My Step Sister's Ex Billionaire

“Zara, you need to stop all of this,” Alex said, his voice thick with feelings. “That b***h is not worth it. None of them are.” Zara looked at Alex, her eyes filled with tears that she refused to shed. “What I’m I supposed to do Alex? Huh! To pretend everything is okay? They have taken everything away from us. Dad….he is not even our dad anymore.” Alex clenched his fists, attempting to keep his anger under control. “We can’t allow them to win, Zara. We are stronger than this. Stronger than them.” Suddenly, the kitchen door swung open, and Samantha walked in her eyes limiting at seeing Zara with alcohol in her hand. “Well, well, well... look at who is turning into a little lush,” she scoffed. “Drinking will not bring your mother back, Zara. Its despicable really.” Something inside Zara snapped. She threw the glass down on the counter, the vodka slushing past the brink. “You don’t get to talk about my mom!” she yelled, her voice shaking with rage. “You are only a damn parasite, feeding off what’s left of this family. Samantha’s eyes sparkled with vindictiveness. But before she could answer Zara was already gone. “How dare, she leaves me hanging like this. That pathetic little bitch.” She couldn’t let it go, so she followed her. She stood across Zara’s room with a sneer on her lips, and her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Amelia was passing by, but she couldn’t miss the opportunity of mocking and insulting Zara. “Look at you, you drunk little s**t. Useless and pathetic, no wonder you are just a mess. You think this is what your mother could have wanted from you?” “Don’t …. don’t you dare speak about my mother you w***e. She was a better woman and mother than you will ever be, Samantha. And get her name out of your stinking dirty mouth.” “Please, Zara. Spare us your drama. You are jealous because you will never level up to me, or my mother.” Amelia smirked. Zara stood up, her voice cracking slightly. “ Jealous?... huh! Of all people you and your mother? You have had everything given to you your entire life Amelia. You don’t even know how or what it is like … to struggle and hustle …. To fight for ever damn scrap of love, ever bit of attention. But actually, you do, gold diggers. But not my way.” Amelia chuckles coldly, “Struggle? Please. You are the one who makes your own misery. Slacking off, drinking, and blaming everyone else for your problems. Maybe if you got your s**t together, we would not have to keep on reminding you of how worthless you are.” Zara’s tears welled up in her eyes , she gets closer at both of them. “ I’m not worthless! You…. you don’t get it, who I’m I kidding. You have never tried to understand any of it! All you enjoy doing is criticizing and tearing me down. Both of you! “Oh, please, spare us the pity party. Maybe just maybe if you stopped feeling sorry for yourself for once , you would actually get something or even somewhere in life.” Amelia said, rolling her eyes. “I HATE YOU! BOTH OF YOU!” Zara screamed, with desperation in her voice. “ I have hated you since the day you walked into my life, and my home! You think you are so perfect, but in reality, you are just broken, even more than me. At least I admit it! Samantha takes a moment, and regains her composure. “That’s it, enough. You are just embarrassing yourself. Go to bed, Zara. Sleep it off. We will deal with your pathetic outburst in the morning.” As they turn away and shut the door. Zara feels a deep hollow ache in her chest. “Why did you leave us alone mom, I miss you so much.” The next morning, Zara woke up feeling like she went to hell and then came back. “Oh, look, the little princess isn’t so wonderful after all, wake your ass up its already noon. Have you forgotten you have chores to do, start with this dress of mine I will be wearing it tomorrow I want it clean!” Amelia mocked. “Oh f**k, I hate these people,” she mummed as she threw her blanket to get out of bed, Samantha was already there standing at the door, dressed in her usual flawless, expensive clothes, yet there’s nothing refined about the way she’s jeering at Zara. “Now her, I can’t even breathe,” Zara murmured to herself as she let out a big sigh. “I’m already up, Samantha. Just get out of my sight.” Zara exclaimed “ Of course, you are up, I’m not blind you little s**t, down stairs now.” Samantha mocked. Zara got up, went into the bathroom, and headed down stairs. She cooked cleaned, finished her chores and went to get herself a bottle of whiskey and locked herself in her bedroom. “You can’t just come in here and act like you own me, Samantha, don’t you know about something called boundary?” Zara snapped. “You are not my mom, and you will never be!” “I don’t have to be your mother to know that you are a spoiled, ungrateful brat, Zara. I have just been trying to help you, and this is the thank you that I get? You are just childish and unequipped to seeing past your own nose.” Samantha responded with a chilly, ridiculing tone. Zara’s hands shudder as she battles to keep down tears of dissatisfaction. She has been containing her emotions for such a long time, and now they are pouring out in a downpour of fury. “Help me? You have just destroyed me since the day you strolled in this house! You and Amelia have made my daily routine an experiencing heck, and my