My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 676

Chapter 676

Her fingers reached for my hand. They barely brushed my sleeve before I stepped back.

She froze, “I’m sorry,” her voice cracked, “I’m really-”

“No.” I shook my head once, “No.”

She stared at me, her hand still hanging between us.

“This…” I motioned quietly between the two of us, “This is what always happens.”

She frowned, “What are you talking about?”

“When something hurts you. You bring it to me. When you’re angry. I’m the one you hit. When you’re drowning. You reach for me in whatever way you can. Sometimes you shove me away. Sometimes you pull me into your bed. And when it’s over, you wake up the next morning hoping everything resets. As if none of it happened.”

Her face drained of color, “It wasn’t like-”

“Then you come looking for me. You apologize. You stand there looking at me with those eyes and I fold. Every. Single. Time.”

She shook her head desperately, “I never wanted to use you.”

“I believe you but I also believe intent doesn’t erase what happened.”

Her lips trembled, “I just want you.”

I closed my eyes for the briefest moment. When I opened them again, the anger was still there, “I wanted you too. I wanted the woman who told me the truth. The woman who looked me in the eye. The woman who trusted me enough to let me carry some of her pain. I don’t know who you’ve become these past few weeks. And I don’t recognize whatever is standing between us.”

My jaw tightened.

“I keep telling myself to be patient. That grief changes people. That loving someone means standing beside them through the worst parts of their life, not just the best.”

I shook my head.

“But this doesn’t feel like grief anymore. It feels like I’m talking to someone who borrowed your face. And every day that goes by… I recognize you a little less.”

She wiped quickly at her eyes, “No, don’t be like that. I’ll do better. I’ll try.”

I nodded once, “I hope you do but I’m not doing this again. I’m not going to let an apology become a shortcut back to normal, not this time.”

I stepped around her.

Neither did I.

But wanting something had never been enough.

Slowly, she rose onto her toes, leaning toward me, trying to kiss me.

I turned my head.

Her lips brushed nothing but the corner of my jaw before she froze and simply stood there for a moment, then she lowered herself back onto her feet.

I stepped away, “I’ll be in my room. If you ever decide I’m worth the truth, you know where to find me. But until then,” my voice turned cold, “Find someone else’s body to hide inside. I’m done letting you use mine as a place to bury everything you refuse to say.”

I walked past her.

This time…

She didn’t follow.

The box was already open by the time it reached my room.

There was fresh tape across the lid. A small white sticker had been placed on the corner.