My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 333

Chapter 333

Even standing in the middle of blood-soaked woods after a night of hunting monsters, Raphael somehow still looked… perfect.

“You built an empire before most people your age even figure out who they are,” I whispered. “You walk into a room and everybody listens. You know how to talk to people. You know how to lead. You’re good with business, you’re good with computers, you’re good at…” My voice cracked slightly as I looked at the bow in my hands, “This too.”

Raphael’s expression darkened but I couldn’t stop anymore. The words were spilling out too fast now.

“Is there anything you’re bad at?” I laughed weakly, wiping angrily at my wet face, “Seriously. Is there?”

He opened his mouth again, but I kept talking over him.

“Do you know what it’s like watching someone like you when your own brain feels broken all the time?” I whispered.

The pain in my chest started spreading everywhere now.

“I tried so hard growing up,” I admitted shakily. “So hard. Everybody else could just read things normally. They could remember things normally. They could do simple things without feeling stupid all the time.”

Raphael’s eyes never left my face.

“I wanted to be smart so badly,” I whispered. “I wanted to be normal so badly.”

Fresh tears rolled down my cheeks.

“But no matter how hard I worked, I still wasn’t enough.”

The sunrise kept spilling through the trees around us and Raphael standing there listening to the ugliest parts of me without looking away once.

“I hurt myself because I don’t know what else to do with all the disappointment,” I admitted finally, “Every time I fail, it feels like proof that something inside me is wrong.”

My chin trembled violently.

“And after a while…” I whispered, barely able to get the words out anymore, “you start believing maybe you deserve the pain anyway.”

“Gianna,” he said quietly, “do you know what the cruelest thing in the world is?”

My brows pulled together slightly through my tears.

Raphael’s dark eyes held mine, “It’s when people judge a fish for drowning on land.”

I blinked.

“You grew up in a world that measures intelligence one specific way. Reading quickly. Memorizing fast. Sitting still. Processing information exactly the same as everyone else.” His jaw tightened slightly, “And because your brain works differently, they made you believe that meant your brain works wrong.”

Emotion climbed painfully into my throat.

Raphael shook his head once, “That isn’t failure,” he said, “That’s people failing you.”

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My chest tightened so hard it hurt because a part of me wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to but the weight inside me had been there too long.

Too many years.

Too many humiliations.

Too many red marks on papers. Too many disappointed looks. Too many nights crying alone beside burned skin and bloody fingernails.

I shook my head immediately, “No,” I whispered, “You don’t understand.”

“Then help me understand…” the softness in his voice nearly shattered me.

I looked away from him fast, staring out into the trees while my grip tightened painfully around the bow.

“My father…” I swallowed hard. “He was supposed to give everything to me one day.”

Raphael went completely still.

I laughed weakly, but there was no humor in it, “Crazy, right?” I whispered. “Everybody looks at me now wouldn’t believe it, but that wasn’t the original plan.”

The morning wind pushed lightly through my hair.

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