Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 342

Chapter 342: 342-It Went South

Helanie:

With my shaky hands, I started to dial Maximus’s number. I needed to stop him before he got us both in trouble. Of course, it wouldn’t be bad for him because he would get out of the mess later on, but I wouldn’t be able to move past it—because of how they made the plan.

I watched him stop talking and lower his head, narrowing his eyes at his phone’s screen. Then he raised his head and found me in the crowd, excusing himself from his father. At least he hadn’t told his father anything yet.

He didn’t answer my call because he understood I wanted him to step aside so we could talk.

We both snuck to the side, reaching the backyard where no one was.

“Helanie, what is going on? Why did you call me? I was about to tell Dad—” he was speaking casually, like he could fool me, when I interrupted him.

“No!”

I watched him close his eyes and shake his head, making sure he heard me right.

“What do you mean, no?” he asked, wanting me to explain in better words.

“I don’t want to be with you anymore.” I didn’t know why he didn’t understand from my text that I didn’t want him to stop the ceremony.

“What?” He almost raised his voice before holding in his anger and forcing an awkward smile. “Is this a prank? Or maybe seeing so many people has made you afraid—”

Before he could keep going, I added, “I have told you I don’t want us to be together. You asked for a chance, and I gave you that chance. I just didn’t feel like I was ready. I’m not ready yet.”

I couldn’t tell him outright that I knew about his mother and his plan because that would expose them for being publicly evil to me. I didn’t want to trigger them—at least not yet.

“What are you saying, Helanie? You told me you would give me a chance, and you did. We had a date, and you confessed you liked me, so—what is this back and forth about?” He was now breathing heavily, sounding so aggressive.

“And then now you’re telling me? Now? All this time, you made me believe we were going to be together, but suddenly, Rudy shows interest in you, and you’re backing down from me?” He yelled, causing me to step back and stare at him in horror.

“Don’t you dare turn this on me. I am not the one who—”

He hushed me down as he waved his finger in my face.

“That’s enough games. You’re coming with me, and we are stopping this ceremony. I will tell everyone we are mates, and you can’t stop me,” he yelled again, grabbing my arm to drag me back to the venue.

“No!” I tried to free myself, but his grasp on my skin was so tight that I had to use my full strength. And I did.

I was able to unwrap his fingers from around my arm and push him. Before my wolf’s awakening, I wouldn’t have been able to budge him, but today, he stumbled back a little and stared at me in shock.

“Your wolf is awake, isn’t she? Does she not like me? Does she want Rudy?”

I didn’t know why he kept saying his name.

But that wasn’t good. He was trying to make me look like the bad person here.

“Maximus, I told you two nights ago that I wasn’t ready. I don’t understand why you’re acting so shocked when you were fine every other day,” I yelled back at him, tired of him accusing me when he was the reason we weren’t together right now.

“Huh? You think I’m some fool who was celebrating two days ago and then suddenly realized, ‘Oh shit, I’m getting rejected?’ You freaking played me, Helanie,” he yelled again, throwing a punch at the wall beside us.

“I texted you—” I shut up when he lunged at me and grabbed my hand tightly once again.

“I don’t care. You never did. And I never received your text. So we are going to stop this ceremony whether you like it or not. I will tell my father—everything. And then I won’t even care if you want me or not. The truth should be out.”

He scared me when he started pulling me after him.

At this point, I couldn’t fight his strength, but before we could take a few steps, Norman briskly walked our way. He must have followed us.

“What the hell is going on here?” he hissed, his eyes landing on Maximus’s grip on my wrist.

He quickly stepped toward us and freed me from Maximus’s grasp.

“She is rejecting me,” Maximus gulped before complaining about me to his brother.

Norman turned to me, his eyes suddenly filled with anger.

What is going on? Norman knew?

“I told her to tell me if she had changed her mind, and she didn’t. But today, she is suddenly saying she doesn’t want to be with me,” Maximus was already in tears. His plan was working.

He had managed to make me look bad. So even if I confronted Maximus, he would never admit to his plan.

He wasn’t a fool. He was calculated.

So this is what he had planned to punish me with after I sent him that text?

“Helanie, what the heck is he saying? You can’t just—lead him on—” I knew why he seemed so angry.

It wasn’t just about Maximus, but also because I had told him about Kaye, too.

“I’m doing this because of Maximus and his m—mother—” I was about to say it when Maximus turned to me and yelled in my face.

“You are a horrible person! How could you—how could you make such a fool out of me? Wait until the last moment to break my heart?” He kept accusing me, not even letting me explain my side.

“Enough, both of you. This ceremony will go uninterrupted.”

As Norman made that decision, Maximus looked at him in defeat.

He then glared at me, then back at his brother, before marching toward the back exit of the mansion.

“Maximus!” Norman attempted to call after him, but then he turned to confront me. “Go back to the ceremony. I will deal with you later.”