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CHAPTER 21: That’s Exactly How I Felt

Penulis: Lady Sheldon
last update Tanggal publikasi: 2025-07-03 11:24:33

The bus lurched to a halt with a screech, throwing me slightly off balance as I grabbed onto the nearest pole to steady myself. The doors hissed open, and a rush of cool evening air spilled in.

I stepped off the bus, the air sharp and tinged with the unmistakable tang of gasoline and something faintly metallic.

“Hey! Watch it!” A voice barked out, and I jolted, barely sidestepping in time as a kid on a battered BMX bike sped past me.

“Sorry!” he called over his shoulder, his laughter
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  • Claimed By My Stepbrother    CHAPTER 227: But I Was Managing

    He didn’t answer right away. Just shoved his hands into his pockets and shifted his weight, those stupid fucking slippers making a soft, ridiculous squelch in the slush like some pathetic sound effect from a bad movie. The silence stretched, awkwardly might I add, the kind that made me want to fill it with more yelling just to hear something besides the wind rattling the bare branches overhead. I could feel the cold seeping through my own jacket now, biting at my fingers and nose, but I wasn’t moving until he gave me something—anything—that wasn’t this blank, broken stare.Finally he sighed, the sound dragging out of him. “I’m fine, kiddo. Just… thinking. Got a lot on my mind these days. Your mom leaving, Jake going with her. Feels like I messed up everything, doesn’t it? Like I’m the reason the whole family splintered apart.”I rolled my eyes, but there was no real heat in it, just exhaustion and that familiar ache that never fucking left. “Dad, stop. It’s not all on you. Mom’s t

  • Claimed By My Stepbrother    CHAPTER 226: You Okay?

    ❁✿❀“I’m off!” The words burst out of me as I thumped down the stairs, my backpack slapping against my shoulder blades with every step. I pushed into the kitchen, yanked open the fridge door, and stared at the sad contents. What was left in it was half a carton of milk that was probably going bad, some leftover Chinese takeout from two nights ago, and a couple of apples that looked like they’d seen better days. Fuck it. I grabbed one, shiny red on the outside but probably mealy as hell on the inside, and sank my teeth into it hard. The crunch echoed in the silent kitchen, juice running down my chin as I chewed. Still no response from upstairs though, not even a grumbled “Have a good day, kid” drifting down the hall. Didn’t he hear me? I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and yelled again, louder this time. “Dad? I’m off to school!” Nothing. Just that heavy, suffocating quiet that made my skin crawl. I waited another few seconds, apple halfway to my mouth for anothe

  • Claimed By My Stepbrother    CHAPTER 225: Yeah… It Was Time

    Everything moved pretty fucking fast after that night—like someone had hit fast-forward on the worst parts of our lives and forgotten to give us the remote. One minute we were all sitting in the living room bleeding out our secrets, the next the house was full of cardboard boxes, packing tape screeching across seams, and the kind of quiet conversations that happen when nobody really wants to be heard. Mom threw herself into organizing like it was therapy, labeling shit with Sharpie in that neat handwriting she always used for grocery lists: “Kitchen—pots & pans,” “Fragile—photo albums.” While Jake wandered around hauling boxes to the garage for the moving truck that would show up in three days. Dad mostly stayed in his study with the door closed, the faint clink of a bottle against glass the only proof he was still breathing in there.And the morning they left? The sky was that flat gray that made everything look washed out and tired. The moving truck idled in the driveway, exhaus

  • Claimed By My Stepbrother    CHAPTER 224: Staring At Nothing Yet Feeling Everything

    The words landed like a brick through glass. My mouth opened, but nothing came out at first. Just air. Just the sudden, hollow rush of understanding why the house had felt wrong for months, why Dad had been sleeping on the couch more nights than in their bed, why Mom’s smiles never reached her eyes anymore.“You’re… what?” My voice cracked on the last word, sounding younger than I’d sounded in years.“We’ve been trying to figure it out,” Mom continued, words tumbling faster now like she needed to get them out before she lost her nerve. “We’ve been in counseling for almost a year. We thought we could fix it, that we could wait until you graduated, until things settled down. But after Camila… after everything… it just became clear we can’t keep pretending. We’re hurting each other more by staying together. And we’re hurting you kids by dragging it out.”Counseling for a year??!I could stop the ugly bark of laughter that slipped from my mouth.“You’ve been in counseling for a year? A

  • Claimed By My Stepbrother    CHAPTER 223: What The Fuck Is That Look?