father…. Father couldn’t careless! He simply only pays attention to you and overlooks us! I guess that’s what you wanted.” She shouted. Samantha’s eyes restricted, she makes a stride nearer to Zara, her voice dropping to a venomous murmur. “Maybe…. Just maybe if you were not such a disappointment, your dad would actually be proud of you. But all you do is create problems, very much like your brother. At that point the door opens up more extensively and Mr. Tate Zara’s dad enters the room, his eyes darting among Zara and Samantha, rapidly digesting the circumstances. “What is happening here? I could hear you both from down stairs.” Before Zara can speak, Samantha rapidly comes forward , putting a hand on Tate’s arm, her voice delicate and sweet. “Oh Tate, it’s nothing. Zara just blew up, there’s nothing more to it. You know how she can be…. So self-centered. I was simply trying to calm her down.” Zara’s heart sinks as she watches her dad’s demeanor solidify. She can see the uncertainty in her eyes, the manner in which he’s now favoring Samantha, very much like generally. “Dad, she’s lying! She is the one…. the one that started this. She …. She is turning you against us, against your own family! Tate looks at Zara briefly, there’s a glint of something in his eyes lament perhaps, or responsibility. However, its immediately supplanted by exhaustion as he rubs his hands together. “Zara, enough. I’m worn out on these battles. You really want to begin regarding Samantha! And quit creating problems. She is just trying to help you.” Zara’s breath gets in her throat, and she feels a sharp aggravation in her chest. It’s like her heart is breaking once again. “I’m used to this, used to being excused, used to my dad agreeing with Samantha. But it actually hurts, each and every time.” She thought to herself. “That’s it, Zara. you will have to find a way to live with Samantha. She’s important for this family, regardless of whether you like it or not.” Zara feels a sting of selling out like an actual blow, and she wipes away her tears. Samantha notices her moment to shine and sneers victoriously driving Tate away. “Come on, Richard. We should let her be. She will calm down anyway.” Samantha said as they leave. As the door closes behind them, Zara jumps into her bed. Covering her face in her grasp. Everything feels colder now. The quarrel wasn’t just over words, it was a fight for her dad’s love and affection, a fight she has been losing for quit a long time. Regardless of everything, she realizes that she needs to continue with the battle. For her own good and that of her brother’s Alex, since no else will. As the sun was setting and the house was frightfully calm, Zara was in the lounge with Alex. He was slouched over, trying to zero in on his homework. But Zara realizes that he was struggling as much as she was. The heaviness of their situation loomed over them like a foreboding shadow. Suddenly Samantha entered in the room, her heels clicking forcefully on the hardwood floor. She had that look all over her, the one she generally wore when she was going to offer something, especially savage. “You know,” Samantha started, her voice tricking with misleading pleasantness. “I have been, thinking about your mom recently. Poor thing. It’s not a big surprise she was unable to deal with the struggle of raising up such spoiled kids. Disappointments runs in the family, doesn’t it? Zara felt her heart stop. The room appeared to be spinning around her, her sight limiting until all she could see was Samantha’s sneering face. The words repeated in her mind, an insult she was unable to disregard. “What did you just say?” Zara’s voice was low, filled with scarcely held back rage. Samanth didn’t step back. “I said your mom was nothing, Zara. Also, it appears as though you are going down a similar way. Terrible, really.” Something inside Zara snapped. All the anger, pain, the grief she had been holding back came rushing to the surface. She didn’t think, didn’t hold back and in one quick movement, she moved forward and punched Samantha in her face. And for a concise, fulfilling moment Zara felt a flood of win, but it was fleeting. Mr. Tate busted into the room, drawn by the noise. His eyes was a veil of fierceness as he took in the scene. Samantha holding her nose, blood streaming down her face, Zara standing over her, clench hands gripped, breathing vigorously. “What in the damn god’s green earth do you think you are doing, Zara?! He thundered his voice shaking the walls. Zara went to confront him, her own fury not yet spent. “She was taking about mom; she called her a disappointment and weak.” But there was no compassion in her dad’s eyes. “How dare you lay your hands on my wife?” he growled, making a threatening stride towards her. She’s not your wife,” Zara spat back, her voice thick with disobedience. She is a parasite, feeding off what’s left of this family.” That was the limit. Tate’s hand flew out, striking Zara across the face with a power that sent her stumbling. She felt the sting of his slap, but the torment in her heart was far more regrettable. The one who had once safeguard her, and adored her, just slapped her. “Get out of my sight.” He snarled, his voice cold and without the glow it once held. “I’m sending you to your aunty Ruth tomorrow. I have had enough of your disrespect.”