Lahat ng Kabanata ng My Lover, My Stepbrother : Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 37

Days blended into one another, slow and sun-drenched, falling into a soft rhythm that felt like a dream. Waking up wrapped around Vance, eating simple but delicious meals, walking by the river, or just lying on the hammock strung between two mango trees, listening to the wind rustle through the leaves. It was perfect, exactly what we both needed. But those little changes inside me? They didn’t go away, they just settled deeper, quieter, becoming a part of every single day. It wasn’t just standing up too fast anymore. Sometimes, the dizziness would hit out of nowhere, while I was walking, while I was stirring food, even while I was laughing at something silly Vance said. I’d just feel the ground sway slightly under my feet, the edges of my vision going fuzzy for a heartbeat, and I’d have to pause and grip whatever was nearest until it passed. And every single time, without fail, Vance noticed. Like that afternoon we decided to walk further down the river, looking

The air in the living room felt thick and heavy, like a storm about to break. The sun was setting, casting long, cold shadows across the wooden floor. Vance and I sat close on the old sofa but didn’t dare touch, four pairs of eyes were fixed sharply on us. Across the room, our parents sat stiff and straight, their faces tight with anger and disappointment. The silence was so loud I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears. Vance’s dad spoke first, leaning forward with sharp, cold eyes locked on his son. “I gave you clear warnings,” he said, voice low and rough, holding back rage. “I told you exactly where the line is and what is at stake for this family, our name, our business. Yet I walk in to find you two tangled together like you belong to each other. Do you have any idea how that looks? What would happen if anyone else saw this?” “Dad, it’s not what you think,” Vance answered immediately, his tone calm and steady, perfectly controlled. He sat

The house was quiet, but not the kind of silence that meant peace. It was the watchful, waiting kind, every floorboard, every corner, every open space felt like it had eyes. Ever since we got back to the city, our parents had been stricter than ever. They moved around the house like guards, checking where we were, who we were with, always making sure there was distance between us. During the day, we played our parts perfectly that polite, distant siblings, speaking only when necessary, keeping our heads down. But beneath that act, the hunger between us only grew sharper, heavier, impossible to ignore. Every stolen glance across the dining table, every accidental brush of hands when passing things, every time he looked at me like I was the only thing he wanted in this world, it all built up, burning beneath our skin, waiting for the moment we could finally be alone. Night was the only time we truly breathed. Once the lights went out and the house settled into deep sleep, th

Then the vacation came, finally, a break from all the academic stress we’d been drowning in. We planned to spend it at our family’s rest house up in the province; a quiet place surrounded by tall trees and green fields, far from the noise and prying eyes in the city. Originally, our parents were supposed to come with us. But just a few days before the trip, Vance’s dad got called away for an unexpected business trip, and he decided to bring my mom along with him for a little getaway too. That left just the two of us alone. Step-siblings by law, but everything else, completely ours. The drive up was long but so peaceful. The roads slowly turned narrower, lined with endless rows of coconut trees and rice fields that swayed gently in the wind. Vance was driving, one hand relaxed on the steering wheel while the other never left my thigh, his thumb rubbing slow, soothing circles against my skin over my shorts. “You look really excited, don’t you?” he teased, glancing at me with that lop