All Chapters of My Stepfather’s Forbidden Desire: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

RoxyI should have turned around the second I saw the light.I told myself that even as I stood there, my hand hovering an inch from the wood. I would look for a second, just long enough to understand what I was hearing, and then I would leave.That was the story I told myself.It lasted only a few seconds.Through the gap in the door, I saw my mother.Her face was flushed, her eyes closed, completely lost in whatever was happening inside that room. I had never seen her like that before. A thread of saliva slid from the corner of her mouth.She wasn’t enduring this. She was drowning in it.Every part of me told me to turn around, walk back to my room, and bury my head under the pillow until morning made this stop being real.Watching my mother like this wasn’t just crossing a line. It was crossing a line I could never come back from.I stayed anyway.Heat built low in my body until it stopped being bearable. My knees gave out first, folding me down onto the cold floor without deciding

Roxy“You hit me, Mom.” I kept my hand pressed to my cheek, staring at her.“I—” She stepped back. “I didn’t mean to do that.”I didn’t know whether to scream or break down right there on the floor. If only she knew the real reason I wanted to leave this house.Dorian got up from his seat and walked over to her, taking her trembling hand in his.“Calm down, honey.” He kissed her knuckles without taking his eyes off me. “She isn’t a child anymore. She’s an adult.”“An adult?” My mother’s voice cracked. “She’s twenty-three, Dorian. I won’t let her leave me. If she leaves this house, it’ll only be for class.”“I understand, sweetheart.” His voice stayed soft. “Maybe you should ask her why she wants to move out in the first place.”The room went quiet.He was daring me to say it. He wanted me to tell my mother what I had watched him do to her through that gap in the door.“Roxy.” My mother’s voice softened, and I could see the guilt in her eyes. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”“But you did.”

Roxy“What’s going on?” Dorian set his glass down. “Do you know him?”“No,” I lied quickly, forcing a tight, practiced smile onto my face. “No, Dad... not at all.”I passed the phone back, my fingers not quite steady.“He’ll be home soon,” Dorian said, smiling.I nodded and picked up my fork, pretending to be interested in food I couldn’t taste. Why him? Out of every name in the world, every family in this city, it had to be him.I could feel eyes on me from across the table, but I kept mine on my plate. Evander’s face filled my mind instead, the same crinkle at his eyes, the same easy smile that used to make me feel like the only person in the room.“Roxy, are you okay?” my mother asked.“Yes, Mom.”“Are you sure?” Dorian leaned forward. “Something seems to be on your mind.”I pushed food around for a few seconds longer, then excused myself and went straight upstairs.I shut my door and pressed the service bell.Mary appeared a moment later. “Young Miss. Do you need something?”I tur

RoxyI didn’t come down for dinner.I told myself it was exhaustion. It wasn’t. I just couldn’t bring myself to sit across from my mother, watching her reach across the table to squeeze my hand the way she’d done my entire life.Not without wondering, for the first time, if those affectionate gestures had ever meant what I’d always thought they meant.Lying there in the dark, a memory came to me without warning.I was eight years old. We’d lost power for three freezing days that winter. No heat, no lights, nothing. She’d bundled us both into her bed under every blanket we owned, whispering stories to me by phone light until I fell asleep against her shoulder.In the morning, she’d skipped breakfast so there would be enough for me. I didn’t know that then. I only found out years later, by accident. That’s how you usually learn about the sacrifices your parents made for you. By the time you find out, it’s often too late to thank them properly.I used to think that was proof. Not the big

DorianMy little stepdaughter was becoming more fascinating by the day.I’d kept a close watch on her ever since the night I caught her outside that door, watching me with her mother. I hadn’t said a word about it since. I didn’t need to.Silence did more work than any accusation could. I’d learned that a long time ago, in boardrooms and bedrooms alike. People who think they’re safe from consequences make far more interesting mistakes than people who are afraid.Move out? No. I wasn’t going to let her walk away from me now. Not after everything it had taken just to get her under this roof.“Honey?” Clara’s voice broke through my thoughts as she came out of the bathroom, damp hair clinging to her shoulders. “What are you thinking about?”I turned to look at her. “You.”“Me?” She stepped closer, pleased, her hands finding my shoulders and sliding down over my chest.I held still, fighting the urge to step back. Ever since that night, touch from my own wife had become something I had to