She_istrue1

Beneath the Same Roof

An intense, steamy forbidden romance

When Ava Monroe’s mother remarries into wealth, Ava’s world turns upside down — and so does her carefully guarded heart. Forced to live under the same roof as her enigmatic stepbrother Julian Hart, she’s thrust into a world of polished surfaces hiding raw, tangled emotions.

Julian is a man ruled by control and silence, a brooding enigma who keeps everyone at arm’s length — until Ava. Beneath his cold exterior lies a storm of desire and vulnerability that threatens to unravel them both.

As days bleed into nights filled with stolen glances, charged silences, and forbidden touches, Ava and Julian are drawn into a dangerous game of craving and restraint. Every secret moment deepens the connection neither wants to admit — but the consequences of crossing the line are devastating.

In a mansion built on power and expectation, can two broken souls risk everything for a love that should never exist? Or will the walls they live beneath become the cage that traps them forever.

BENEATH THE SAME ROOF

📖 Chapter 35 – The Mic and the Mirror

Themes: Defiance, redemption, old wounds, emotional dominance, self-ownership

PART 1: AVA TAKES THE STAGE (POV: Ava)

Her keynote invitation had been rescinded by the university — but another school picked it up instead.

It was her rules. Her mic. Her audience.

Backstage, Ava adjusted the mic over her sternum.

> "No. I've never been more ready."

> "My story doesn't fit inside the boxes you built.

I loved someone who the world said I shouldn't — not because he hurt me, not because it was wrong…

but because the labels made it inconvenient."

He was my first breath after drowning."

I want you to stop thinking you have to allow people like me to exist."

> "We're not asking. We're already here."

It started with two. Then ten. Then the room.

Julian stood, tears in his eyes, clapping the hardest.

PART 2: JULIAN VS. RONAN (POV: Julian)

Julian wore black. Ronan wore a smug expression.

> "This isn't about the past," Ronan said.

"It's about the message you're sending."

> "No. This is about the fact that your 'values' only work when you're not the one who's different."

> "You could've had a clean legacy. You ruined it for love?"

Because a legacy without truth is just a tombstone."

He left without another word — without regret.

Later that night, Julian played Ava the track he'd recorded right after.

"If they call this fire, let it burn.

Because I've never felt more alive in the smoke."

She climbed into his lap and kissed him like she could taste the ash.

They lie in bed, the lights off, his fingers tracing circles over her bare shoulder.

> "What happens when they stop talking about us?"

> "Then we'll finally have time to just live."

chapter 35