In Love With My Evil Stepbrother

Chapter 84: A Patient Predator

Eason’s POV

I wake up in her bed the next morning.

The first thing I look for is her. Luckily, she is still sleeping soundly besides me, her face bathed in the golden morning sunlight.

She’s like an angel.

I let out a long sign, feeling relieved. I don’t remember how many nights that I dreamed about her sleeping in my arms and woke up to find that everything was only in my head.

It almost crushed me.

I went through the darkest period time in my life three years ago when she left me. I couldn’t cope with the fact that the love of my life was gone, and everything was my fault. So I fled back to New York from Miami and locked myself up in the apartment. I wanted to rot in that dark room, so that I didn’t need to face the reality.

I drank myself to sleep but just kept being woken up by nightmares. So I drank more, forcing myself to sleep. It’s like a vicious circle. My life had fallen into a dark, endless pit.

I remember one time I drank an entire bottle of vodka and passed out on the bathroom floor. If my bodyguard didn’t find me in time, I’d be dead already. I was taken into the emergency room because of alcohol poisoning and couldn’t get out of the hospital bed for a whole week.

My dad flew from Boston to New York to check on me. He sat beside my bed staring at me, but I didn’t want to face him. I had no interest in talking to anyone, except Natalia.

“So are you acting like this because of her?” asked him sternly. “Do you think she would be happy seeing you like this?”

I stare at the ceiling, ignoring him. Truth to be told, I blamed him too. If he had given us a little bit of support, maybe she wouldn’t have left.

a spoiled baby right now, which was exactly why she left! Because you couldn’t take the responsibility as a man and you disappointed her!”

me. What the fuck does he know! Who does he think he is coming down here giving me a fucking lecture? He didn’t want us to be together in the first place! Isn’t this exactly

excessive alcohol had burned my throat. So my voice

and you are still in your twentieth. Lots of things can happen in

if she comes back one day? What if we meet again in the future and she finds me as this filthy and scruffy man covered in wine and vomit? She already has so many pursuers, if I keep letting alcohol destroy my body like this, I’ll be out of

another hot stepbrother now…that Liam. God, do I hate him, his muscular

Fuck.

out,” my dad said that and left my

went back to school and studied my ass off. My efforts paid me back. A year later, I got into a good university majoring in business. My parents were thrilled. But I knew it wasn’t

thought of me as the Ramirez’s heir, but I had made up my

York, which meant that she was only four hours away from me. It was killing me. All I wanted to do was to rush back to her side and drag her into my arms, forcing her not to leave again. But I told myself again and

finds out. Her photo was the only thing that kept me going for the past two years. I knew that each day I have waited and each step I have taken would bring me back

was on the right track, and I had

ready to meet her.

…But how?

would only scare her off. So I had to make sure that our reunion seemed like a perfect coincidence. Luckily, the private detective told me that she was working at a restaurant, a great place for bumping into someone. And to better sell it, I even brought a date. A fake date, of course. I lost interest on all

she approached our table, my hands were literally shaking under the table. She looked wonderful, more sophisticated and mature. I had seen her face thousands of times in the

But fortunately, she didn’t push me away. Apparently, she believed that we had both moved on. So I kept my patience, playing the role

when I looked at her, I could still detect the

the first step. It had to be her. She had to discover

my mother called and told me that she wanted to introduce my marriage partner to me. Funny. Did she really think that I would

this could become my gentle nudge to Natalia. So I eagerly agreed to her proposal and brought

most. But this is who I am. I planned ahead and I planned carefully. I’m like a predator, carefully waiting for my prey to fall into