Forbidden Romance

Chapter 6

Gloria stood in front of the imposing bungalow a few hours later. Her steps echoed in the dawn, in sync with the beating of her troubled heart. The bungalow was a silent witness to the storm of emotions churning within her. She knew her mother would be shocked to see her at this early hour, as she had arrived well before the sun had even risen. She glanced at her wristwatch, it read five o'clock in the morning.

She realized she was keen to find the reason behind Rachel’s death and just took the first flight to arrive in California. She sometimes thought she made the wrong decisions as this flight almost cost her three times more than the actual travel cost.

Now the only thing she could do was to wait till the gate opened. She hesitated to disturb her mother, who might be upset about her sudden arrival. A few days before, she left without having a word with her, nor did she have a call from her mom. Placing her bag on the concrete counter beside the gate and sitting on it. The cold concrete was chilling her ass, the dripping leaves behind her were irritating her. She rested her face on her hand, thinking about her mom’s reaction.

She opened her half-closed eyes only to find a man standing in front of her wearing a black t-shirt with neon strips and a big bin bag in his hand.

"Hello, miss. Are you a homeless girl?" Janitor's voice interrupted her thoughts as he attempted to rouse her from her restless slumber. Startled, Gloria awoke with a jolt.

"Oh, s**t," she muttered to herself, realizing she had overslept, and precious time had slipped away. She hastily grabbed her bag and rushed through the gate, her disorientation causing her to lose track of time.

Inside the gate, her nervousness intensified as she spotted her mother talking on the phone. Her mother noticed her arrival and promptly ended the call. "Gloria..." her mother's voice was full of surprise and concern as her gaze fell on Gloria's bag. "I heard you've returned to New York."

Leaving her bag behind, Gloria moved forward and enveloped her mother in a long-overdue hug. It had been two years since they had last embraced, and her mother meant everything to her. Just a little ego came between them and they stopped talking. And after that, everything she knew about her mom was from Rachel.

“Mom…” Tears welled up in Gloria's eyes as she apologized, "I am sorry, Mom... Forgive me." The sincerity of her words was evident; her intentions were genuine. She had returned not only to her mission but also with the hope of rekindling the bond she had with her mother. She held onto her mother tightly.

"Gloria..." her mother's voice was warm as she returned the embrace. “It's good that you realize your mistake. Your sister missed you a lot. If you had been here with her, this would not have happened. She was close to you," her mother admitted.

Gloria remembered her mother's relentless urging for her to come back home. She had often stressed that surviving alone in New York was a daunting task without family.

"Yes mom, I regret not coming with you. But now I want to stay with you, Mom. I know you must miss Rachel a lot," Gloria said, her sincerity shining through. Her mother's eyes brightened with joy at the prospect. She didn’t know when she was this happy last time.

“I hope your presence would reduce the pain of Rachel’s suicide. Why was I not there when she needed me the most?” Her mother’s voice turned heavy, as if she would cry any time.

"Cathy, do we have guests at our house?" a deep, gruff voice interrupted their reunion.

"Oliver, this is my elder daughter, Gloria," her mother introduced her. "You're meeting her for the first time; she couldn't attend our wedding because she had exams," her mother explained, referencing the excuse Gloria had used to avoid her mother and step-dad's wedding, even though her true feelings ran much deeper.

“Gloria... Huh?” He adjusted his specs. “The elder daughter whom you many were missing for so two years, huh?”

Gloria turned to see a man in his forties, with a square face, brown eyes, gray hair, even a gray beard, and a commanding presence. It was her first time to see her stepfather and her jaws dropped. He was good-looking even at that age, quite more handsome than her father. Perhaps that’s the reason her mother took no time to move on from the demise of her husband and she married him within a year.

“That’s good. I hope she finished her studies before coming here. She was so serious about her studies that she didn’t get time to talk with her mom.” He seemed a little annoyed, Gloria nodded her head.

“I have to do an internship for six months to get my degree. New York is too crowded to get an opportunity. I hope I will get some chances here.” Gloria stared at her mother. She already got approval from her to stay there. But her stepdad didn't know what he would think about that. She said six months because it would be enough to get to know about Rachel’s death.

