My stepbrothers and I

Chapter Five:The Ashford Experience

The town was fifteen minutes from the estate but it felt like another world.

Katherine drove with the windows down, some playlist on shuffle, trying to shake the image from her head.

We

That damn smile

She turned the music up louder.

The town was cute and Small. One of those places with brick sidewalks and hanging flower baskets and shops that sold overpriced candles. The kind of place rich people built to feel quaint.

She parked on Main Street, checked her reflection in the rearview mirror. She looked fine. Normal. Not like someone who'd just watched her stepbrother have s*x and couldn't stop thinking about it.

She got out of the car.

First stop: coffee. She needed caffeine and she needed to sit somewhere that wasn't that house.

She found a cafe on the corner. Brick walls, mismatched chairs, a chalkboard menu with too many oat milk options. She ordered an iced latte and took a seat by the window.

For a few minutes, she just existed.

Scrolled her phone. Answered a text from Marcus.

Marcus:how's the mansion life?

Katherine:weird. went into town to escape.

Marcus:escape from what?

She stared at the message. How was she supposed to answer that?

Katherine:just needed air. the house is a lot.

Marcus:makes sense. wish I was there.

Katherine:me too.

Her phone buzzed again. Jenna. A voice note.

She plugged in her earbuds.

"Okay so Tyler—you remember Tyler from Jake's party?—he DM'd me last night and I'm trying to decide if he's hot or if I was just drunk when I thought he was hot. Send help. Also how's rich girl life? Have you stolen any silverware yet? I would. I'd steal so much silverware. Anyway call me when you can love youuuu."

Katherine smiled. Typed back.

Katherine:he was drunk hot. don't do it. and no silverware yet but I'm eyeing a chandelier.

She pocketed her phone and looked out the window.

And froze.

There was a man across the street.

Older. Fifties maybe. Standing near a bookstore, hands in his pockets, looking directly at her.

Not glancing. Looking. Like he'd been watching for a while.

Katherine's stomach turned.

She looked away. Counted to five. Looked back.

Still there. Still watching.

What the f**k.

She grabbed her coffee, stood up, moved away from the window. Found a seat deeper in the cafe where she couldn't be seen from outside.

Her heart was beating too fast.

Calm down. It's nothing. Probably just some weirdo. Every town has weirdos.

She pulled out her phone, opened the camera, held it up like she was taking a selfie. Angled it toward the window.

He was gone.

She scanned the street. Nothing. Just people walking, shopping, living their normal lives.

She was being paranoid. Obviously. The house was messing with her head. The brothers were messing with her head. Everything was messing with her head.

She took a breath. Finished her coffee. Decided to walk around anyway because she wasn't going to let some random old guy ruin her one afternoon of freedom.

The bookstore was her next stop.

She liked bookstores. Always had. The smell of paper. The quiet. The way you could disappear between shelves and no one bothered you.

Old. Cramped. Shelves everywhere, stuffed with books that smelled like dust and someone's grandmother's attic. She liked it immediately.

She wandered without purpose. Fiction. Romance. A whole section of cookbooks she'd never use. She ended up in the back, running her fingers along spines, reading titles without really seeing them.

"You're the new Ashford girl, right?"

Katherine turned.

A girl stood at the end of the aisle. Tall and Pretty. Dark hair cut blunt at her shoulders. Maybe twenty-two, twenty-three.

"Excuse me?"

"Katherine." The girl said her name like she was confirming something. "Linda's daughter. You just moved in."

Katherine's guard went up but she kept her face neutral. "Do I know you?"

"No." The girl walked closer. Casual. Like they were friends. "I'm Celeste. I graduated from Ridgemont last year."

"Cool."

"I dated Elijah. For almost a year."

Katherine didn't react. Kept her face blank. But something shifted in her chest.

Celeste smiled like she saw it anyway.

"Relax. I'm not here to start drama. I just saw you through the window and thought... I don't know. Maybe someone should say something. Before you're too deep in."

"Too deep in what?"

Celeste leaned against the bookshelf. Crossed her arms. "The Ashford experience. It's fun at first. They make you feel like you're the only person in the room. Like you matter." She paused. "Then you don't. And you're left wondering what the f**k happened to you."

Katherine should walk away. This was weird. Random girl in a bookstore warning her about her stepbrothers like some bad movie.

But she didn't walk away.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because no one told me." Celeste shrugged. "I figured it out the hard way. Spent a lot of money on therapy. Thought maybe I could save someone else the bill."

"That's generous of you."

"It's selfish actually. Talking about it makes me feel less stupid." Celeste pushed off the shelf. "Anyway. You seem smart. You'll figure it out. Or you won't. Either way." She started walking toward the door. "Good luck, Katherine."

She was gone before Katherine could respond.

Katherine stood there for a minute.

Then she left without buying anything.

The drive back was quiet.

She didn't turn on music. Just drove. Let the road unspool in front of her.

Celeste's words sat in her head. Not the warning—she'd expected something like that eventually. Everyone probably had opinions about the Ashfords.

It was the way she'd said it. Like she'd been chewed up and spat out. Like she was still recovering.

Katherine pulled through the estate gates. Parked the Range Rover in the garage, third spot from the left, exactly where she'd found it.

The house was quiet when she walked in. Mid-afternoon lull. Staff somewhere. Family somewhere else.

She headed for the stairs.

"How was town?"

She stopped.

Elijah was in the living room. Sprawled on a couch like he owned it. Which, technically, he did. He had a glass of something amber in his hand. His shirt was different from this morning. Hair still damp.

Showered. After.

Katherine's jaw tightened.

"Fine."

"Just fine? You were gone for hours."

"Didn't realize I was being timed."

He smiled. Slow. "You're not. Just curious."

She should keep walking. Go to her room. Ignore him.

She didn't.

"You seemed very busy with your girlfriend this morning ."

His eyebrows rose. "My girlfriend?"

"The girl. Dark hair. Loud."

"Mina's not my girlfriend."

"Does she know that?"

He looked annoyed

"What Mina knows or doesn't know isn't really your concern, little sister."

"Stop calling me that."

"Why?" He sat up. Set the glass down. "That's what you are. Or what you're about to be. Once our parents sign the papers." He tilted his head. "Unless you're hoping for something different?"

Her face heated. "I'm not hoping for anything."

"Sure." He stood. Walked toward her. Too slow. Too deliberate. "That's why you watched this morning. Because you weren't hoping for anything."

Her stomach dropped.

"I wasn't—"

"Mina told me." He stopped in front of her. Close. Too close. "Said you stood there for a while. Just watching. Like you couldn't look away."

"She's lying."

"Is she?"

Katherine couldn't breathe. Her skin was hot. Her heart was slamming.

"I walked past a door. That's it."

"Mmhm."

"I wasn't watching."

"Okay."

"I wasn't."

He smiled. That smile that made her want to hit him.

"If you say so." He stepped back. Gave her space. "Dinner's at seven."

He walked away. Left her standing there. Shaking.

She went to her room and

Sat on the bed.

Her phone buzzed. Marcus.

Marcus:you back safe?

She stared at the screen.

Katherine:yeah. I'm back.

She put the phone down. Lay back on the bed, Staring at the ceiling.

She needed to focus on her boyfriend.