Library

Maghanap

Home / Romance / The Scandalous Step Siblings: First Enemies, Then Lovers / Kabanata 51 - Kabanata 60

Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Scandalous Step Siblings: First Enemies, Then Lovers : Kabanata 51 - Kabanata 60

174 Kabanata

51

Anya’s POVThe darkness of Kai’s room felt like a trap and a sanctuary all at once. His hand was a brand against my skin, his thumb tracing the sensitive dip of my waist. I should have pushed him away. I should have been in my room, dutifully printing out chapters for Ethan to dissect.But my body wasn't listening to logic anymore."I’m not stupid," I whispered, my voice hitching as he pressed his weight into me. The solid line of his chest crushed against mine. "I’m the only one in this house who sees you. The real you. Not the 'prodigy' Ethan bought."Kai let out a low, jagged laugh against my throat. "Then you’re the biggest fool of all. There is no 'real' me left. Ethan carved it out years ago."His mouth found the hollow of my neck, biting down softly just enough to make me gasp, just enough to leave a mark I’d have to hide with a scarf. The erotic tension that had been building since the basement snapped. This wasn't the slow burn of a romance; it was the frantic, hungry collisi

52

Anya’s POVThe private jet didn't feel like a luxury. It felt like a pressurized metal tube designed to keep us trapped at thirty thousand feet. The cabin was all cream leather and polished walnut, glowing with soft, recessed lighting that made everything look expensive and fake.I sat in a wide captain’s chair, my laptop open on the mahogany pull-out table. Across from me, Kai was slumped in his seat, his noise-canceling headphones on, eyes closed. He was pretending to sleep, but I could see the tension in his jaw. He was vibrating with a nervous energy that he couldn't hide from me—not after the basement, not after his bedroom.Ethan sat at the head of the cabin, the "boss" chair. He had my printed chapters spread out on the table in front of him, a red pen in his hand. The scratch of the pen against the paper was the only sound over the low hum of the engines.Scritch. Scritch. Scritch.Every mark he made felt like a cut."You have a very evocative way of describing his hands, Anya

53

Anya’s POVLondon didn't greet us with open arms; it greeted us with a wall of grey sleet and the suffocating pressure of a dozen black SUVs.The transition from the jet to the ground was a blur of motion. Ethan didn't let my feet touch the tarmac for more than a second before I was ushered into the back of a bulletproof Range Rover. Kai was shoved into a separate vehicle. That was the first sign. The "team" dynamic from the mountain house was dead. Here, we were being handled like high-value cargo that shouldn't be allowed to touch.As the convoy tore through the wet streets of London, bypassing the morning traffic with a localized authority that only Ethan’s money could buy, I watched the city flicker past the tinted glass. I’d spent summers here as a student, but the Big Ben and the red buses looked like props in a movie I wasn't allowed to watch."Is the separate car really necessary?" I asked, looking at Ethan. He was sitting across from me, tapping a rhythm on his knee that didn

54

Anya’s POVThe basement studio was a sensory deprivation chamber designed for the ultra-wealthy. There were no windows, no clocks, and the air smelled of ozone and expensive filtration. The walls were covered in dark, heavy acoustic fabric that seemed to swallow every sound I made, from the rustle of my clothes to the frantic beat of my heart.Behind the massive, three-inch thick soundproof glass, Kai was a ghost. He sat at the center of the room, hunched over a black grand piano that looked like a jagged tooth in the dim light. He wasn't playing. He was just staring at the keys, his good hand resting on the wood, the other tucked into his lap like a broken wing."He’s been like that for twenty minutes," Marcus grunted. He stood by the heavy steel door of the control room, his arms crossed over his chest. He was a wall of muscle and boredom.I didn't answer him. I walked up to the glass, pressing my palm against the cold surface. On the other side, Kai looked up. His eyes were bloodsh

55

Anya’s POVThe penthouse was so silent I could hear the hum of the blood in my own ears. I sat on the edge of the bed, the manila folder heavy in my lap, staring at the photo of me at my mother’s funeral.It wasn’t just a photo. It was a receipt.Every instinct I’d honed as The Critic—the ability to smell a lie from a mile away, the talent for connecting dots that others ignored—was screaming at me. I looked at the ledger of anonymous donations to The North Star Foundation. My hands were cold, the skin pebbled with goosebumps that had nothing to do with the London sleet scratching against the window.Ethan hadn't just found me. He hadn't just "respected my work." He had been the architect of my life’s mission. He had been feeding the Foundation under the table, keeping my dream alive just long enough to use it as a leash when he needed a mouthpiece for Kai.I felt a sudden, sickening jolt of vertigo. My entire career—the takedowns, the reputation, the crusade—it felt like a script wri