“I will talk to my manager about it. Don’t worry. Be comfortable here.” Her stepfather walked out of the mansion. Gloria cheered with a big yes in her mind. Just a day before, she had not dared to speak to her mom, and now she was hugging her mom. It was not less than a miracle.

“You can move to the upper floor, second room.” She told Gloria and gestured at the upper floor. Gloria nodded and dragged to the stairs.

However, upon arriving, she became confused. After entering, there were four rooms, two on the left and two on the right. Her mom hadn't told her which way the second room was. Gloria, carrying her bag, went to the right side because the door was open.

The room was spacious, perhaps combining her New York rented house with the neighboring rented house would create a room this big. There was a large jumbo bed and plenty of wardrobes. In the center, a large red carpet and a chandelier hung from the ceiling. The room itself felt like a luxurious hall. Near the dresser, there was silver cutlery for dining.

She walked in and started to unpack her bag to put her things in the wardrobe. At least for the next six months, this room was hers. Due to the heat in California, she was feeling sticky and wanted to take a shower. She opened her bag and took out a new black bra and black panties. That's when she began to hear strange noises coming from the bathroom. Seemed like someone was singing a song. Gloria tapered her eyes, someone was singing Troye Sivan's GOT ME STARTED in the bathroom. She stared at the door cautiously.

Suddenly, the bathroom door opened and Noah walked out of it wrapping just a towel around his abdomen. Gloria's eyes turned bigger as if they would pop out of its socket. Her limbs turned colder when she found him there.

His naked tattooed body, which seemed like a dragon carved into his fair skin, looked a little scary. His tousled hair was wet, dripping the water droplets from its end and trailing down his neck and reaching his shoulder. The other droplet slid through the middle of his ribs and reached his navel. So Hot! She didn’t even blink once when she stared at him.

"Miss Attention? Have you followed me here too?" He smirked, grabbed her shoulder and pushed her on the bed. Within an instant, Gloria was lying on his bed. She was just about to get up, but he gripped her wrist. She stared at his muscular grip and shook her head.

“You loved that kiss, right? Why not have another one.” He confidently said, coming closer to her as if he intended to do something wrong. Gloria was scared, he was about to kiss her again. What if he tried to molest her? He would be naked within a second, and she was scared of getting forced out.

"Don't do it. I am your step-sister." Gloria screamed, pushing him hard. Noah was stunned when he heard it. He stared at her as if a snake had bitten him. His grip around her wrist loosened as his expression changed to shock. Gloria stood on the bed immediately as his hands released her. He did not believe in it. Listening to Gloria's screams, Noah's aunt, Jessica, arrived in the room who was living in the same house.

"What was she saying?" Noah asked his aunt, Jessica. His father's sister.

"She is your father's stepdaughter. She will be staying with us from now on." His aunt made an aggressive face as if she didn’t like it too. Noah's eyes were torn as he stared at Gloria again. Slowly his face filled with disgust.

"So she is that scumbag's sister." Noah taunted Gloria, Gloria's hands clenched into fists when she heard him talking nonsense about Rachel. If she got a chance, she wanted to hit Noah on his face.

Noah's hands were clenched too, he opened his wardrobe and grabbed his bag as if he was leaving the house. Jessica went and tried to stop him.

"Noah, are you going to leave the house again? You stayed in New York for two years and just came back last evening. Do you want to do the same again?" Jessica said and closed the wardrobe.

Gloria realized it was not only her who was not happy with this marriage but also Noah, her step-sibling. Most things were common between them.

"It's your house. You should not leave it." His aunt told him and then turned to Gloria. “You, you should stay where you belong. This all belongs to my nephew, Noah. Not you.” Jessica gritted her teeth and left the room.

Gloria was never this humiliated before, they were asking her to leave. She started packing her bag again and stuffing the things she took out. That were her bra and panties.

“I will stay here, it’s my mom’s house too. If you are troubled, you can leave.” She zipped her bag. Noah came and stood in front of her, his eyes glaring at her in an amusing way.

"Yeah! Why would I leave the house when I have a new toy to play around with? I will torture you so much that you will be leaving this house first." He kicked the bag aggressively.