    I stared into the steam rising from my tea, watching it curl and dissolve, trying to force my brain to focus on something normal. “Tessa, can you hear me?” Mom’s voice cut through the fog, soft but insistent, the way she spoke when she was trying not to startle me. I blinked hard, tea sloshing against the rim of the mug. “What?” I asked, startled enough that my shoulders jerked. “What did you say?” She was sitting on the armchair across from me, knees pressed together, hands clasped so tight her knuckles were white. Jake hovered in the doorway to the kitchen, arms crossed, looking like he wanted to disappear into the wallpaper. Mom took a careful breath. “What do you think about us moving? After your final exams.” Moving out? I felt my whole body go rigid, mug trembling in my hands until hot tea splashed over the edge and burned my thumb. I set it down on the coffee table a little too fast and the liquid pooled around the base. “What?!” “It’s a nice place, I promise,” sh

  • Claimed By My Stepbrother    CHAPTER 222: On Me

    I spun so fast my hood fell back, snow flying off like confetti as my heart slammed against my ribs. I was ready to swing and scream… until I saw his face. Jake. Breathless, cheeks flushed from running, hair sticking up in wet spikes under his beanie. “Jesus, Tess, where the hell have you been?” His voice cracked on the last word, lower than usual, rough from shouting or cold or both. He didn’t let go right away, fingers tight around my sleeve like he was afraid I’d vanish if he did. “I’ve been driving around for an hour looking for you. Mom’s losing her mind.” I yanked my arm free, the sudden motion making my shoulder twinge. I rubbed the spot where his grip had been, more out of habit than pain, and let out a long, shaky sigh that fogged the air between us. “I’m fine,” I muttered, even though the words tasted like a lie. “I just… needed to walk.” “You needed to walk for three fucking hours? In a snowstorm? Without answering your phone?” He ran a hand through his hair, snowflak

  • Claimed By My Stepbrother    CHAPTER 115: The Kiss

    I don’t know what the hell came over me. Either way, before I could stop myself, I reached out and caught his arm. “Ethan,” I said—barely a whisper. He turned, a slow, confused look crossing his face, brows furrowing a bit as he tilted his head. And for a second, I almost let go. Almost sai

    last updateTerakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-26

  • Claimed By My Stepbrother    CHAPTER 111: I Wasn’t Done

    Blood was still soaking through the hole in my side when I took my first step. Hot. Sticky. Like fire crawling under my skin. But I didn’t stop. I wasn’t done. They thought a bullet was going to stop me? They must’ve sent some intern with a fancy sniper toy. Cute. Stupid. And now, probably re

    last updateTerakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-26

  • Claimed By My Stepbrother    CHAPTER 113: Awfully Close

    CAMILLA ~ The bright fucking sun was the first thing I noticed. It jabbed at my eyelids like a rude little brat until I groaned and finally blinked awake. The ceiling above me was unfamiliar, and for half a second, my brain short-circuited. Where the hell—? Then it hit me. Ethan’s ro

    last updateTerakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-26

  • Claimed By My Stepbrother    CHAPTER 107: Too Exhausted To Move

    That night, I couldn’t sleep for shit. I just laid there, flat on my back, eyes wide open as I stared up at the ceiling. It was just a boring, plain ceiling that probably hadn’t been cleaned since 1990. Every little creak in the house made me flinch like I was about to be ambushed. A tree branc

    last updateTerakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-26
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