CHAPTER 146

**WINTER (EARLIER)**

A sob rips from my throat, raw and aching, and for a moment, it feels like my chest is going to cave in. I can’t do this. Not right now. Not when my heart feels like it’s being shredded apart with every second I stand here.

Shoving past Zion, I storm out of my room, my vision blurred with unshed tears. I barely make it two steps before I collide with someone—Jenny.

Her hands come up instinctively to steady me, concern etched across her face. Her eyes soften, filled with something I don’t want to acknowledge. Pity.

“Winter—”

No.

I shake my head, swallowing the lump in my throat. I can’t do this. I don’t have time for her sympathy, for the sadness in her gaze that makes my chest ache even more.

Muttering a quick, “Sorry,” I push past her and hurry downstairs.

“Winter!” Zion’s voice booms behind me, frustration laced in every syllable.

I don’t stop.

I reach the entry table, grabbing my keys with shaking fingers, my pulse hammering in my ears. My breathing is ragged, my chest tight as I make a beeline for the door.

I need to get out. 

Away from him. 

Away from this house.

I hear him call after me again, his voice laced with anger, sharp and unrelenting. 

But I don’t stop. I don’t care what he has to say—another accusation, another cruel word. 

Let him be mad. Let him rage.

He made his choice a long time ago.

And I’m done paying for it.

Bursting through the front door, I gulp down lungfuls of fresh air, but it does nothing to ease the suffocating weight in my chest. The rage is boiling over now, searing through my veins.

If only he had believed me.

If only he had asked instead of letting his hatred fester, warping the truth into something ugly, something cruel. I could have proved it to him. I never broke my promise.

And now?

I don’t care.

If he had trusted me, if he had given me even the smallest sliver of faith, I would have forgiven him. I would have.

But not anymore.

It’s too late.

I will never forgive him. Not even if he falls to his knees and begs for it.

With shaking hands, I fumble for my key fob and unlock my car. 

My breath comes in sharp gasps, tears burning the backs of my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall.

Not for him.

I throw myself into the driver’s seat, slamming the door shut, and start the engine with trembling fingers. My heart is pounding, my hands gripping the wheel so tightly my knuckles turn white.

I can’t stay here.

Not in that house. Not with him there, watching me with those stormy, tormented eyes as if he’s the victim in this.

No. I need to go. 

Anywhere but here.

My mind races, grasping for a destination—somewhere far from the accusations far from the pain.

Claire.

She’s the only person I can face right now. The only one who won’t ask questions I don’t have the strength to answer.

I put the car in reverse, backing out so fast that my tyres skid across the pavement. The drive to Claire’s place passes in a blur, even though I barely go over the speed limit. I can hardly see through the tears that betray me, slipping down my cheeks one after another.

By the time I pull up to Claire’s mansion, my hands are trembling against the wheel. My eyes sting from crying, my chest tight and aching. I shouldn't be here, shouldn't be falling apart like this, but I have nowhere else to go. 

Get it together, Winter.

I sit there for a few minutes, sucking in slow, deep breaths, willing myself to piece together the broken fragments of myself enough to look like a normal, functioning person. 

At least on the outside.

I spot Claire standing on the front steps, talking to the gardener, her hands moving animatedly as she gestures toward the rose bushes.

I push the car door open and step out, hastily wiping at my tears, but I know I must look a mess. My legs feel unsteady like they might give out beneath me, but I force myself to move. One step. Then another.

The second she sees me, her face shifts—first to confusion, then to concern. Without hesitation, she rushes down the steps, closing the distance between us in seconds.

“What did he do now?” she demands, her voice sharp as she pulls me into a tight hug.

I don’t answer. 

I can’t. 

A fresh wave of tears spills over, and I just sob against her shoulder, my body shaking. 

She doesn’t push me to speak; she just wraps an arm around me and guides me inside.

Once we’re settled on her bed, she hands me a box of tissues and waits. And when I finally find my voice, it’s raw and broken.

“All this time…the cruelty, the humiliation—it wasn’t just random.” My voice shakes with anger and something deeper, rawer. 

“He thinks I broke a promise. A promise I made when I was just a twelve-year-old kid. And somehow, in his twisted mind, that makes me a traitor.”

Claire’s eyes darken, but I’m not done. The words keep spilling out.

“So what does he do? He punishes me. Turns the whole damn college against me. Those pictures? That was him, Claire. It was all part of his plan to break me.” I let out a shaky breath. “And the worst part? He enjoyed it. He wanted to see me hurt.”

Claire's lips pressed into a thin line.

“I had no idea he hated me over something I never even did.” My voice shakes, my nails digging into my palms as I fight the burn of fresh tears.

“I came back thinking that maybe—just maybe—we could find our way back to being best friends. That we could start over, rebuild what we lost.” I let out a sharp breath, my chest tightening.

“But the whole time… he was looking for ways to tear me down.” My throat tightens, the weight of it pressing down on me like a vice. “He thrived on my pain, used it against me like a weapon. Every cruel word, every hateful glare—it was like he wanted to break me. Like punishing me was the only thing keeping him breathing.”

