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Chapter 371
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2024-11-25 09:06:56
VictoryAnne ViceWhat do you think? Should she trust Wally? More updates to come!
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Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 372
[Clark]We left the luau under close guard. Jude, in his new official capacity as Fisher family bodyguard, helped us leave discreetly without drawing attention."We will contact you when it's time," Jude nodded to us both. "The wedding is tomorrow. Be prepared. We may need to make a quick escape.""We're going to need your ship until we leave the port, but I've already arranged a mid-sea transport," Delilah informed us. "Don't worry," she smiles, "We'll all be out of your hair soon."After dropping Atlas off, I headed back to my hotel. All of my dragonflies were currently in a dormant status, waiting to activate once they've reached their destination. Needing rest before the big day, I attempted to sleep, but my mind was plagued with nightmares.I've never liked taking sedatives, I don't like the foggy feeling they give me. I prefer to be alert and in control of my thoughts, which is part of why these dreams are affecting me so deeply--I feel like I'm losing my mind. "What if I am? W
Last Updated : 2024-11-27Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 373
[Clark]Clicking open, I wait for the video feed to load. The file is large, much larger than I would normally expect for 15 minutes of video recording. "What did you capture, little drone?" I wonder glad that my new server upgrade is designed to detect trojan-style viruses before they could infect my system. Although Magnus has never shown any technical savvy, it wouldn't be beyond him to hire professionals who could slice my systems into ribbons with a few simple keystrokes. Better safe than sorry. He won't trick me twice. "That's assuming he tricked me the first time," I say aloud to nobody in particular. "You're just assuming it's Magnus, it could be someone new." Shaking that thought from my head, I press play. The recording starts with Magnus exiting the car. The footage is grainy, enhanced by infra-red to help the dragonfly drone see in the dark, but shows him kissing his fiance and saying goodnight to his daughter and Angelica. As programmed, the drone sticks with its init
Last Updated : 2024-11-30Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 374
[Clark]Grabbing a bagel, I head out of the hotel and hop into my rented van, meeting Atlas outside the airport. The airfield is full today, with tourists coming in, as well as several private jets full of celebrity guests who come to attend the exclusive Fisher Family Wedding. "Mother says she's wearing a red straw hat," Atlas announces as soon as we meet up. Suzanna sent him an entire itinerary of what to do and where to meet. "And that she has a tall, dark-skinned gentleman with her."Scanning the airport, I look around to see if I can spot her, only to have her sneak up behind me. "You boys need to train more," she scolds. "What if I had been out to hurt you." As we walk back to Atlas' car, my mother rants about how difficult it has been for her to secret our families away, and how we are ruining all of her good work by being wishy-washy with our security. "Why don't you have a full security detail, Atlas?" Suzanna looks around. "Not even any plain clothes detail. What kind of
Last Updated : 2024-11-30Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 375
[Cordelia]I've never been this exhausted before. Slumping forward, my hand on my son's car seat, I almost fall asleep even as the Land Rover hits another bump. "Sorry, Cousin Cordy, that was a big un!" Wally hollers from the front seat. His Aussie accent, which at first sounded charming, is now grating, jarring me from my almost-sleep. Baby Saphira mews in her baby seat and I place my other hand on her tummy. My stomach is churning as well. Normally I don't have motion sickness, but even I have my limits, especially while almost 5 months pregnant, and a 2-hour drive from Sydney into the rainforests of Queensland. "Hang in there!" Wally smiles annoyingly from his perch. "We're almost there!"Making a sudden turn, the rover goes off the main path onto a small trail barely big enough for the vehicle to navigate. Tall shrubs and luscious vines brush against us, the foliage scraping the paint as we make our way deeper into the jungle. I look out the back window and all I see is a solid
Last Updated : 2024-12-02Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 376
[Cordelia}I've been waiting so long to see my best friend, hold her tight to my chest. It feels like forever ago that we left together on this adventure hoping to save both of our children from the terrible illness that curses our family."Oh Tilly, I've missed you so much." Gently, the woman steps out of my embrace."Have I met you before?"Looking more closely at her face, I immediately see my mistake. Her skin is much paler, almost glowing white, with dark brown eyes that turn up at the corners elegantly. Her face is thinner, her cheekbones even more pronounced. Her ink-black hair is straight without a single wave."You must be Cordelia," the woman tries again, holding out her hand. "Jennifer Madison."Ah, this must be Tilly's mother. "Jenny," a deep voice, smooth as melted chocolate, calls from the other room. "Who's the company?"Jenny steps aside, waving us in. "Let's not stand out in the cold," she shivers. "It might snow." "Snow?" "I don't know about that, Ma'am," Wally sm
Last Updated : 2024-12-04Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 377
[Cordelia] Nothing has changed. I'm imagining things. Just like last time. It was only a coincidence that her body went into shock. It couldn't have been me. No matter what the Fisher Institute tried to prove. I can't heal with my touch. Or hurt. It's all in my mind. Shaking my head I go back to the story. "Sorry, Tilly," my finger runs along the page, "Ah, here we are. Every night the princesses would go to bed early, and every morning they'd wake up exhausted asking for new slippers. Hmmm. What do you think, Tilly, were they dancing in their dreams?" The line on the heart monitor jumps in the corner of my vision. Is she trying to communicate with me? Flipping my hair out of the way, I watch for a moment more, raising the book higher so that I can watch the monitor and read at the same time. Still no change. I must be imagining things. I return to the story, reading from the book until my eyelids grow heavy and my body leans forward. The sheets on her bed are so soft. They
Last Updated : 2024-12-05Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 378
[Clark]Each night, I see her in my dreams. Sometimes, it's beautiful. I spin her in my arms to the soft sounds of violins and clarinets while a jazz singer serenades us with love songs from decades ago. And other times, it's these visions of the end. "He's coming, Clark," my beautiful Tilly warns. "We need to be prepared."Tonight she is holding our daughters. They've grown so much since I last saw them. Madeline and Cassandra can see me now, and they blink awake as I take them from their mother one at a time. "I don't care about him, the world, or anything else," I argue. "I need you, Tilly. I miss you. I'm done here. My mom thinks...""She's wrong," my beloved stops her ethereal foot. "Your mother, bless her, means well, but it isn't like before. He isn't just after our family." She waves a hand. The dream of our house fades away into darkness. In our centers, a bright light shines as she waves her hand outward. Dozens of lights glow which expands to hundreds and then thousands.
