LOGINShare
Chapter 377
Last Updated:
2024-12-05 00:15:36
VictoryAnne ViceI wanted to give Tilly a chance to have her wedding, even if it isn't real. Her story is so sad, I felt she deserved some happiness. So she gets her family when they are all asleep. If you are enjoying the story so far, consider gifting it with a gem or two in appreciation. Every gem helps this story find a bigger audience. Consider writing a comment or giving a review. These also help. Thank you all for reading my story! I appreciate all of you!
Related chapters
Stealing 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 : 2024-12-07Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 380
[Atlas]Clark is staying at a seedy hotel on the beach. I was a bit surprised at the address until I realized how close it was to the luau from last night. This was strategic. Lately, that’s been true of everything he’s done. I don’t quite recognize my little brother anymore. It’s like he’s becoming someone else. Someone harder. I order two of my guards to stand in the lobby while the other four follow me up to the third floor. As I knock, I order them to wait outside the room. Whatever Clark needs to show me is private. Besides, my brother isn’t a threat. No matter how he’s changed, he’s still loyal to our family. Our mother is just being paranoid with these stupid guards.“Oh good, you’re here,” Clark is sitting at a table looking at files on his laptop as Delilah and her young man open the door. “You need to see this.” Clark has connected a cell phone to his computer and turns his screen to project the a video playing now on both screens. There are men and women lying on beds c
Last Updated : 2024-12-09Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 381
[Atlas]A faint buzzing sound is the only warning we hear. Clark's sizziling, useless computer begins to spark right before it explodes, casting scrapnel of melted plastic and twisted circuitry across the room. Ducking out of the way, I hit the floor as my four guards knock down the door. "Sir," one of my men help me stand. "We need to evacuate." "What's happening?" Sasha breaks his quiet, stoic stance to speak up, holding Delilah close to his chest. "The hotel is surrounded," Another one of the guards reports out, his hand on his ear. "Mistress Steele is requesting I escort all of you to the rondevous point ASAP." My mother, meddling, again. "And that point...?""Need to know only, Sir." My lead guard bows. "Sorry, but she outranks you." "She," Clark dusts himself off, picking up what he can salvage of his destroyed tech. There isn't a lot left."Mom," I clarify as we file out into the hallway. "It seems she's in control now." "Do you think she knew..." Clark coughs, waving
Last Updated : 2024-12-10Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 382
[Angelica]The time before is like a dream. Or a nightmare. When I woke on Magnus' table, my body twisted, he promised me a new start. "Don't worry, Angel," he worked on me meticulously, cutting and tearing away what didn't work. "You'll be your old self soon." It was excruciating, being reborn. But how many people are given a second chance?So I stayed and pretended to be the fool so nobody would know the truth: I am still me, even with everything Magnus has done. Through every change he has made to my body and mind, I remember everything--Every slight, every time that Magnus interfered with my life.I intend to make him pay for all of it. Magnus will suffer for everything he has done to me and mine. But now things have gotten more difficult. Brushing my lover's hair aside, I watch him sleep as the sun slowly crests the horizon. He's always melted my heart, this mad scientist with a sharp mind and a soft heart. Loyal only to me, he was willing to kill the woman who I thought was
Last Updated : 2024-12-12Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 383
[Sydney]At dawn, Magnus left our bedroom in a huff, throwing on a pair of slacks and grabbing a jacket from the closet. He usually is more mindful of his appearance, but an alert on his phone stole the color from his cheeks."There's been a breach," he announces. "I'll take care of it."He returned an hour later, sweaty and angry."They got away," he announced, throwing his phone on the nightstand as he pulled off his clothing with jagged motions, tearing the seam of his coat. "They must be working with HER."The way he emphasized that last word makes the hairs on the back of my neck extend like tiny antennae.I don't need to ask who he means. He calls this person Nemisis. He has no name, no gender, no idea who it is, but he is convinced that this person was behind other attacks against him as well."Magnus," I sit up. "What? Who?""My daughter is being a very bad girl," he frowns as he climbs into bed next to me, his body surprisingly firm for an older man. "You won't be a bad girl,
Last Updated : 2024-12-15Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 384
[Sydney]I'm snapped back into reality with a gentle shake. A maid wakes me up just after noon with a small meal and a missive. Magnus wants me dressed and ready to meet him in the garden an hour after he finishes in his lab. Magnus is in a much better mood. Angel is with him, smiling, already wearing her bridesmaid's dress. She smiles when she sees me, holding her hands out for a hug. It takes all of my energy not to recoil. I don't want to touch Magnus' doll that he insists on calling my sister. The way she moves, the way she looks at you like there's nothing there is...unnatural. Besides, I have no sister. She's just a woman who shares my face. I don't see how that makes her family. As we separate, Angel grins insipidly, her wide, unfocused eyes looking me up and down. "You look so pretty," she claps. "Is this your wedding dress?"My oversized mumu printed with images of large hibiscus flowers is about the furthest thing possible from my wedding dress. Even as a fool, she can'
Last Updated : 2024-12-15Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 385
[Cordelia]I miss my husband. I miss the way his lips gently curl when he's amused and the way he only warms for me and our son. I miss his touch on my waist as he kisses our daughter good night. I miss his smell. Suzanna meant well when she left us all in the care of Cousin Wally. It wasn't her intention to cause me so much pain. But it does. Damn it, every time he opens his mouth, those shining teeth smiling too brightly as he grins like a maniacal clown, feels like a stab to the heart and a big reminder that he isn't the man who shares his face."So Miss Delia," he never uses my proper name, "Are you ready for another adventure? I thought today I'd take you to the seaside."Atlas only called me "Cordelia," never Cordy, and sure the heck, not Delia. "Won't it be too cold for a beach excursion?" It might be nearing summer stateside, but here in the Southern Hemisphere, the chill Autumn air is giving way to winter. "I wouldn't want the babies to get sick." "Nah," he waves away my
Last Updated : 2024-12-16
Latest chapter
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
