{"id":30,"date":"2026-01-21T12:44:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T12:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/?p=30"},"modified":"2026-01-21T12:44:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T12:44:07","slug":"how-i-fell-in-love-with-my-step-mother-episode-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/how-i-fell-in-love-with-my-step-mother-episode-3\/","title":{"rendered":"HOW I FELL IN LOVE WITH MY STEP MOTHER Episode 3"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Episode 3<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Suspicion changes a man.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I saw it in my father\u2019s eyes.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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From that day, Chief Ifeanyi became quieter. He watched more. Spoke less. His laughter disappeared, replaced by long silences and sudden questions that came without warning.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cWhere were you coming from?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy are you sweating?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t eat?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Each question felt like a blade testing my skin.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Amara returned two days later.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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She came back thinner. Quieter. Her eyes carried exhaustion, the kind that sleep cannot fix. She greeted my father respectfully, knelt, smiled\u2014but it didn\u2019t reach her eyes.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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And my father noticed.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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That night, I overheard them arguing in low tones.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cYou are far from me,\u201d my father said.<\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just tired,\u201d Amara replied.<\/div>\n
\u201cTired of me?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Silence followed.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I lay on my bed, heart pounding, sweat soaking my clothes. Every word felt like it could expose us.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The next morning, my father called a family meeting.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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That alone was unusual.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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We sat in the sitting room\u2014him on his carved chair, Amara on the couch, me on a stool opposite them. The air was tight.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cI want peace in this house,\u201d my father began. \u201cNo secrets. No strange behavior.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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His eyes moved between us slowly.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cIf anyone is hiding something,\u201d he said, \u201cthis is the time to speak.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Amara\u2019s fingers trembled in her lap.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I lowered my gaze.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Nobody spoke.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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My father nodded slowly. \u201cGood.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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But I knew\u2014this was not the end. It was the beginning of his investigation.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Days passed. Then weeks.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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And something worse happened.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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My father stopped traveling.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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He was always home now.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Watching.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Listening.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Testing.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Amara and I became strangers again. We didn\u2019t speak unless necessary. We never stayed alone in the same room. If I entered a space, she left. If she sat, I stood.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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But desire does not die from starvation. It only becomes wild.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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One afternoon, while my father was asleep, a palace messenger arrived at the gate. He said Amara\u2019s sister was sick and needed her urgently.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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My father waved it off. \u201cShe can go tomorrow.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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But Amara\u2019s face told another story. This was not about sickness. This was escape.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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That night, she came to my door again.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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No knock this time.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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She just stood there, tears rolling freely.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cI can\u2019t do this anymore,\u201d she whispered. \u201cIf I stay, something bad will happen.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cThen leave,\u201d I said softly. \u201cFor good.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Her lips trembled. \u201cAnd you?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I had no answer.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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She stepped closer. \u201cIf I go\u2026 this ends, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cYes,\u201d I said, though it felt like lying to myself.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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She nodded slowly. \u201cThen tonight is goodbye.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Fear screamed in my head.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cThis is dangerous,\u201d I said.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cSo is staying,\u201d she replied.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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We didn\u2019t rush this time.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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We talked.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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About her regrets. My confusion. The weight of guilt. The shame. The longing.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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And when it finally happened again, it wasn\u2019t desperate.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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It was quiet.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Intentional.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The kind of mistake that changes lives.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Afterward, she rested her head on my chest and cried like someone mourning the living.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cI never planned this,\u201d she said.<\/div>\n
\u201cNeither did I.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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At dawn, she packed her bag.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I watched her walk away from the house that nearly ruined us.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Or so I thought.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Two weeks later, my father collapsed.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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They said it was stress. High blood pressure. The village doctor ordered bed rest.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Amara rushed back.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Fear twisted my stomach.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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While nursing him, she discovered something.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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My father had been keeping records. Notes. Conversations he overheard. Movements he tracked.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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He suspected an affair.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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But not with me.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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With someone else.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Odafe.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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My father\u2019s driver.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Amara showed me the notebook one night, her hands shaking.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cHe thinks it\u2019s Odafe,\u201d she whispered. \u201cHe thinks I\u2019m sleeping with his driver.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Relief and terror hit me at once.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cThis could protect us,\u201d I said.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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She shook her head violently. \u201cNo. He will destroy him. And when that fails\u2026 he will keep digging.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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As if summoned by fate, my father called for Odafe the next morning.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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That evening, Odafe was beaten and dismissed.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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But my father was not satisfied.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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He stood in the compound that night and said something that froze my blood.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe truth always comes out,\u201d he declared. \u201cAnd when it does\u2026 I will not forgive.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I looked at Amara.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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She looked at me.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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And in that moment, we both understood something terrifying:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The secret was growing teeth.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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And soon, it would bite.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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TO BE CONTINUED…<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Episode 3 Suspicion changes a man. I saw it in my father\u2019s eyes. From that day, Chief Ifeanyi became quieter. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-i-fell-in-love-with-my-step-mother"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions\/41"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}