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CHAPTER 26
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2024-04-05 10:05:04Related chapters
IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 27
CARMENThere was no way that Jasper knew about his father and I. There was no way that Jasper would trap me in a room with his father.I kept chanting those things in my head as I walked back, stepping away from Frank.“Don’t do this. You really shouldn’t try this right now. You’re going to ruin the friendship you have with Steve,” I reminded him, letting him know that if he tried anything stupid, I would not hesitate to tell Steve about it.“What are you talking about, Carmen?” He laughed, returning to his seat and looking at me as if I was crazy.The door soon opened, and Jasper walked in, looking from me to his father with raised brows.“I heard banging on the door, so I had to come and see what was going on,” he explained.Without a word, I pushed Jasper out of my way and walked out of the house, taking deep breaths as my breath clogged up in my throat. I reached into my purse to grab my inhaler, using it for the first time in a while as Jasper joined me outside.“Carmen, what’s w
Last Updated : 2024-04-06IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 28
CARMENDave and I glanced at each other, both looking as if we wanted to truly confirm that we had heard the same thing from his father.“I don’t understand, Dad,” Dave said. “Why would you want to plan for a wedding in a short time with your health like this? You’re only going to add more stress to the one you already have.”“I don’t have an inch of stress in my body, son,” Steve said. “I realized how unpredictable life is. I could have died, Dave. What if I had not woken up?”“You can’t say that.” I shook my head at his words. He had woken up, and he was right there – alive.“Yes, I can, Carmen,” he argued. “We have nobody to tell us when our time will be up, and I don’t want to end up getting to the finish line without seeing my son and my daughter getting married. It just doesn’t right with me to think about it.”His idea didn’t sit right with me and Dave as well, but I couldn’t say a thing. Steve was not in the best health condition, and I couldn’t fault him for wanting something
Last Updated : 2024-04-07IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 29
CARMENThe people in the restaurant were clapping and cheering, a few of them pulling out their phones to record the moment that they believed to be beautiful.I thought it was a nightmare, all of their attention on us and the possibility of this getting out.I stared at Jasper and the ring he held in his hands. My jaw was dropped, and there was not a thing I could tell him that would convey just how horrified I was by the situation he had put me in.“What are you doing, Jasper?” I whispered, glancing around once more before putting all my attention on the man in front of me.“Taking control of my life and not letting someone take over my life for me. I figured that if I proposed, it would feel less like the duty I’m supposed to perform; think about it.”Through my panic, I tried to see the sense in what he was saying, and it seemed like a stretch. He was only proposing because the marriage was inevitable. His form of taking control was only trying to take the wheels but still lead us
Last Updated : 2024-04-07IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 30
CARMENI stared at the comment for a long time, almost as if I thought that if I stared long enough, the comment would disappear.Nobody had replied to the allegations, but it had about seventeen likes.If it was a mere allegation, I still didn’t know how to feel about it. How could this person up and say that without prior suspicion? Maybe the person was making speculations about me and Dave, but what about the fact that they were specific about my mother being behind it?“Crap,” I muttered to myself as I reported the comment, hoping for it to be taken down.I dialled Dave’s number, pacing restlessly. Luckily, he picked up the phone.“What’s wrong, Carmen? I already said we’ll talk about—”“Dave, I found something. I’ll send it to you now. Call me when you get it,” I announced, hanging up and rushing to take a screenshot of the comment before they decided to delete it due to my report, sending the picture to Dave and waiting for him to call me back to tell me what he thought.My phon
Last Updated : 2024-04-08IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 31
CARMENDave and I had not spoken to each other in private for a week.These days, he seemed to be more occupied with Kate. Kate’s little sister, Nova, was back from her trip to Paris and was being introduced to us soon as we would all be having dinner together with their family, along with Jasper and Frank.My mom was going around the house, making sure everything was in order as we had been informed that Nova did not hesitate to comment on something she didn’t like.“I just don’t understand why we’re doing this whole thing,” Dave spoke up, gesturing at the entire table which was filled with every food I could think of from different countries. “Don’t you think it’s a little overboard?”“Nonsense!” Steve argued. “It’s the first time we’re all going to be together, complete. There’s no such thing as overboard here.”Dave had been annoyed about something for the past few days, but I was not going to ask him. It would only put more pressure on him, especially if he didn’t want to talk to
