All Chapters of Beneath The Ice : Claimed By My Stepbrother : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Theodore~I didn’t sleep.At all.Every single time I closed my eyes, that fucking video replayed in my head again. The angle. The way Noah touched my waist. The expression on my face while I looked at him like I forgot how to function properly.It looked bad.No.It looked obvious. That was the problem. Anybody with eyes would look at that clip and immediately know something was wrong with us and the worst part was that I had absolutely no idea who sent it.Or who else got it.By three in the morning, I had already checked every social media app twice, searched my name on campus forums and convinced myself at least six different times that my entire life was over.By five, I was still awake staring at the ceiling while anxiety ate holes through my chest.So yeah.By the time morning came around, I already felt dead inside.I skipped breakfast completely and left for campus early because sitting inside the house without Noah there somehow made everything worse. Usually, his existence

Noah~My mother kept staring at me long after she said it.You actually care about this person. Most people probably would’ve missed the shift in her expression completely because outwardly, she still looked the same. Perfect makeup. Perfect posture. Expensive black dress that probably cost more than somebody’s yearly salary but I knew her.I knew exactly when she stopped joking around.And right now?She was observing me like I’d suddenly become a problem she needed to solve.Annoying. I shoved my phone back into my pocket before starting toward the ballroom again. “You’re being dramatic.”“That’s rich coming from you.”“I’m serious.”“Noah.” Her heels clicked sharply against the marble floor as she caught up beside me. “You haven’t looked at your phone this obsessively since you were fourteen and convinced some girl in Paris was your soulmate because she smiled at you twice.”“That was one time.”“You wrote poetry.”Nikolai burst out laughing somewhere behind us.Traitor.“I was fou

Noah~Training with my mother always felt less like exercise and more like punishment for me being away from her.The estate had a private training facility built under one of the west wings, hidden behind reinforced doors and soundproof walls like whatever happened inside was either too expensive or too illegal for the outside world to witness. Which, knowing her, was probably both.I rolled my shoulders as I stepped onto the mat, already regretting every decision that had led me here today. The space smelled like polished metal, clean sweat, and the faint metallic sting of equipment that had seen more use than it probably should have. My mother was already there, leaning against the mirrored wall in fitted black training gear that somehow still looked like she was attending a board meeting instead of preparing to try and break my bones.“You’re late,” she said without looking at me.“I was avoiding you.”“Cute. Warm up.”I exhaled slowly through my nose and started wrapping my hand

Theodore~For one full second, I genuinely thought I heard him wrong.“...What?”Nikolai leaned back against the lockers like this entire situation wasn’t insane while I just stared at the bruises across his face trying to process literally anything properly.“Noah did that?” I repeated.“Mhm.”“Why?”That stupid grin widened slightly. “Take a guess.”My stomach tightened slowly because suddenly my brain connected everything at once.The picture.The message and Nikolai showing up here out of nowhere.My eyes narrowed immediately. “What did you do?”“Oh, now we’re asking the right questions.”“Nikolai.”He laughed quietly under his breath before pushing himself off the lockers again. Up close, the damage looked even worse. There was swelling across the side of his jaw and another bruise forming near his cheekbone like Noah had genuinely tried to rearrange his face.Which honestly?He probably did.“I sent you the picture,” Nikolai admitted casually.I stared at him blankly.“You WHAT?

Noah~We didn’t move for a while.It was like the moment I touched him, everything else just stopped trying to matter. The hallway, the house, the damn world outside his door.Theo’s grip on my hoodie was still tight like he was scared I might disappear again if he let go.Which, honestly, was rich considering he was the one who blocked me. I exhaled slowly against his shoulder. “You done trying to kill me emotionally or is there a part two I should be prepared for?”He huffed something that might’ve been a laugh, might’ve been exhaustion. “Shut up.”“Make me.”That got nothing but a tighter hold around my waist, like he didn’t have the energy to argue properly. His fingers flexed slightly against my back and I felt it, this weird shake in him he was trying very hard to hide.That alone wiped most of the sarcasm off my tongue.So I didn’t push him.Not yet. Instead, I just shifted us inside the room properly and kicked the door shut behind me with my heel.The click sounded too loud.