chapter 21
Perfect. Here's Chapter 21 of Beneath the Same Roof, where everything unfolds: the fallout from the leaked photos, Ava and Julian's bold public stand, the pain of betrayal, and a surprising new ally.
📖 Chapter 21 – Burn to Rebuild
Dual POV – Ava & Julian
AVA
By morning, the internet had a name for us:
> #StepSins
It wasn't just a leak. It was a purge.
Photos. Snippets of texts. Videos from security cams we hadn't even noticed — edited, captioned, twisted.
> "Caught in the act — step-siblings who don't care who they hurt."
Every click felt like a violation.
---
Friends stopped responding.
My inbox was flooded with college rescindment warnings, polite "concerns," and veiled threats from admissions officers.
I couldn't breathe.
Until Julian's hand found mine.
"We can let this bury us," he said. "Or we make it mean something."
---
We drafted the video that afternoon.
No tears. No scripts. Just us — side by side.
---
> 📹 "Our Truth" – Posted by Ava Monroe
"Hi. I'm Ava. This is Julian."
"You've probably seen a lot about us lately. Some of it's real. Some of it's cruel. But none of it is your story to own."
"We didn't fall into this to shock anyone. We didn't plan it. We didn't even want it—at first."
"But love doesn't care about labels. Or timelines. Or who gets uncomfortable."
"We're not sorry for loving each other. We're sorry the world thinks we should be."
"So, if you're here to hate us? Fine. But at least hate us for the truth."
---
By nightfall, the video had over 400,000 views.
Hate still poured in — but so did something else:
> Support.
Hundreds of comments from people who'd lived in blended families. Quiet messages from those who'd hidden their love because the world said it was wrong.
We weren't just a scandal anymore.
We were a story.
---
JULIAN
But the war wasn't over.
The principal called me in the next day, flanked by two lawyers and a very tired Coach.
"This is a bad look," he said, tossing my scholarship letter on the table. "You're putting this school on the map—for the wrong reasons."
I didn't flinch.
"I'm a top-ranked athlete, a 4.0 student, and I've never broken the law. But your discomfort is costing me everything."
"It's not about discomfort—"
"It is. You don't like how we make you feel. So instead of fixing your bias, you're trying to fix us."
Coach finally spoke. "He's right."
The room froze.
Coach cleared his throat.
"I've coached Julian for three years. He's never missed a practice. He leads our team. And more than that? He owns his choices."
A beat passed.
"He's not the problem. You are."
---
I didn't get the scholarship back.
But I walked out with something stronger: a witness. A man who refused to let me fall alone.
AVA
Later that week, I got an email from an unexpected name:
> Diana Vargas – an alumna from my top choice school.
Subject line: "I've been where you are."
She was an editor now. Published. Respected.
She'd once fallen for her best friend's stepbrother. They'd been shamed, blackmailed, isolated. She'd dropped out of college. Rebuilt her life. Married him anyway.
> "You're not wrong for feeling what you feel," she wrote.
"You're just early. The world will catch up eventually. Don't let it destroy you before it does."
And attached to the message?
> A personal letter of recommendation.
To any school I wanted.
---
JULIAN
That night, Ava found me on the porch — hoodie zipped up, wind in her hair, that look in her eyes that meant she was about to flip the world upside down.
She straddled my lap without a word, fingers sliding under my jaw.
"Kiss me," she whispered.
I did.
God, I did.
---
We made love slow, steady, like we had something to prove to no one but ourselves.
She gasped my name like a prayer. I held her like a lifeline.
When we collapsed back onto the blanket, sweaty and tangled, her hand rested over my chest.
"We survived the burn," she whispered.
I kissed her forehead.
"Now we rebuild."
---
🖤 End of Chapter Hook:
The board calls a final vote.
Either Ava and Julian are expelled permanently…
…or the school rewrites its policy on "moral conduct" — opening the door for a precedent no one saw coming.
But someone is still watching.
> The leak didn't come from Liam alone.
There's someone closer. Someone inside the house.
A betrayal Ava never saw coming… and it might be her own blood.