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Chapter 21/Drowning in the Past

Chapter 21: 21/Drowning in the Past

Chapter 21

Stephanie’s Point of View

My breath hitched in my chest the moment I felt that familiar heat behind me. He leaned his head in and whispered in my ear, his deep voice making every hair on my body stand up: "I missed you, Steph."

"Alex!" I whispered in a shock that rattled my entire being.

"Yes, Steph," he answered with a tone that was both confident and possessive.

I tried to break free from his grip, but his arms were like chains around my waist, holding me with a force that pressed my back firmly against his bare chest. "Alex... let me go!" I forced the words out while he provocatively trailed his lips slowly over my earlobe.

"I couldn’t stand it when I saw Cedric touching you like that yesterday," he whispered, his voice laced with jealousy.

"Alex... please, our relationship ended a long time ago." I tried to gather my courage, but he suddenly pressed a hot kiss onto my neck.

Damn it! My entire body shuddered as if struck by lightning, and my knees nearly gave way. He kept his face buried in my neck and said, "It never ended... you’re mine, Steph... mine alone."

"Alex... I’m pregnant with your brother’s twins! What you’re doing right now isn’t right," I said, trying to remind both him and myself of the bitter reality.

He answered in that same whisper that makes me melt like wax: "I don’t care about Cedric... all I care about is you."

I thought I had moved past him, that I had buried his memory under the wreckage of the last six years.

But how could my body react to his voice and touch in the exact same old way? And why was my heart still pounding with this terrifying intensity just from his proximity?

"Alex... please let me go," I whispered weakly.

He finally released me. I turned around quickly and looked into his eyes, which were radiating a devastating passion. I tried to establish a formal distance between us: "Mr. Alexander..."

I didn’t even finish my sentence before he lunged at my lips with a violent, hungry kiss. He pulled me to him by my waist with a force that made my body collide with his hard frame. I couldn’t push him away damn it! These lips make me lose my mind completely.

One of his hands was fumbling at my waist, feeling my bare back under the beach sun, while his other hand moved boldly over my ass, pressing me closer to him.

Damn it! I have to stop him; this isn’t right. This is a betrayal of myself, my children, and the house I’m living in... but I was completely surrendered to him, drowning in a sea of old emotions.

My hands moved against my will to wrap around his neck, my fingers gripping his hair tightly.

He pulled his lips away suddenly, leaving me gasping in a daze, my eyes closed and my head spinning, not knowing where I was or what I was doing.

He looked at me with a triumphant smile and said, "That’s for calling me Mr. Alexander... don’t do it again."

I opened my eyes with difficulty and said in a panting, agitated voice, "How can you kiss me like that? Are you crazy?"

He replied, his eyes never leaving my face, "Crazy about you."

I pushed him away with all the strength I could muster and tried to straighten my scattered breath: "Don’t do that again!"

"You were enjoying it; admit it, Steph," he said with confident mockery as he watched my fluster.

"No... I wasn’t!" I lied bitterly, while my body was still trembling from the aftershocks of his kiss.

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Alexander’s Point of View

I remained lurking in the shadows, watching Cedric’s car pull away from the villa and disappear around the bend. I waited for the right moment, and within minutes, I saw Stephanie’s silhouette emerge from the door wearing a light kimono, heading toward the beach with steps that looked like they were searching for freedom.

I followed her cautiously, slipping through like a shadow the guards couldn’t see.

I felt a madness gnawing at my mind; how did my brother dare to touch her that way yesterday? I couldn’t bear the sight of his possession over her.

Damn it! When I kissed her just now, all my feelings woke up with double the intensity, and her surrender beneath my lips made me realize with certainty that she hasn’t forgotten me yet, no matter how much she tries to deny it.

"Alright, Steph," I said with a hidden challenge in my voice.

She looked at me in terror and asked, "Didn’t you leave here yesterday?"

"No, I didn’t," I replied coolly, stepping closer to her.

She looked around anxiously. "Look, Alex, if Cedric finds out about this..."

I cut her off sharply, jealousy burning in my throat: "Is Cedric your lover?"

"What?" she asked in shock.

"Answer me!"

"No," she finally said.

"Is he your fiancé? Is he your husband?"

"No, Alex."

I said in a definitive tone, "Then whether Cedric finds out or not is none of his business!"

"But I’m pregnant by him!" she screamed in my face, as if slapping me with the truth.

It hurt like hell that she was pregnant by my brother, that she was carrying his children in her womb.

But I suppressed my pain and said, "Yes, pregnant by him, and that’s where it ends, Steph... what’s in your womb belongs to him, but you do not." I saw a pout form on her beautiful face, and I asked with bitter irony, "Do you love my brother?"

"No," she answered quickly.

"Do you love me?"

"No," she said, this time with hesitation.

"You used to say yes in the past."

"That was in the past, Alex," she replied tensely, trying to avoid my gaze.

I couldn’t take this futile argument anymore. I took off my suit jacket and tossed it onto the sand, beginning to unbutton my shirt slowly. Her eyes widened in shock: "What are you doing?" I didn’t answer. I continued taking off my shoes and trousers until I was in only my underwear, showcasing the body she once knew so well.

I grabbed her hand firmly and pulled her toward the edge of the sea. "Let’s go for a swim."

"I don’t want to!" she resisted, trying to pull her hand back.

"I know you were going to swim anyway... come on!"

But she continued to be stubborn, and instead of wasting time talking, I leaned down and suddenly swept her up into my arms.

"Put me down, Alex!" she cried out, hitting my chest with her small fists.

I didn’t care. I walked toward the water, the breeze brushing against my body, until the cold water touched my feet. I kept moving forward despite her protests until the water reached my waist.

"Put me down now, Alex!" she said sharply, with anger.

I looked into her eyes for a moment, then gently dropped her into the water, watching her submerge into the blue of the sea before me.