the same room. Stop treating me like I exist to prove a point.”Victoria opened her mouth. I did not give her the chance.I turned first to Kelvin. The yea

Aria Pov I turned, the question already forming on my tongue, ready to demand the raw, unvarnished truth Kelvin had just thrown into the air like a live grenade.Before a single word could pass my lips, Alexander’s fingers closed around my wrist. His grip was firm, cool, and utterly decisive, leaving no space for resistance or scene-making. He pulled me forward without a backward glance, expertly guiding me through the remaining cluster of departing guests and out through the glass doors of the main hall.The late-afternoon light outside hit my eyes with a sudden, sharp clarity after the dim, controlled interior of the venue. A glossy black sedan was already idling at the curb, its tinted windows reflecting the muted orange sky. He opened the rear door, waited until I was safely seated, and closed it with a quiet, heavy finality before walking around to the driver's side.Only when the vehicle pulled smoothly into the downtown traffic did the full weight of the afternoon settle heavi

Aria Pov I moved the exact moment the heavy bathroom door clicked shut behind him.My hands were trembling so badly I almost dropped the dry bath towel as I yanked it off the chrome rack. Water still clung in heavy droplets to my shoulders and back, but I dried myself in frantic, inefficient strokes, my breath coming in short, uneven hitches. The twenty-nine minutes he had spent standing in the open doorway replayed in sharp, agonizing fragments behind my eyelids: the unblinking intensity of his dark eyes, the suffocating, unyielding silence, and the gradual thinning of the rising steam as he calmly, deliberately refused to look away or afford me even an inch of modesty.Without waiting for my skin to completely dry, I reached for the clothes I had laid out on the bed earlier—a soft, thin grey top and high-waisted, form-fitting lounge trousers made of a lightweight, fluid jersey material. The fabric stuck slightly to the damp skin of my thighs and hips, outlining the sharp contour of

Alexander Pov The heavy oak door closed behind us with a soft, final click that seemed to shut out the rest of the world, sealing the two of us inside the quiet isolation of the master suite.Victoria moved a few steps into the room, unceremoniously setting her structured designer bag down on the low velvet bench near the grand walk-in wardrobe. The profound exhaustion she had carried into the dining room was still starkly visible—it showed in the subtle droop of her shoulders, the faint lines etched around her forehead, and the careful, shuddering way she exhaled the moment we were out of public view. I stood near the threshold, watching her in silence, cataloguing every minute detail: the lingering fatigue, the residual, simmering tension from a long afternoon of corporate maneuvering, and the deliberate way she avoided making direct eye contact with me as she raised her hands to unfasten the small gold clasp at the back of her dress.I stepped closer, my silent footsteps closing t