Stepback Book Novels & Stories

He backhanded her so hard she fell to the ground. "Get off me, you slut! If you weren't so greedy and materialistic, I never would have embezzled anything! This is all your fault!" "Stop fighting! Let go of my son!" Evelyn shrieked as she threw herself into the fray. I stood at the top of the steps, silently watching them tear each other apart, screaming and cursing. These were the people who had pushed me to the brink and gotten me killed in my past life. And now, at the bottom of the abyss of their own despair, they were dragging each other into hell.

He informed, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention. Going back there? Of course, I had to. I couldn’t be Sebastian’s baggage the entire time, one way or the other, I was going to have to leave. What would it be like? Sandalwood and redemption filled the room when Sebastian stepped in. Oxygen and respiration became common aspects once again and I was fuckin' gratified. I watched from the corner of my eye as they walked majestically out of the living room, their voices fading with their footfalls as they walked out.

Chapter 45 The library had never felt more fragile. Papers were scattered across tables, maps overlapping like a chaotic puzzle. Every note we had taken, every hesitation cataloged from the last encounter, had been compiled, analyzed, and cross-referenced. We thought we understood the stepbrother’s limits. We thought we had forced him into reaction. We were wrong. The first sign came as a sound: faint, almost imperceptible, yet enough to make my chest tighten. A footstep. Echoing from the street outside the library. Not random. Deliberate. Controlled.

That same look that made my skin hot and my thoughts wander to places they weren’t supposed to go. I didn’t even know him back then. Not really. But something about the way he carried himself quiet, confident, like he didn’t care what people thought made it hard not to stare. I’d told myself it didn’t mean anything. He was my stepbrother now. Off-limits. Untouchable. But the moment I stepped into that house and heard the low, familiar voice behind me, I felt everything crash down again. “Well, well. Look who’s moving in.”

“Oh, and I have one more thing,” Kara quickly ran back inside, and she came out seconds later with something wrapped in gift paper. She stood in front of me and gave me the present. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. I unwrapped the gift so fast, my fingers were shaking. Under the wrapping was a book without a title on it, and on the first page it read: “Dedicated to the love of my life, my Ry”. “What’s this?” I asked. “It’s a sequel to my novel,” she said. “Well, it’s still a working progress, it’s a rough draft. But I want you to be the first person to read it,”