Last Updated : 2024-12-06Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 379
[Clark]Delilah's finger presses play. For several minutes, the screen is black, and the sound of her footsteps is the only thing recorded. "I was opening the lab. Sorry. I couldn't have any screen interference. It was hard enough figuring out how to get past his bioscanning. I knew if I tried more than once, he'd be alerted.""How do you know he..." I start to ask. The screen changes and we all focus our attention on the bright center. "I don't," she admits and something in the back of my mind snaps awake. Isn't it a bit convenient that she was able to break in with one go? If I were Magnus, my kid wouldn't be able to find their way into my secret lab without me knowing exactly what she was up to. "I'm hoping he was too distracted to notice or care," she squeezes Sasha's hand. He's been very quiet this entire time, his eyes haunted and lost. With all that has happened, who knows what he's seen? He was Magnus' special guest for several months, he knows what the monster is capable o
Last Updated : 2024-12-07
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Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 407
[Cordelia] Today is our 20th second anniversary. We've lost count of the first one, forgetting it entirely as a moment of sadness. Instead, we honor the day when we took our vows and meant them, 7 years later in Napa. Usually, we leave Los Angeles and take the week for just the two of us. Even after two decades, we haven't lost our hunger for one another and I look forward to our time away where we can just be two people together and in love. But this year, my husband is feeling a bit nostalgic. This is why I'm in the lobby of the Steele Hotel and Resort, recreating a memory I wish I could forget. When he sent me the cryptic text this afternoon, I confess I was more than a little bit confused. Why, of all places, would he want me to meet him there? At least this time I'm not wearing a hoodie with a dress tucked into a pair of loose sweats. And while my face is covered with large sunglasses, it's more to protect my identity and not draw too much attention. I am far too recogniza
Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 406
[Clark] "Come on. Dad!" My daughters pull me along by my arms. I've never been able to deny them anything they wanted but tonight they are asking too much. "It's only a blind date!" "Girls," I admonish, "What have I said, I'm not ready to let someone new into my heart. Your mother was more than enough for me." Cassie stares up at me with her starlight eyes, as deep and black as her mother's, and doesn't relent. "You promised you'd let us have anything we want for our birthday. Grandma helped us pick her out. You have to try, Dad. For us!" "Grandma Suzanna or Grandma Jenny?" I grump, "Who do I need to send a thank you note." "Both!" the girls giggle. "You owe us, Dad," Cassie counters. Her red curls bounce as she stomps her foot. "Do you know how weird it is to look on a DATING AP for potential girlfriends for our father? It's so gross. You should be grateful" "Yeah," Maddie chimes in, swinging her hair over her shoulder as she twists her lips just like Tilly used to, her hand
Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 405
[Jude]If the universe were fair, I wouldn't have lived to see today. If karma took her toll, I wouldn't be friends with Clark and Atlas Steele, our children growing up side by side. Once the shadow of Magnus was lifted from our shoulders, and Angelica and I were finally able to go about our lives the way we always should have been able to do, It became easier to make good with my life. Angelica and I were married shortly after Mathilda's funeral. It was a small ceremony on the family medical boat, just before the two of us set sail with our daughters, Melanie and Veronica. When the DNA showed that they were indeed my children, and NOT Magnus', that his experiment had never stuck, it was easy to adopt them. In their mind, Angelica is their mother. When they are old enough, we'll tell them the truth about Aunt Sydney, but for now, we are sparing them the burden of her insanity.And we give them love, all the love of a couple who has always wanted children of their own.Angelica, it tu
Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 404
[Cordelia]15 hours later I place my feet back in LA for the first time in 6 months. We have been gone for so long that I had forgotten how loud it is, or how oppressively hot it can be in summer. Clark met us at the runway alone, the girls with their grandparents. "I hope you don't mind, but I wanted to drive you home. We could have sent a driver but," he explains, "I wanted to be the one to welcome you home." He does his best to smile, but as his melancholy grin drifts to how I hold on to my husband's hand, I can see how much this is costing him. "I'm glad it was you," I reach forward to give him a hug. "Thank you." Atlas, who has been receiving a slew of messages from Theo as soon as we landed, asks to be dropped off at the new Steele Industries building. "Looks like they need me," he apologizes, kissing my hand. "I'll make it up to you tonight," he whispers in my ear and I shiver in anticipation. "I'm going to hold you to that," I whisper discretely in his ear, trying to be mi
Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 403
[Cordelia]The rest of that day went by in a blur. I insisted we rush back to the compound even though everyone had received the news that Tilly was gone. I couldn't believe it. My mind couldn't process the possibility of a world without Mathilda Madison. She wasn't just my best friend, she was my sister. So I couldn't let her go. Clark was distraught. He and Tilly took a while to find one another, and when they did finally make the right connection, they fell for one another hard. It was beautiful watching my two best friends fall in love--they were perfect for one another. But not all stories end with a happily ever after. That was a hard lesson for me to learn as well. I wanted nothing more than to watch Tilly raise her daughters. When we made it back an hour later, her body had already been collected. I had wanted to see her, to give it a chance to see if I could have brought her back: just one touch, one spark. I was convinced that I could have been the one to save her. The
Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 402
[Sydney]Why can't they just let me die? It would be so easy, I'm already cut and bleeding. Why bother with the IVs and the monitors? It doesn't matter anymore. Did it ever matter?My entire existence has been a fraud. If my hands were free I'd count the ways on my fingertips all the ways I've been lied to and used.A madman altered my DNA and injected me into the wrong mother. I was raised believing I was special only to discover I was the offspring of my enemy. The man of my dreams was married to the daughter my mother was supposed to have, and I was just a cheap copy of the woman he once loved, my genetic twin, Angelica. Was this life ever really mine to begin with? Even now they aren't honoring my desire to die. "She needs more blood," the doctor announces over my head, her clear voice cutting through the din of the operating room chatter. "Her blood pressure has dropped to dangerous levels. We can't use the anesthesia. She'll need to be awake for the procedure."Procedure?"I d
Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 401
[Clark]The dissection of Magnus' brain was one of the most intensely fascinating and uniquely horrifying things I have ever experienced. Using my computer to guide the charge, we attached wires to his brain, fed through a divide that my mother had retrieved from her vault. "This will disrupt his signal. It will keep him from making a full memory transfer. Hopefully whomever he's jumped into will have a fighting chance." Everything my mother has said since I volunteered for this task has sounded like something from a science fiction movie. The duplicates we had seen in Delilah's footage of her father's secret lab were all designed to hold Magnus's memories in an artificial extension of his life. Not all of them looked like his current body, as often it was useful for him to become someone entirely different for spying purposes. "Is this how he always seemed to know everything?" I ask aloud. We had wondered how he managed to get around all of our codes, to find ways to learn about wh
Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 400
[Cordelia]"Wally?" Holding my hand above his head, I pause, hesitating. Just a moment before I was about to take this man's life without even the smallest shred of remorse. It was necessary to protect my family. My children and my husband. "Cordelia," He blinks, his eyes roving my face and the surroundings like a caged animal. Licking his dry, salty lips, his body is otherwise completely still. "I don't have much time. He's fighting me...I..."Wally's muscles spasm, shaking Atlas as well as he holds him in place. Closing his eyes, his body stills, as if the effort of keeping still is so great that he cannot do anything else at the same time. He whispers something that I can't quite make out, so I lean in, trying to capture his words.As my hair brushes his cheek, he repeats himself. "You need to end this, Cordelia. Don't let him escape to harm another. His other mind is gone, Suzanna saw to it, but he can still jump to someone else.""Wally, what are you saying," I shake my head. "No
Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 399
[Cordelia]Atlas and I raced down the hall to the exit, soldiers moving out of our way as we passed, nobody bothering to stop us as my husband's icy glare and dominant aura kept them pinned in place. Magnus is dead and I have never been more terrified in my life. The door to the outside pushes open and we are instantly blinded by the overhead sunshine that covers the beach with an oddly bright gray that stings the eyes. It is warmer than it had been earlier, the wind having died down, trapping the moisture of impending rain, held in place by the gathering storm. "Jasper," I call out gently, scanning the beach. "Wally?""Atlas do you see Jasper?" I grab my husband's arm. His pulse is rapid beneath my fingertips as we move forward as one and find the abandoned picnic blanket and Jasper's little galoshes next to a much larger pair. "Wally!" I scream out towards the waves and find him standing in the water, at the far edge of the beach. There is no sign of my son. None. It's as if the
