Hidden Heir: Destroying My Arrogant Stepfather

e ruthless Don of the Mafia, to

presented himself as the perfe

, Victor manipulated her into exi

s own son and secretly dismiss

hat her new husband was a desper

etly added his name to our estate's deed, pl

e my name for his schemes, m

epfather, show

ite track dirt across my life and stea

acle, a helpless kid he could easi

whose blood ru

old wind and pulled out

me is enough to keep the city'

o the Boss of t

is t

pte

o

wning in cartel debt. And she had no idea that the only way to keep him from signing our home over to the underworld was for me to summon th

rtone of whatever bargains had been struck over the champagne. At six round tables, men in hired tux

a single salted peanut between my molars, the

le to table with a flushed face and a wide, practiced smile, clapping me

other. "And I gained a grown son in the process

kles followed his words, but

mine. He smelled of stale spirits and a sharp cologne that cou

ropping to a conspiratorial tone.

n my plate. "It

and on my shoulder, the grip of his fingers a possessive, uncomfortable weight. "We think boardin

my head to loo

d not look up, would not allow her eyes to meet mine. Her silence settled over the table not as an absence of sound, but as

s held a glimmer of greedy antic

out tomorrow morning," I said wi

's face, the swiftness of my capitula

e recovered quickly, pa

with a slight turn of my tors

mly lit hallway. The heavy doors shut behind me, cutt

patterned wallpaper and drew the hea

into a small circle of mist on the screen. I held the position until the

hone to my pocke

l I know exactly

he phone against my

ing. Victor just

fallen over the estate, the kind of quiet t

n the duffel. The walls were stripped of every poster, leaving pale rectangles where my life had been. As

gripping the doorframe so tig

he hesitated, taking a half step into the room befo

N

e extra cash for

said, hoisting the

orcing her to step back int

bye,

slippers, and a low, guilty hum, ba

red car waiting in the driveway. The driver thr

asked, looking at me i

es

g the car in drive. "Builds cha

work of the main gate diminish, its black spires e

her pocket-it was a WhatsApp message fr

k a single

settling in: the iron gate, which had once kept the wail of sir

s swing

ough these gates, it won