Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 289

Chapter 289: 289-Like An Innocent One

Helanie:

“Oh, she did.” It was the way Riri rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest that made me realize she was already implying I was the cause of their fight.

“Helanie, is it true? Did Arlo tell you to sabotage Rayden’s plan?” Maximus used a much softer and calmer tone when confronting me. Jenny’s eyes were also fixed on me.

“She did. Tell him, Helanie, what you told me,” Rayden insisted. Just then, another car stopped behind us, distracting us for a moment.

Norman stepped out of the car, looking intimidating as he approached us. He took off his glasses, and the first thing he did was cast a quick glance at me before heading over to Rayden and Arlo.

He must think I’m always caught up in some mess.

The next thing he did was grab both of them by their collars–one hand on each–and pull them closer. “Now fight. We’ll watch you two fight to the death.”

He shook their bodies and yelled this time, “Do it! You love fighting, don’t you? Your alpha egos are so inflated, so let it out. Let’s watch you fight and die.”

His voice was so deep and heavy that goosebumps quickly spread over my skin. I was terrified he’d turn his attention to me in this state.

His cheeks were flushed red with anger. The veins on his neck were bulging too. I could tell someone had called him and informed him about his students causing trouble in the pack. That’s why he was so furious. He hated anyone tarnishing the academy’s reputation; he had always spoken against it.

“Sir, he attacked me while I was minding my own business,” Arlo said, his usual loud and prideful attitude nowhere to be found as Norman gripped his collar.

Norman shoved him back, making him land on the road while Riri rushed to his aid. But now, Norman was giving Rayden his full attention.

“What’s your problem, huh? Can’t control your alpha ego?” Norman kept holding him with one hand, lifting Rayden off the ground so they were eye level.

“Sir, I–I was angry because of what he did to me in the woods,” Rayden stuttered.

It was almost amusing how their alpha egos crumbled whenever someone stronger confronted them.

“Explain,” Norman barked, pushing him back and standing in front of him with his arms crossed over his chest. His biceps were so big that it seemed hard for him to fold his arms completely.

“Helanie told me everything about that night,” Rayden began again, mentioning my name, and once more, all eyes turned to me.

“Sir, Helanie told Rayden that it was Arlo who had blackmailed and threatened her to replace the water in Rayden’s gun so he would get killed by the lycan.” Of course, it was Riri stepping forward to explain what I did that was so terrible that the others were still dealing with the consequences.

Norman raised his head and glared at me. “Did you–” His voice was heavy and thick when he started speaking, but he suddenly stopped and cleared his throat. The next time he spoke, his tone was much softer. “Did you tell him that?”

The change in his tone was surprising. I froze at his behavior before shaking my head.

“No! I didn’t. I told him exactly what I said in front of you,” I reminded Norman about that day. He frowned, turning back to Rayden.

“Huh? No! She said Arlo was the one behind the attack,” Rayden claimed loudly, pointing at me and then at Arlo.

“I never did,” I said firmly, defending myself.

“Rayden! You know you’re shamelessly lying in front of me, don’t you?” Norman groaned, biting his tongue as if struggling to contain his anger.

“Sir, she came to the hospital afterward and told me it was Arlo–” Rayden stopped abruptly when Norman shot him a harsh glare.

“She came with me, and she didn’t even say anything. I was the one who explained to you that her gun had been left broken in the woods and that it was the senior students’ fault for mixing the water, silver, and wolfsbane ratios wrong. She never mentioned Arlo once. And as far as I know, she didn’t leave to come to the hospital again either,” Norman said, staring him down.

“Umm,” Rayden gulped, rubbing his face with his hands, looking completely lost.

“Maybe I was–under the influence of medicine and imagined it?” Rayden tried to make sense of why he thought he had seen me visit him. To him, it might’ve been a hallucination, but it seemed like Norman and Maximus thought otherwise.

“Yeah, it was the medicine,” Norman grunted. “Now go back inside, apologize, and clean up the mess you made. And you will do it alone,” Norman barked at Rayden, whose face turned pale at the thought of cleaning.

I could tell it would feel like a punishment worse than death for him. But since Norman was already glaring at him, he hurried inside to complete his task.

Jenny lingered around but left after Riri and Arlo had gone, following Rayden shortly after.

“It seems like he’s using the excuse of medicine to lie about Helanie,” Maximus said to his brother, who nodded.

“I remember it vividly. He wasn’t that intoxicated. He’s obviously lying. He didn’t think I would come here to expose his lies,” Norman muttered.

I stood behind them like a fragile girl with no clue why this man was lying about me.

“He’s being reckless, Helanie. You will report to us if he tries anything else against you,” Norman added. They had already uncovered several instances where Rayden had tried to harm me or cause trouble, so now they were paying close attention to his behavior toward me.

“I’ll tear apart every organ in his body if he says her name one more time. Enough is enough–he keeps lying about her,” Maximus said without holding back his anger.

Norman tilted his head toward us, his expression unreadable. It seemed like he was trying to figure out what was going on between Maximus and me.