All Chapters of Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

[Atlas]Shortly after Jude left the harbor, Clark activated the drones and tracker. Which is how we both heard that he intends to kill Cordelia. My blood ran cold. My heart stopped. I watched my entire future flash before my eyes, one where Cordelia and I raise our child together, maybe even fall in love and get remarried, fall around me like ashes. “We can’t wait,” I announce, looking over at Clark and seeing that he is thinking the same thing. “As soon as we have a location we are flying in.” I pick up my phone and order a helicopter readied ASAP. I also activate the security force we independently hired to help in the retrieval. I don’t know what we can expect on that island, but I will not risk Cordelia’s health and safety by not being ready for anything. Clark continues to diligently watch the tracker hone in on a location while I drive the van to the nearest airport. We have one, maybe two hours until he reaches the island. We are certain they are SOMEWHERE on Catalina Isl

[Cordelia]After the two of them left, Clark explained the situation in detail. Apparently, Angelica was found unconscious and alone in a room, hooked up to machines they still don’t understand. When they woke her up to take her from the island facility, she had no memory of the last five years.In her mind, she’s still engaged to Atlas. She thinks it's still 5 years ago, and they are due to be married by the end of the month. She is even moving into Atlas’ house to prepare for when she will live there permanently.She has no memory of the accident or anything that happened after. And to make things worse, we all have to play along. If it is hinted that any part of her memory is false, it might permanently break her mind. The doctors are afraid she might even become catatonic or otherwise unresponsive, or completely lose all sense of who she is. The doctors suggested she be around people and places she remembers. But her old condo was sold ages ago and our parents have changed too mu

[Atlas]The day after Angelica told Cordelia our “news” I tried to visit Cordelia, but I was shooed away by Clark. He told me about their agreement, and when I expressed my anger, he shut me down hard. “You have Angelica, remember,” he reminded me. “Wasn’t she the one you wanted in the first place? Until Angelica has her memories back, maybe you should leave Cordelia to my care. She doesn’t need to see you two together. It is already breaking her heart.”So I left her with Clark and headed home. But that doesn't mean I've forgotten about her. If anything, I can't get Cordelia out of my mind. The memory of her kisses haunts me. Especially now that Angelica is living in my house, eating meals with me, and sleeping in the room down the hall. For someone I used to get along with so well, it seems that we have nothing real to talk about. She goes on and on about flower arrangements and gowns for a wedding that should not and will not happen, and I just nod my head and keep quiet, planni

[Cordelia] The hallway feels hollow and empty as my words ring out around us. It takes Clark a few moments to process my words, but as the meaning becomes clear, I watch as his expression slowly falls. “You don’t want me there,” he finally murmurs. “I see.”“Clark, It’s not that I don’t want you to be there to see the baby, I just, I haven’t had any time with Atlas since I returned from the island and this is his baby,” I try to explain, but the more I say the sadder he looks as if my words are crushing him. “Look, it isn’t about not wanting you, Clark, it is about needing him.”“Of course,” he replies, his voice flat. “I guess I’ll see you later.”Kissing my cheek, he begins his slow descent down the stairs and back out onto the street. Even though this is what I asked him to do, I can’t help but feel a little guilty about the way I managed this situation. If I could have only been honest with him yesterday, maybe we could have avoided the confusion and hurt today. Atlas is waiting

[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