My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 375

Chapter 375

I leaned back against the desk slightly, “Yeah,” I pushed the tablet toward her, “This one’s better.”

She looked confused but stepped closer anyway then she looked down at the screen.

BLACK VEIL.

Her brow furrowed, “What is this?”

“Open it.”

She tapped the screen carefully. The interface expanded smoothly. I watched her expression shift immediately Confusion first, then focus and then curiosity.

She started reading the sample text on screen, then stopped. Her eyes widened slightly. Her fingers moved hesitantly over the settings. The text shifted, adjusted and stabilized.

I saw the exact moment she realized what it was.

Slowly, she looked back up at me, “What… is this?”

I crossed my arms loosely, “It’s yours.”

She stared at me silently.

I nodded toward the screen. “The app analyzes how your eyes track language patterns in real time. It adjusts spacing, movement density, visual clutter, predictive sequencing, and handwriting conversion based on your specific processing habits.”

She looked back down at the tablet like it might disappear.

I continued quietly.

“It also has audio synchronization for reading overload days. Voice-to-text correction calibrated specifically to your speech rhythm. Handwriting prediction. Pattern isolation for coding. Adaptive overlays. The system learns the more you use it.”

Gianna’s fingers trembled slightly against the edges of the tablet, “You… built this?”

I looked away briefly, adjusting my cuff, “It needed to exist.”

Gianna slowly sat down in the chair behind her like her legs suddenly couldn’t hold her anymore then she started testing it. Opening documents. Typing random things. Switching functions.

And the entire time, her expression kept changing. Shock. Disbelief. Confusion. Then finally, something far worse. Her eyes started filling with tears.

Ah.

Fuck.

I straightened immediately, “Gianna-”

“No,” she whispered quickly, shaking her head hard while staring at the screen, “No, I’m okay.”

She absolutely wasn’t okay.

Her fingers moved shakily over the handwriting converter again.

She scribbled something messy onto the screen.

I looked away first.

Because if I kept holding that eye contact much longer, I was going to do something profoundly stupid.

My jaw flexed once before I straightened slightly, “There’s one condition.”

Her eyebrows pulled together immediately, “Condition?”

I nodded once, “The dagger Luca gave you,” I paused. “And Dante’s taser.”

Instantly, I saw the change happen in her posture. Gianna lowered the tablet slowly into her lap. “What about them?”

I kept my voice even, “I’m taking them.”

She stared at me, confusion flickered across her face first, then embarrassment and then something more defensive, “You think I can’t handle them?”

“No,” I said calmly. “I think you can handle them too well.”

Her eyes dropped immediately after that. And that alone told me everything. I pushed away from the desk slowly and crouched in front of her chair again so she didn’t have to crane her neck upward to look at me

“I’m not controlling you,” I said quietly.

I could practically see the war happening inside her head. Part of her understood. The other part probably felt ashamed that I even had to ask.

“I know what those things can became for you,” I continued carefully. “And I’m not interested in leaving tools around that your brain already associates with hurting yourself.”