Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 201

Chapter 201: 201-Everyone Chooses Me

Helanie:

“What are you doing?” Lamar asked as I sped back to the hostel to catch Salem and Gavin. I didn’t know why I was doing that.

“They have rejected each other, so they can—” Lamar shut up when I suddenly stopped in my tracks and turned around to glare at him.

“Okay, I’ll come with you,” he muttered, using a gentle and understanding tone now.

“I’m not going there to reconcile. I’m going to let him know that our friendship is over. He made his bed with my enemies,” I hissed, briskly making my way to the hostel.

Kaye’s class would start in ten minutes, so I planned to be back by then—if only I could find Gavin and Salem together.

I know everyone might be thinking why I was so harsh toward Salem and not when Lucy had slept with Lamar. The difference was that I was in a different state back then. Today, I was all messed up, feeling this rage in me that I couldn’t express fully.

My brain didn’t allow me to forgive Salem, and she never apologized either. It was like she just expected me to reset my mind about her after she messed up every time.

Now, as I faced Rayden, I realized I didn’t want to forgive anyone.

I just wanted revenge.

And just like I had expected, the minute Lamar and I stepped into the hostel, we encountered the two together.

Gavin stood with his back against the wall while Salem was blocking his path with her hands on the wall.

“Tell me,” she raised her voice, and we decided not to step into their fight.

“You’ve been asking me the same question for the past hour, and I don’t know what to say to you,” Gavin sounded exhausted, but his eyes told me he really liked Salem.

“That’s because you keep dodging me for an hour! Why were you hiding from me in the hostel? Did you really think you could leave without me catching you?” She turned her hands into little fists and slammed her fist on the wall near him.

“Why are you avoiding me?” she posed the question again, and Gavin sighed in response. I could tell he was finally going to answer because I saw him gulp.

“Because my friends don’t like you,” he responded, and I watched her body tense up.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I could hear a little sadness in her voice this time, not the usual commanding tone she used.

“Salem, you’ve messed up so many times with Helanie that I don’t think my friends would accept me in their group if they found out we were dating. So, it’s better we just stop seeing each other. Let’s call that moment one big mistake and move on.” He finally raised his voice and set himself free by sidestepping away from her arms.

Even she backed down and pouted. “All that because Helanie hates me?”

“No! She doesn’t hate anyone. You’ve been very rude to her, Salem. How do you expect her to be okay with you hanging around us? Because I’m sure I won’t stop being with my friends,” Gavin yelled, making her lips quiver and bend downwards.

“But—you’re choosing your friends over someone you like?” she asked in a shaky tone.

I did not expect to witness all this. I noticed Lamar staring at me with his eyebrows raised and his arms folded over his chest.

I felt guilty for coming here like a madwoman to tell Gavin that we would no longer be his friends. For the first time in so long, I guess I acted like a teenager.

“Salem, I thought she would accept you into our group like she accepted Lamar, but I guess you never earned her apology. It’s better if we stay away. I don’t want to lose my friend,” this time, he used the plural, specifically including me.

“Let’s go before things get awkward,” Lamar tapped his fingers on my shoulder to get my attention and whispered.

I rolled my eyes at him but eventually agreed. Turning around, I walked away. The two of us left and reached the academy in silence.

A few minutes later, Gavin arrived, but Salem never came.

“Hi,” Gavin approached me, sounding awkward, a forced smile stretched across his lips.

“Hey, you missed the first class,” I cleared my throat to sound normal, but it didn’t change the fact that Lucy and he had destroyed everything that had ever been between them.

“It’s fine. I’ll give him my register,” Lucy replied replied.

“You know, Professor Emmet was talking about the history of the Rogue Land—it’s so intriguing,” Lucy, who had been busy pretending everything was normal, suddenly jumped into the conversation, including Gavin in the discussion she was having with Lamar and Jenny about the lecture.

“Really? What—what kind of interesting?” Gavin showed interest, though he seemed confused by how Lucy could still talk to him so casually.

“There were monsters—especially in our hostel. You know, when their father first arrived at the hostel, it was taken over by some monster,” she whispered dramatically, trying to set the scene.

Her smile was sweet, but somewhere in her eyes, I could still see the pain. However, she was trying her best to revive our group’s laughter by avoiding everything that had happened.

“Hm, I do feel a presence in the hostel sometimes. Especially the night I was very stressed and was in pain—,” Gavin started to bring up the night of Lucy’s betrayal but stopped himself abruptly. He had punished her already, so perhaps it was better he didn’t dredge it up again.

“Exactly! Even I felt it sometimes,” Lucy’s excited agreement made me raise my brows at them.

“I have felt it too,” Jenny added, shrugging her shoulders.

“What about you, Lamar?” I turned to ask him, beginning to feel genuinely creeped out about the hostel. It wasn’t just the eerie presence—I had actually been to a floor that didn’t even exist.

“I am the monster,” Lamar said, his tone eerie and deliberate. The way he pronounced the words made everyone fall silent.