Lahat ng Kabanata ng Triplet Temptation: My stepbrothers are triplets : Kabanata 221 - Kabanata 230

~MARCELLA~The most important thing I care about right now is getting to Lucas fast.I grab my keys and rush out of the house, almost forgetting my phone before running back to grab it.Then I’m out again, running.My heart pounds wildly against my chest as I jump into my car.My fingers shake so badly I almost drop the keys, fumbling before finally jamming them into the ignition.The engine roars to life, and I’m already driving before I fully process it.The road blurs past me.Everything feels too slow, too far.My hands grip the steering wheel tightly, my knuckles turning white.“Please be okay…” I whisper under my breath, my voice trembling.“Please… Lucas…”The entire drive is torture and my mind won't stop spiralling into different thoughts.What if he’s worse than they said?What if I’m too late?What if….“Stop it!” I snap at myself, my breathing uneven.Tears sting my eyes, but I blink them away.Not now.I can’t break now.“You don’t get to fall apart,”

~MARCELLA~My fingers tremble slightly as I press the call button.The phone is cold against my ear, but my entire body feels too hot… too tight… like I might shatter if I move the wrong way.It rings…. once, twice, three times.Just when I’m about to pull it away and try again…“Hey… my little princess.”His voice comes through, warm, familiar and grounding.And just like that…everything inside me cracks.“I’m sorry I picked up late,” he continues, a faint shuffle of voices in the background, like he’s stepping away from something important. “I’m in a meeting. What’s wrong?”“Dad…”My voice comes out small….too small.Like I’m suddenly ten years old again.It shakes… laced with everything I’ve been holding in….fear, anger and hurt.All of it tangled together.There’s a pause.Not long, but enough.Enough for him to understand that this isn’t nothing.“Marcella Nico….”He calls me this when he's very serious.The softness in his tone disappears almost instantly

~MARCELLA~The moment the hospital doors slide open and I step outside, it feels like I’m walking into a completely different world.Inside… Everything was soft, quiet and fragile like Lucas.The steady beeping of machines.The warmth of his hand in mine.Out here?Everything feels colder, sharper and real.My palm slippers hit the ground with slow, measured clicks as I walk forward, each step echoing faintly in the open space. The air brushes against my skin, but I barely feel it.My expression is calm ... .but inside??Inside, I’m burning.I scan the hospital with my eyes, and then I see it.A black limousine, sleek, polished, intimidating… parked quietly at one corner of the hospital grounds almost like it doesn’t want to draw attention to itself…It's waiting for me.A slow breath leaves my lips as something shifts inside me… something colder, something darker.Good.I walk toward it without hesitation, my spine straight, my steps steady… controlled and pow

~MARCELLA~“Stephanie, if you don’t blow that balloon in the next five seconds, I swear I’m going to lose my mind.”“I am blowing it!” she snaps back, cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk, eyes glaring at me as she struggles with the stubborn balloon in her hands.I cross my arms, pacing the living room like a general supervising a battlefield.“You’ve been ‘blowing it’ for the past two minutes,” I fire back dramatically. “At this point, I could have inflated ten already!”She pulls the balloon away from her lips just to glare harder at me. “Then come and do it yourself, Miss Perfection.”“Oh, don’t tempt me,” I shoot back, already stepping toward her.“Don’t you dare….”Too late.I snatch the balloon from her hand and start blowing it myself, my cheeks puffing slightly as I work faster than she did.Fred, who has been silently tying ribbons to already inflated balloons, lets out a soft chuckle from the corner.“You two are worse than kids,” he says, shaking his h

~MARCELLA~For a second… Lucas doesn’t move.He just stands there, frozen in the middle of the living room, his eyes slowly scanning everything.The decorations. The balloons. The food. The lights.The people.We're just six in the room…. Stephanie, Fred, Jason, Jason's friend, Lucas and I.Stephanie said something about inviting her male best friend, Jason over and he obviously came with his friend.Stephanie is already jumping up and down like a child, waving both hands dramatically.“WELCOME BACK, OUR HANDSOME LUCAS!” she yells.Fred raises a glass casually. “Try not to faint this time.”Jason and his friend laugh, their voices blending into the warm noise filling the room.But Lucas…Lucas is quiet….too quiet.My smile softens as I take a small step closer to him, my eyes fixed on his face.And then I see it.That tiny shift.That crack in his calm.His throat moves as he swallows.His eyes blink once…twice…And then….“Oh my God…” he breathes.There it is.