My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 334

Chapter 334

+15 Beraue

Raphael’s jaw clenched harder.

“My father started getting angry,” my voice turned smaller now, “At first he thought I wasn’t trying hard enough. So I tried harder.”

My fingers curled tightly into my palm. I didn’t tell him about my sessions with the doctor that was the secret was taking to my grave.

“I stopped sleeping properly. I locked myself in rooms for hours,” my breathing turned uneven again, “And when that still didn’t work…”

The burns. The scratching. The punishments. The shouting.

“I kept failing anyway,” I whispered, “But then Gio was born, my half brother.”

Something inside me twisted painfully saying his name.

“And suddenly my father had another option.”

Raphael’s eyes darkened instantly.

I laughed again, quieter this time, “You should’ve seen the difference. Everything changed after that.”

The memories hit me one after another.

My father teaching Gio to shoot. Teaching Gio to speak in meetings. Teaching Gio how to command rooms. While I sat alone with the doctor and unfinished papers and growing panic.

“He slowly pushed me aside,” tears rolled freely down my cheeks now, “Not publicly. Not cruelly. Just…” I swallowed hard. “Quietly. He stopped bringing me into important meetings. Stopped asking for my opinions. Stopped looking at me like I was worth investing in.”

The shame felt endless.

“And the worst part?” I whispered, “I understood why.”

Raphael’s expression hardened immediately, “No.”

“Yes,” I snapped suddenly, emotion breaking sharply through my voice, “Because he was right!”

The words echoed through the trees. My chest heaved violently, “I wasn’t good enough!”

Raphael stepped toward me instantly, but I kept going before he could speak.

“I kept failing over and over and over again!” I cried, “Do you understand how humiliating that is in a family like

ours?”

The tears were falling too fast now.

“I was supposed to be useful,” my voice shattered apart completely, “That was my role. That was the one thing I was supposed to be good for. And I couldn’t even do that right.”

The bow felt heavy in my hands suddenly.

“He still expected things from me,” I said quietly, “Still wanted me useful. Still wanted me working in the background. He wanted me to become someone like you. But every mistake became proof that I wasn’t enough.

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+15 Bes

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Again and again and again. Every time I failed, I could see it on his face.”

Disappointment.

“I wasn’t the daughter he imagined. So tell me,” I whispered, staring directly into Raphael’s eyes now, “how exactly am I not supposed to hate myself for that?”

Fresh tears spilled down my face.

“I watch you and your brothers and it’s like watching people built correctly,” I admitted shakily. “You all know who you are.”

My gaze locked onto his.

“And then there’s me.”

The words came out so small.

“So tell me honestly, Raphael…” my chin trembled violently, “What exactly am I supposed to do with all the pain from becoming the child nobody could fix?”

“You know what your father’s real problem was?” he asked quietly.

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