A broken laugh escapes me, bitter and hollow. “He made me feel like I was nothing. Like I was unwanted. And the worst part? It was never about what I did—because I didn’t do anything. It was about what he thought I did.”

I swallow hard, my hands trembling. “And he never asked. Not once. He never gave me a chance to explain, never even considered that I might be innocent. He just decided I was guilty and made sure I suffered for it.”

Tears slip down my cheeks, but I don’t wipe them away. There’s no point.

“And I let him.” My voice cracks, my breath hitching. “Because some stupid, naive part of me thought that maybe—just maybe—being under the same roof again would change things. That somehow, we’d find our way back to each other.”

I shake my head, swallowing the lump in my throat.

“But I was wrong.” My voice drops to a whisper, filled with nothing but pain.

“So fucking wrong.”

“That asshole…” Claire growls, pacing in front of me like a caged animal. Then she stops, eyes narrowing as if she’s plotting murder. 

“I swear, I want to rip his balls off and feed them to a crocodile.”  

She pauses. 

“Wait… where the hell am I supposed to find a crocodile? Do zoos do rentals?” 

Then her eyes widen slightly. 

“And—uh—it wouldn’t technically be illegal if I just accidentally cut them off, right? Like, a heat-of-the-moment crime of passion type thing?”

Despite the ache in my chest, a startled laugh bursts out of me. Claire grins, triumphant. 

“There we go. That’s the sound I was waiting for.”

I shake my head, still laughing, even as my heart feels like it’s held together with tape. 

“You’re insane.”

“Damn right, I am.” She flops down beside me with a sigh. 

“But you love me for it.”

...................

The phone vibrates in my palm again. Zion.

For the tenth time, I hit disconnect and tossed the phone onto the bed, my hands shaking. My chest is tight, my throat raw, and my eyes sting from the tears I swore I wouldn’t shed for him again. But here I am, wiping at my face furiously, anger and hurt colliding inside me like a storm.

Why did I even come back here?

I should’ve stayed away. 

Should’ve never let myself get pulled back into the orbit of a man who destroyed me so effortlessly. He hurt me, humiliated me, ripped me apart over something he thought I did. He never even considered I might be innocent. Wow.

The phone buzzes again, rattling against the mattress. I glare at it like it personally offended me, my jaw tightening as I reach for it—

Disconnected.

What does he want now? 

Another dagger to drive into my back? 

Another cruel word left unsaid?

Well, I’m done listening. He and his revenge can rot in hell for all I care.

The bedroom door swings open and Claire strides in, holding a steaming mug in one hand. 

“Here. Drink this,” she announces, shoving it into my hands.

I blink at the murky liquid. “What… is this?”

Claire shrugs, flopping onto the bed beside me. 

“God knows. I looked it up on YouTube—well, in fact, a few videos—and mish-mashed them together to come up with this drink. It’s supposed to be good for stress…” 

She tilts her head in thought. 

“I think. Hope.”

I shake my head, cradling the warm mug between my hands. 

“You’re unhinged.”

“And you’re sitting here, crying over a man who doesn’t deserve your damn tears,” she fires back, tossing her legs up onto the bed. 

“Zion is such an asshole. I swear, I should’ve hit him harder.”

Claire may be chaos in human form, but damn if she doesn’t know how to pull me back when I feel like I’m sinking.

Even if I don’t know how to stop drowning just yet.

Claire’s eyes suddenly light up with mischief, and she jumps to her feet. 

“Oh! I almost forgot—I have a surprise for you.”

I blink at her, confused. “A surprise?”

She grins. “Wait here.” Then she hurries out of the room.

I hear some rustling from the other side of the house before she returns, struggling to carry a large roll of paper. She marches straight to the wall, unrolling it and pinning it down with tape.

The moment I see what it is, I nearly choke on my own breath.

It’s a massive poster of Zion.

“Ta-da!” Claire announces proudly, stepping back to admire her work.

I gape at her. “Where the hell did you get that?”

She shrugs. “I have my ways.” 

Then, with a smirk, she reaches into her desk drawer and pulls out a handful of darts. 

“And now…” She holds them out to me. “Stress relief.”

I stare at the darts, then at the poster, and then back at Claire. Slowly, a grin tugs at my lips.

“You’re absolutely unhinged.”

“Damn right, I am. Now go on, take a shot.”

I don’t hesitate. Grabbing a dart, I step forward, aim straight for his forehead, and let it fly.

Thwack.

Claire cheers. “Yes! That’s what I’m talking about!”

I grab another one, this time aiming for his smug, perfect mouth.

Thwack.

“Ohhh, right in the lying, cheating, asshole face.” Claire cackles. 

“Now go for the—”

I don’t let her finish before I hurl the next one straight for his crotch.

Thwack.

Claire gasps, clutching her chest like she’s witnessing a Shakespearean tragedy. 

“A direct hit! A devastating blow to the Kingdom of Zion! The female population mourns this tragic loss.”

For the first time in what feels like forever, I burst out laughing, the weight on my chest lifting just a little.

Maybe Zion Royal broke my heart.

But thanks to Claire and her brilliantly insane ideas, at least I can have a little fun getting my revenge.
Stepbrother's Dark Desire
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