Last Updated : 2024-04-09IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 32
CARMEN“Nova!” Mrs. Pierce scolded her daughter, nudging her with her elbow. “Why would you say something like that?”“I’m not the one who said it!” Nova argued in her defence. “I said it was a rumour. All they have to do is tell us if it’s true or not.”As if all the adults lost their sense of self at the words of a seventeen-year-old, they all shared their gazes between me, Kate, and Dave, waiting for us to confirm what was true and what was not.“Can you all please tell her what the issue is and let her give us a moment to catch our breaths?” Mr. Pierce said. “She is never going to let us live if you don’t tell her what is true and what isn’t.”I was the first to speak up, tired of everyone at the table and everything.“Nothing happened between me and Dave, okay? We were good friends in school and nothing else. In fact, we’ve grown distant, just the way your sister and I grew distant,” I explained, giving Nova a tight smile that threatened to split my face in half.“She’s right,” m
Last Updated : 2024-04-09IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 33
CARMENI couldn’t breathe. I had to claw at my throat to draw up air in short gasps and pants.“No, no, no, this… this isn’t right,” I muttered to myself, scrolling down on the news piece, hoping to see grainy pictures from a prom that wasn’t ours so that we would deflect those rumours immediately, but my fingers stopped scrolling at one of the many pictures attached to the article. It was obviously me and Dave, and even we couldn’t deny that.How did they get a hold of those pictures?I had avoided Dave for long enough; we had to talk about it.Before I could stand up and head to Dave’s room, there were three rapid knocks on my door.I rushed to open it, knowing it could be one person.“Have you seen this—”“Get in!” I pulled him into the room, slamming the door and he shoved his phone in my face, making me stare at the same article I had just read.“Someone sent a link of this to me. It’s not a big broadcasting company, so it hasn’t spread like wildfire, but I know it will. How did
Last Updated : 2024-04-10IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 34
CARMENKate was the perfect suspect. She was there on the night of senior year prom, so there was a chance that she could have taken the pictures. Even though Dave had told everyone that we were not each other’s dates but had just one dance together, Kate knew for a fact that Dave was my date.Nobody would believe that she would do such a thing. She had no reason to, they would think, but what if she already knew about me and Dave? She was the first person on my mind.But Dave was now looking at me as if I had said the most unfunny joke known to man.“Kate? Kate is your suspect, of all people we know?” he chuckled, but he soon realized that I was not making a joke about it. “You’re serious about that?”“Come on, Dave!” I tried to get him to see my point. “Kate knew about it. She was there at prom, and she knew we were there with each other. She even had to confirm it from me. Don’t even get me started on everything Nova was trying to pull when we were all having dinner—”“We can’t use
Last Updated : 2024-04-12
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IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER THE END- CHAPTER 130
CARMEN“Are you sure about this? Maybe you heard him wrong the first time. Besides, I just got out of prison. I highly doubt that he’ll want to get to see me just yet,” I said to Dave as we slowly walked towards the front door of his father’s house.“You just have to relax for me, Carmen,” Dave said, placing a hand on my lower back. “I didn’t hear him wrong. He clearly said it after his divorce with your mom that he would feel better about giving us his blessing now that he’s not married to her.”We got into the living room, where Steve sat with his legs crossed as he took note of something from a piece of paper.“Dad, look who’s here,” Dave called for his attention, making him look up at us and stand up to give me a good look. I almost laughed at his reaction, but I was too consumed by nervousness to make a sound.“Carmen, what… Come here, my sweet child,” he said, walking towards me and meeting me halfway with a hug.“What happened to you?!” he asked as he pulled away from the hug a
IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 129
CARMEN“How may I help you?” the woman who stood at the doorway asked me, and I had half a mind to apologize and tell her I had the wrong house before walking away, but I decided to stay instead.“Is Dave home?” I asked.“Mr. Wilmer is home, but he didn’t tell me he was expecting anyone,” she answered, looking down at my hands which held the small box where the wristwatch was. “You can tell me your name, so I can go tell him—”“You really don’t have to,” I said, stopping her from walking back in. “Just let me in, please. I have something important to talk to him about.”“I understand that you probably know him, but I don’t want to get into any trouble. It’s my first day at work, and I don’t want to mess this up.”“You won’t,” I assured her. “You just have to trust me.”It took a moment of hesitation before she finally sighed and stepped aside for me to walk in.I glanced at the little girl she had in her hand with a smile on my face as I got to see just how much she looked like Kate.
IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 128
CARMEN“Did you tell anyone? I told you not to tell anyone. Did you tell anyone?” I blurted to Evan as I found him standing and waiting for me on the day of my release.“Relax, Carmen,” he laughed. “I only told them that I was coming to check up on you. Why don’t you want them to know that you’re being released, anyway? Are you planning to live as far away as possible without them knowing?”“No,” I answered. “I just… I didn’t want them standing out here and waiting for me to come out. I still need to prepare myself for everything. It’s been a long three years, and I don’t know how they’re going to react.”“I’m sure all this is not what they’re thinking about right now. Trust me when I say that those people will wait for ten years if they have to,” he informed me.As much as it was assurance enough to hear those words from Evan, it didn’t make my heart beat any slower than the speed at which it was going.“Thank you for going through the stress of picking me up, by the way,” I told him
IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 127
CARMEN“Cartier!”I flinched when I heard my last name being called by the prison guard as she stopped in front of the cell I shared with two other women – Reese and Naomi.She chewed her gum aggressively, using her baton to hit the cell bars, as she watched me so intently that I almost started to dig a hole to hide myself in.“You have been here for a while now, Carmen. It’s time you took the bull by the horns. Don’t let people like her intimidate you,” Naomi said, giving me an encouraging pat on the back to approach the prison guard and ask her what her deal was and why she was calling me.“What…what’s the matter?” I questioned, looking down at my feet to avoid making eye contact with the woman.“Are you ready for your board hearing today?” she asked me, leaning against the bars with folded arms.“I think so,” I said with a nod.“Well, then.” She sighed and took out the key to the bars, opening it for me to step out.“Good luck, Carmen! I’ve had two board hearings so far that have n
IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 126
CARMENEvan was now standing in front of me with a silent reminder for me to keep my chin up and that I would be fine after the trial, but it was getting harder to do so.After the prosecutor finished asking me questions, I started to feel as if every answer that I had given had dug me into a hole that I would not be able to come out of.“When the victim was making those moves towards you, you called out for your mother, didn’t you?” he asked.“I did.”“Well, to demonstrate just how far her voice must have reached when she called out to her mother, we tested it. I called out to different sound experts to the house, and I was asked to stay in the farthest room from the kitchen. At 70 decibels, I could hear someone calling out to me from that room.”“From the footages gotten from the security cameras around the house, Mrs. Wilmer was not even in the farthest room to the kitchen. In fact, at the same time that Ms. Cartier is seen shouting for her mother’s help in the kitchen, we can see
IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 125
CARMENMy mother stared at Evan with a shocked expression on her face as he submitted a flash drive to the judge as evidence.“The house where you left after you got married to Mr. Wilmer had a lot of security cameras, which Mrs. Wilmer here may have forgotten about when she slipped into the kitchen and put about ten pills of aphrodisiac into the victim’s drink,” Evan explained as the video on the drive was played for the whole courtroom to see.I had not thought that Evan would work that hard and go that far to get evidence, but he did. Was that why he had been working with my father the whole time? Even I didn’t know about that.“If we watch further, we can see that there was no complete and direct contact between my client and the victim that they were involved in any sexual discussions with each other. To further prove that an aphrodisiac was used in this footage, we have receipts from the pharmacy that she bought them from that week.”“Do the prosecutors have anything to add to t
IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 124
CARMENDave and I shared a look of disappointment, and I could see that he had made up his mind to be with me no matter what his father said, but that didn’t stop me from feeling bad.“This whole thing between Bianca and I is not close to being over, and I believe she’s going to raise hell before everything is finalized. I have all of that in mind, and I don’t want anything to distract me just yet. Perhaps, after the divorce, we can revisit this talk,” Steve explained.I completely understood why he didn’t agree to the whole thing, but that didn’t mean I was not hurt by it.“You can take all the time you need to think about it,” I encouraged. “We wouldn’t want to put you under any kind of pressure.”“Carmen and I have something important to discuss. Thank you for giving us your honesty, father,” Dave told him as he took my hand and led me out of the room as he asked me, “Which of the bedrooms is yours?”“Here.” I took the lead from him and opened the door to my room, slamming it shut
IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 123
CARMENBefore Dave could take me into the room where his father was staying, I pulled him back. I tried my hardest to hide my annoyance from him, but I could feel it coming off in waves, and I was certain that he could tell as well.“Is something wrong?” he questioned, and I raised my brow at that.“I should be asking you that question, Dave. I know you’re mad at me, and you should be mad at me for what I hid from you, but you haven’t spoken to me in a week. We can’t just leave things hanging and go in there to tell your father about us.”“I know, Carmen. We have a lot of talking to do, and I do have a lot of apologies as well, but I don’t want to prolong this. The more we keep him the dark, the less likely he is to be happy about the news. We can talk about everything else that we haven’t talked about during the week after.”“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked. “With everything that my mother must have planted in your mind against me—”“She planted nothing in my mind against
IN LOVE WITH DAVE: MY HOT STEPBROTHER CHAPTER 122
CÀRMEN“What…what are you doing here?” I asked, looking around to see if I could find out if someone else came with him – perhaps Kate or his father.“I wanted to talk to you about everything,” he said.“There’s nothing to talk about. We’re divorced,” I replied, wanting to turn around when he grabbed me by the wrist.“What are you doing?” Dad asked, finally bringing Jasper’s attention towards himself.“Who are…” Jasper trailed off as recognition grew in his eyes, and he took steps back as be looked between me and my father.“You’re… You’re her father,” he noted. “They said you were dead.”“If she doesn’t want to talk to you, don’t you think you should take a hint and leave her alone?” Dad asked him, ignoring his shock and refusing to give him any explanation.“I just wanted to have a short and important talk with her about something, that’s all,” Jasper defended.“Excuse us,” I told Dad, a little curious to know what Jasper wanted to say even after we had legally gone our separate way
