I came home from college expecting to deal with my emotionally unavailable father, an empty fridge, and a summer full of boredom.

What I didn’t expect was to walk into the kitchen and find a barefoot, stunning woman in my dad’s shirt stirring eggs like she owned the place.

Spoiler: She does.

Her name is Elena, and apparently, she’s my brand-new stepmother—seven years older than me, way too cheerful, and totally off-limits.

But try telling that to my brain when she’s bending over to grab orange juice or accidentally falling on top of me in the laundry room. Try telling that to my heart when she’s laughing at my jokes, defending me at dinner, or wearing my hoodie because “it smells like comfort.”

My dad doesn’t see her. Not really.
But I do.
And that’s the problem.

Now I’m stuck in a house full of tension, sarcasm, and slow-burn chaos.
She’s married to my father.
I’m supposed to be focusing on my future.
But somehow, I’m falling for the one woman I absolutely, definitely, 100% should not be falling for.

Oops.

There are things you don't notice at first.


A missing sock. A half-closed door. The shift in the way someone says "good morning."


But once you do notice them, they start screaming at you.


And I can't stop hearing the silence he left behind.


Elena pretended not to be shaken. Milo won't look me in the eye. And the worst part?


6:30 AM — The Search for Clues (But Not Really)


But I did hover over Elena's phone when she left it on the charger. I watched her thumbs move too fast across the screen when she texted someone she wouldn't name. I noticed the name "A—" in her Notes app two days ago.


What the hell kind of note has your stepson's name at the top, with nothing else underneath?


Chapter 26 - Chapter 26: The Sound Beneath the Silence