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Chapter 68
Last Updated:
2024-05-27 11:54:48
VictoryAnne ViceI hope you all enjoyed these frequent updates today. I am on a three-day weekend and I am trying to get you all as much of the story as I can. For those of you wondering if I will be continuing this story to a logical conclusion...of course, I am! They will have their HEA! I promise. But before we get there there will be trials, there will be trouble, and there will be mystery and adventure. Don't worry, I won't grow bored and set it aside for a different book. I have several books going at once, but that doesn't mean I will neglect this one (I usually have 3-4 books going simultaneously). This book will continue to be updated daily through June! Thank you all for your support! If you are enjoying this story so far, consider giving it a gem or two in appreciation.
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[Cordelia]The sun had completely set before we had made our way back to the studio flat I share with Tilly. Or rather, had shared. There is nothing left to share now.“Gone,” I choke as I struggle not to cry. “Gone, all gone.” Atlas doesn’t interfere as I search through the remains of the rubble by the radiant glow of the streetlamp from across the street. It might be after 8pm, but it is never truly dark in LA, more of a perpetual twilight. The neon signs from a nearby billboard casts the ashes and soot covered beams in an eerie, ghostly green. It doesn’t seem quite real. Just a few hours ago everything was normal, the way it had been for months. Even when I had disappeared, taken to that blasted island, everything remained where I had last placed it. I was only gone for an afternoon. It was still so perfect when I left. Blinking through tears, I see a shiny bit of metal gleaming in the ashy dark. It is so small I could have easily missed it, had my head not been turned in just t
Last Updated : 2024-05-27Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 70
[Cordelia]Tomorrow was not better.As I looked up at an unfamiliar ceiling, the realization that I no longer had any of my work from the past few months made my eyes water and my heart clench. How am I going to keep from falling into debt if I have to pay back all of my buyers when I fail to deliver on their orders?When I looked over my accounts that morning I realized it was even worse than what I had previously understood. I knew that I was doomed because I lost all of my patterns and samples but my loss was much deeper than that. I had vendors I still needed to pay for fabric that is now a pile of ashes.Vendors that I cannot pay because I needed that fabric to make the orders to pay them.Now I will need to repurchase it, even though I don’t have the funds, which means I will need to take out credit, and as a business owner with no financial history, this might prove impossible.It's such a mess my head hurts trying to figure it all out.“You need to call Atlas and just take tha
Last Updated : 2024-05-28Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 71
[Cordelia]When Clark arrives later that afternoon, he comes with a beautiful orchid as a “housewarming present” and a teddy bear for the baby and me as an “apology” for being so upset the day before. I give him a big hug and wonder if what Atlas was suggesting could be true. Did Clark keep Atlas away from me? It doesn’t seem to be in his nature to be jealous. “I’m sorry too,” I apologize as I release him. “I should have been more honest with you about it from the beginning.”He accepts my apology with one of his signature smiles, although it doesn’t go all the way up to his eyes like it usually does. He is thinking about something else, something that is adding a bit of a shadow over everything. Today.Tilly takes the plant from Clark, and as their fingertips touch briefly, I see a flush of color rush to her cheeks. I know my friend well enough to know what that means. Tilly DOES have a crush on Clark,My first thought is that it is a shame we are fake engaged because they would ma
Last Updated : 2024-05-28Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 72
[Cordelia]Clark didn't stop by to visit the next morning. Nor did he come by the morning after that. It seems that he was so upset by the way things happened between us that he needed more time and space than a single evening to work things out. While I'm fine giving him space, I'm also worried about him. I've tried texting, but he hasn't returned any of my messages. This isn't like Clark. He's usually so attentive and responsive. I sent a message to Atlas, asking him to look in on his little brother. He wrote me back later that evening letting me know that Clark had gone on a little trip to "clear his head." I guess my words hurt him more deeply than I intended. Wanting to make sure he still feels loved and appreciated, I left a card taped to his door. I included the ultrasound he had forgotten and a note of apology letting him know that I still want him in this baby's life and my life as well.I might not be in love with him, but I will always love him. Tilly has more than fill
Last Updated : 2024-05-28Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 73
[Cordelia]I called 15 banks and emailed at least a dozen more. By the end of the morning, I was exhausted.At the end of three days, I had heard back from only one of them, an older bank with a solid reputation. In their message, they said the loan was as good as mine, all I needed to do was come down and sign for it.I called back and set up an appointment to meet the very next day. They suggested I bring along any necessary documentation and proof of intention for this loan, to save me the trouble later.This is why I am standing outside the loan manager's office wearing my only suit with an elastic waistband holding my portfolio and rocking back and forth on my heels. "Mrs. Steele," the pretty blonde receptionist waves me into the main office. "Mr. Jones will be ready to meet with you in a few minutes."I thank her as she leads me into a small but elegant office. Taking a seat in a small leather armchair across from his desk, I nod as the receptionist asks if I'd like something to
Last Updated : 2024-05-28Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 74
[Atlas]When Cordelia called to tell me she was coming over, I panicked. I wasn’t expecting to hear her voice. I didn’t think to tell her not to come. I also didn't have the chance to tell her that her mother is here throwing her sister a bridal shower.A bridal shower she had not been invited to. Intentionally. Angelica and her friends are taking up most of the living room, magazines spread out all over the floor, as they work together to plan the perfect wedding. Meghan Greyson, Angelica and Cordelia’s mother is in my kitchen helping April make scones for their impromptu wedding party. Things have been getting weirder between Angelica and me the longer we live together. Most of the things she does are fairly harmless, like throwing last-minute parties or surprising me with cupcakes for a birthday that happened three months ago. Other times her behavior is more erratic.For example, Angelica has snuck into my bedroom several times now, and when I ask her about it the next day she c
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[Cordelia]By the time I reached the Steele family home, I was exhausted in both body and soul. Knowing that I need my ex-husband’s help to get a loan infuriates me, but I can also see why a bank might not want to give me a loan. As a woman with no job experience other than being the wife of Atlas Steele, it doesn’t matter to them how much time I’ve spent working on this new enterprise. They just see numbers and statistics, probability and chance. Cordelia Louise Designs is too much of a gamble. I know Atlas will have no problem co-signing the loan. Not because he loves me as the bank officer implied–he’s never told me that he loves me, not once during our whole 5 years of marriage, and I’d be a fool to expect more than like, or maybe a bit of lust at this stage of our new relationship. We were just starting to make progress as a couple before I was taken away to that blasted island. If I hadn’t been kidnapped, maybe Atlas and I would have started a real relationship, one where I co
Last Updated : 2024-05-28Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele Chapter 76
[Cordelia] "Clark," I turn around into his embrace, gaining strength from his arms wrapped around me. "I missed you." He holds me like this until I stop crying and then helps me back up to my apartment. Tilly is gone for the day. She's been gone a lot lately. She's been promoting a new line in Malibu and it has taken up a lot of her time recently. "What happened, Cordy?" his newly tanned face is drawn with worry. Wherever he spent the last week must have been sunny. Fall is starting to settle around us here, the hot days finally giving way to chilly afternoons but he looks like he's fresh from the beach. "I failed," I fight to not start crying again. "The fire, my business, I can't even get a loan." I sob. After I spend the next 15 minutes explaining my situation, he wipes my face, puts a hand on each shoulder, and says, "Let's go. I'll drive." "Where?" I ask as he pulls me up by the hand. "The bank of course," he tucks my hand into his arm, pulling me towards the door, givi
Last Updated : 2024-05-29
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[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
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[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
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[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
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[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
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[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
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[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
