Page 98 of Heartless Stepbrother

Instinct took over. Brutal. Primal. As natural as running from a predator.

I crossed the few steps back to the door, pressing my fingers to the metallic edge of the lock. It was cool beneath my skin. Real. Solid. I traced the line, felt its shape, then tested the handle with a slow, careful pull.

The bolt held firm.

The door stayed closed. Unmoving. A boundary I had control over. However small. However temporary.

Secured. The word felt like a whispered victory against a world intent on stripping me bare.

Only then did I allow myself to turn away. My back remained partly angled toward the door, as though my body refused to give it fully to him. My senses stretched tight, alert for any shift on the other side.

I lifted the phone and unlocked it with a hesitant swipe of my thumb. The screen burst to life in a harsh white glow that washed over my face. For a moment, all I saw was light. Blinding, sterile, and too bright against the thick tension wrapped around me.

Then the icons came into focus.

One stood out, marked with a crimson dot.

Message. 1 new.

My thumb hovered above it. Strange how such a small movement could feel like stepping off the edge of something high. Something from which I might not climb back.

This message could be nothing. It could be everything.

It could be the last thread of control I had.

My throat tightened.

I opened it.

The screen glowed like a held breath. Bright. Merciless. My reflection looked ghostly in the glass, pale and stretched thin by the light of the unknown number that had become my last reckless tether.

A new message waited for me at the bottom of the thread. Clean. Simple. Cold.

What do you want to know?

Six words. Stark as a knife tip. They pulsed on the screen with quiet arrogance.

It was not a question. It was a door opening on silent hinges. A narrow one. Dangerous. But still, a way out. A shift in the power that had been crushing me since I stepped into Riley’s world.

My pulse tripped over itself. I lowered the phone, staring at the glossy expanse of marble around me. Everything shimmeredwith sterile perfection, yet I felt as though my guilty thoughts had smeared fingerprints over every surface.

What do I want to know?

Everything. Every fracture beneath Riley’s polished exterior. Every secret his family buried under money and whispered influence. Every weakness I could use to claw back one inch of freedom.

My hand trembled so hard I had to grip the phone with both hands. My fingers were shaking, but when they moved, they moved fast. Driven by something sharp and frantic inside me. Something that refused to die quietly in his shadow.

If I waited, I would lose my nerve. If I hesitated, my fear would bloom into something suffocating. I needed to do it now, in this small, stolen moment where the door stayed locked and he could not see my rebellion.

My nails clicked against the glass as I typed.

Everything you have. Weaknesses. All of it.

My breath hitched as I read the words again. They looked harsh. Demanding. Reckless. They looked like something a girl with nothing left would say. Because that was who I had become the moment Riley decided I belonged in his orbit.

I did not have the luxury of politeness. I needed a weapon.

My thumb hovered over Send. A single point of contact between safety and betrayal. The debate sparked instantly in my mind, sharp and vicious.