My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 728

Chapter 728

Gianna

14&1

His lips curved into a slow, unsettling smile, “Welcome back,” he murmured, “I’ve missed my wife.”

The lock echoed in my head far louder than it should have. Leone stood between me and the only exit, his broad shoulders blocking the door completely. He looked exactly the same as I remembered.

Six years ago, hearing him call me “his wife” would’ve made my heart race.

Now, I felt nothing, only exhaustion and distance. I folded my arms across my chest, “What do you want, Leone?”

He tilted his head slightly, almost confused by my tone, “What happened to you?” His eyes moved over my face as though searching for the girl he’d once known, “Why are you looking at me like I’m the enemy? I’m still the same man you left behind. Have you forgotten everything we were?”

A bitter smile pulled at my lips, “No. I remember every single thing. I have just… I have outgrown it.”

His smile faltered, “You’re still angry… because of that day,” he rubbed the back of his neck, “The session with Dr. Vance. And the thing with that bear. I didn’t have a choice, Gianna. Your father’s orders come

first. I followed orders.”

I blinked and suddenly Leone disappeared, and I was looking at Raphael, standing in front of Vincenzo in

the Void.

His brother had ordered him aside. Raphael hadn’t moved. Then… I’d watched him slam the man he respected most in this world against a wall because he had frightened me.

Back then…

Raphael and I hadn’t even admitted we loved each other.

He still chose me over Vincenzo’s order without hesitation. Without thinking what it would cost him.

The memory settled something inside me, when I looked back at Leone, he seemed even more insignificant than before.

“You did have a choice,” I shrugged, “You chose to stand there. You chose to watch. You chose to give him that bear. You chose obedience over me,” I shook my head slowly, “So don’t tell me you were powerless. You weren’t. You simply decided I wasn’t worth disobeying my father.”

“That’s not-”

I cut him off, “My head isn’t full of excuses for you anymore, Leone. I’m here because I chose to come. I’ll leave because I choose to leave. And whatever happens to me while I’m in this house,” I looked him straight in the eye, “…will happen on my terms. And those terms doesn’t include anymore.” 1

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Chapter 128

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Hurt flickered across his face, his shoulders dropped slightly, “Is that really how little I mean to you now? We spent years together. I loved you. I love you. Does none of that matter anymore?”

I nodded once, “It did and I did love you,” the words came easier than I expected, “I loved you for years. I waited for you. I defended you. Even after I ran away…” I laughed softly, but there wasn’t any humor in it, I never looked at another man. I couldn’t. I thought loving you meant there’d never be room in my heart for anyone else.”

His eyes brightened for the smallest second.

Then I finished speaking, “I was wrong.”

The light disappeared, his jaw tightened, “What changed? What happened to make you hate me this

much?”

I smiled, “Someone happened.”

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