Lahat ng Kabanata ng Claimed By My Stepbrother : Kabanata 221 - Kabanata 230

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

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

❁✿❀“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

“What the fuck do you want!” I hissed, my hands balled into fists at my sides, backpack straps digging into my shoulders like they were trying to anchor me before I did something stupid like lunge at her. Venessa rolled her eyes so hard I thought they might get stuck, then pushed off her car with a dramatic sigh. “Oh, shut up,” she snapped, already starting to walk toward me, her boots crunching on the slush like she was on a goddamn runway. She stopped a couple feet away, tilting her head like she was sizing me up for a fight she knew she clearly couldn’t win without her minions. “How are you doing?”“What?” I asked, completely fucking confused, my voice cracking on the word because what the actual hell was this? She glanced around the parking lot quickly, like she was checking for eavesdroppers, then leaned in a little closer. “Alright, I’ll cut the bullshit. I hate Camila. I’m not worried about her one bit, not after she shoved my face in the school toilet, and I genuinely hope

I drove home in a haze, the heater blasting lukewarm air that did jack shit to thaw the knot off my stomach. The house came into view way too soon, that familiar two-story with the peeling blue paint on the shutters and the empty driveway where Mom’s SUV used to sit like it belonged there. My stomach twisted as I pulled up to the curb and killed the engine. How the hell was I supposed to face Dad after this morning? I’d walked away from him and left him there like an asshole because I couldn’t handle one more crack in the foundation of whatever was left of our family. Guilt had chewed at me the whole drive, mixing with the anger until I felt sick. He’s probably still in that study staring at the wall, I thought as I grabbed my backpack and slammed the car door. Or worse, halfway through a bottle already, wondering why his daughter bailed on him too. Fuck. I didn’t want to deal with broken Dad tonight. I just wanted to collapse on my bed, stare at the fairy lights Camila helped s