My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 306

Chapter 306

Hazel’s voice broke completely, and she slumped against the wooden bedpost, sobbing heavily, looking so smal! and defeated.

“You will ruint yourself,” Hazel wept, “If I am not here to stop you, you will just keep going. You will keep punishing your body until there is absolutely nothing left of you. You will ruin yourself, Gianna… and there won’t be anyone left to piece you back together.”

Looking at Hazel, seeing the way her body was failing her, seeing the sheer, panicked desperation in her eyes as she talked about not being there, the truth clicked in my mind.

Hazel was dying.

She was running out of time, and she knew it. Her body was slowly shutting down from the illness, and her biggest, most terrifying fear wasn’t her own death. It was leaving her daughters behind. She was terrified that once she was gone, there would be no one left to protect Gianna.

I looked back at Gianna. She was still staring at the ceiling, her eyes wide and blank, completely unaware of the real reason her mother was crying so desperately. Gianna had no idea. She truly believed her mother was just dealing with another flare-up of spinal pain, completely missing the progression of the disease right in front of her.

I would protect her. The thought entered my mind, sudden and uninvited. The decision had already been made. I wasn’t going to let her ruin herself. Even if I had to fight her own mind to do it, I was going to keep her safe.

The helplessness in Hazel’s eyes suddenly hardened, turning into a fire. She wiped her wet cheeks with her sleeve.

“I can’t let you do this,” Hazel said, “I won’t just sit here and watch you destroy yourself! What do you use, Gianna? What do you use to hurt yourself?!”

Gianna sat up slowly on the mattress, pulling the edges of her white bathrobe back over her thighs. She glared at her mother, her jaw set in a hard, stubborn line, “Nothing. I told you, I’m fine. Stop acting crazy.”

“Do not lie to me!” Hazel shrieked, “Tell me what you are using right now!”

“No,” Gianna snapped, “Get out.”

That was the breaking point.

Hazel let out a harsh, choked cry of frustration. Ignoring the weakness in her left leg, she turned around and began to tear the bedroom apart. She pulled the drawers of the nightstand completely out of their slots, dumping notebooks, pens, and makeup onto the rug, kicking through them with her dragging foot,

“Mom, stop it!” Gianna yelled, scrambling off the bed. She tried to grab her mother’s shoulders, but Hazel shoved her away.

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