56

Anya’s povThe sleet had turned into a steady, punishing rain by the time I managed to slip out of the penthouse. I didn’t ask for a car. I didn't want a Titan-branded SUV tracking my coordinates. I hailed a black cab on the corner, my hands shoved deep into my pockets to hide their trembling.The interior of the cab smelled of damp wool and old cigarettes. I stared out at the blurred neon of London, my mind a jagged mosaic of the conversation I’d just overheard. Silas. My father’s name, spoken with such casual disrespect by Ethan, echoed in my skull.He hadn’t been a victim. He hadn’t been a man drowning in debt, desperately hoping his daughter’s success would pull him under. He had been a merchant. And I was the only currency he had left to trade.The cab pulled up to a townhouse in Chelsea, a discreet, expensive property that looked far too grand for a man who claimed to be penniless. I paid the driver and stepped out, the cold rain soaking through my blazer in seconds. I didn't ca

57

Ethan’s POVI watched the rain streak against the glass of my study, the city of London laid out before me like a circuit board. People think power is about noise. They think it’s about the shouting, the flashbulbs, and the grand standing.They’re wrong. Power is about the silence in between. It’s about the things people don't see coming.I adjusted my cufflink, the gold cool against my skin. I’ve spent fifteen years perfecting the art of the ghost. I don’t just manage talent; I curate reality. When Kai Madden wrapped his car around that tree in the Alps, the world saw a tragedy. I saw an opportunity. A chance to dismantle a god and rebuild him in my own image.But every masterpiece has a flaw. Mine was currently locked in her bedroom, dripping rainwater on the carpet and nursing a sense of righteous indignation that was becoming… inconvenient.Anya Sharma.I had been watching her long before she stepped into that mountain cabin. I’d been watching her since she was a university studen

58

Ethan’s POVShe didn't scream. I’ll give her credit for that.Most people, when faced with the sudden realization that they are being watched in the dark, lose their composure entirely. They gasp, they stumble, they betray every ounce of their internal panic. But Anya Sharma stood framed in the doorway, her silhouette trembling just enough to betray the adrenaline coursing through her veins, yet her eyes remained fixed on the shadows where I sat.The light from the hallway caught the dampness still clinging to her hair, turning the stray strands into shimmering threads of silver. She looked like a girl who had just come back from a war, only to find the enemy waiting in her own sanctuary. The scent of the London rain followed her into the room, cold and sharp, cutting through the stagnant smell of old leather and expensive stationery."I... I couldn't sleep," she said. Her voice was thin, a mere thread of sound, but she held her ground with a stubbornness that was almost admirable. "I

59

Anya’s POVI didn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard Ethan’s voice—Curiosity is a much more dangerous ailment. By 8:00 AM, the penthouse was flooded with the gray, uninspired light of a London morning. I was in the kitchen, aggressively stabbing at a bowl of oatmeal I had no intention of eating. My head throbbed, and my skin felt too tight for my bones.I heard the heavy, rhythmic thud of Kai’s footsteps before I saw him. He was wearing a black hoodie, the sleeves pushed up to reveal the tattoos on his forearms, his hand still cradled in that silk sling. He looked exhausted, his jaw shadowed with stubble.He walked straight to the coffee machine, ignoring me for exactly three seconds before he felt the heat of my gaze."You look like hell," he said, his voice a low rasp."Good morning to you too, Kai," I snapped, my spoon clattering against the ceramic bowl. "I see your charm is fully intact today."He turned, leaning his lower back against the counter, his dark eyes tracki

60

Anya’s POVThe tension in the penthouse had moved past a simmer. It was a rolling boil, thick and suffocating. Ethan had spent the afternoon mentoring Kai in the glass-walled music room, their voices a low, discordant murmur that followed me through every hallway.I was in my room, staring at my laptop screen until the white light burned my retinas. My contact at The Spotlight had finally messaged me back on an encrypted app.Anya, be careful. I tracked the payments for the ‘North Star’ injections. They aren’t just coming from Ethan’s personal accounts. They’re being funneled through a shell company called ‘S.S. Holdings.’ Your father’s initials.The room felt like it was spinning. My father wasn't just taking money; he was laundering his own debts through my dream.A sharp, heavy knock at the door made me nearly jump out of my skin. I slammed the laptop shut just as the handle turned.Kai didn't wait for an invitation. He stepped in, closing the door behind him with a finality that m

PREV

...

...

NEXT

I-scan ang code para mabasa sa App

DMCA.com Protection Status