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Ruined By My Stepbrother novel · Chapter 23 of 32

Chapter 23: Behind Her

"Behind you," he said.

"Behind me," I said. "Not next to me. Not in front of me. And not one word into that microphone."

"Yes, Chef."

"And Monday?"

"Dish pit," I said. "Until I find a dishwasher."

I never put up the ad.

He came in at one-fifty-five every day for three weeks and turned the hot water on.

On the first Tuesday, I was driving home from Barnegat Light when my mother texted me.

"Done! All clear! Your brother is buying me pancakes."

My mother had a colonoscopy booked for Thursday, when I could drive her.

It had moved to Tuesday.

Glenn was in Philadelphia with a lawyer, trying to get his money out of Brine.

She hadn't told me.

I got back to Cape May at nine-thirty and went straight to the clinic in my fish-blood sneakers.

They were still in the recovery bay.

My mother was in a paper gown under a blanket, still loopy, with her reading glasses on upside down.

Barrett sat in a plastic chair next to her, holding her purse on his knees.

"Hattie!" my mother said. "He came at six. He brought me a sweater."

The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–16 of Ruined By My Stepbrother are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.

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