My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 496

Chapter 496

Gianna

The gardens behind the estate were beautiful.

The flowers were in full bloom, filling the air with sweet scents that drifted with the gentle breeze. Tall hedges lined the stone pathways, fountains bubbled quietly in the distance, and sunlight filtered through the large oak trees overhead.

It looked peaceful like nothing bad could exist in a place like this but my chest still felt heavy.

I sat on one of the white wooden benches tucked beneath the shade of a flowering tree.

Mom sat beside me.

Jules was curled against her other side, her head resting on Mom’s shoulder while absentmindedly braiding and unbraiding the ends of her own hair.

My phone buzzed again in my hand. I stared at the screen.

Leone.

The knot in my stomach tightened. After everything that had happened these past few days, I didn’t have the energy for this.

Still, I unlocked the phone.

His newest messages filled the screen.

Leone Caruso: I know you’re upset, but shutting me out isn’t going to fix whatever is going on. You reached out to me, Gianna. You don’t get to disappear again and expect me to pretend I don’t care. I’ve spent too long loving you to walk away because you’re pushing me out again.

Leone Caruso: Answer the phone. Talk to me. Because if you won’t come to me, I’ll come to you. I need to know you’re okay, whether you want me involved or not. This isn’t me giving up on you. It never will be.

Nothing about the message was openly threatening. There were no direct threats but underneath every word was something far more unsettling.

Certainty.

As if my silence wasn’t an answer he was willing to accept. As if my boundaries were temporary obstacles instead of decisions I had every right to make.

The message wasn’t asking what I wanted. It was telling me what he had already decided. That he would stay. That he would come. That whether I welcomed it or not didn’t really matter.

As though loving me gave him permission to ignore the word no.

A cold feeling settled heavily in my stomach. Because people who believed they were acting out of love were often the hardest people to stop.

My thumb hovered over the screen then pressed firmly.

Block Contact?

Yes.

The confirmation appeared. I stared down at my phone before slipping it into my pocket.

The breeze lifted strands of Mom’s dark hair. She looked tired, beautiful but so weak. The realization made my chest ache all over again.

“You know,” she said softly, watching the fountain ahead of us, “this is exactly why I didn’t want you girls to

know.”

I frowned, “What?”

Mom looked at me, “I didn’t want this to become your entire life.”

Mom stared at me.

“I spent months not knowing what was wrong with you,” I whispered, “I spent months watching you be tired and sick and pretending everything was fine because you told us it was,” tears blurred my vision, “I’m not doing that again.”

“Sweetheart-”

“No,” my voice broke, “I’m sorry, but no,” I grabbed her hand, holding it tightly, “I’m not leaving you alone because it’s easier.”

Mom squeezed my fingers, “Gianna.”

“I love you,” I looked at her, “I don’t care about college right now.”

“Your education matters.”

“You matter more,” tears slipped down my cheeks, “I don’t care about work.”

“You need your own life.”

“You are my life.”

Mom’s face crumpled.

I held onto her hand tighter.

“And ballet…” My voice cracked, “Ballet will still be there. I can go back later but I can’t get this time back with you.”

The tears in Mom’s eyes finally fell, “Oh, sweetheart.”

I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around her carefully, “I’m stubborn,” I mumbled against her shoulder.