Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 343

Chapter 343: 343-So I Am The Bad One Now?

Helanie:

I returned to the ceremony feeling confused and stressed. My mother and Lord McQuoid had already exchanged rings.

I stood next to Lamar, feeling dizzy. All this time, I had tears in my eyes. I wanted to cry because of the turn of events. Maximus really broke my heart. At that point, I also realized I should have spoken my truth to Norman.

“Are you okay? What happened between you and Maximus? He never came out from the backyard,” Lamar whispered, trying to be discreet.

“He accused me of never texting him and purposely delaying things to embarrass him at the last minute. He also claimed… I’m leaving him for Rudy,” I forced the words out, my breath catching in my throat.

“Wait, what the fuck!” Lamar hissed, shaking his head before pointing at my phone. “Give me that.”

I handed him my phone, and he opened my inbox, pointing at the text I had sent Maximus.

“There, you go. Proof. You’re worrying over nothing,” he said with a reassuring smile. But it didn’t change anything.

Maximus had said I led him on and then backed out just to humiliate him.

“I don’t know… The way he made me look in front of his brother—when one of his brothers has already been hurt because of me—I think Norman is going to be really angry with me.” I was panicking just thinking about Norman planning revenge for his brother.

That would be bad. Really bad.

“Don’t stress out. He can’t force you to love someone,” Lamar said, but he wasn’t getting my point.

“Lamar, it makes me look bad. Almost like a troublemaker. My reputation will be ruined, and when I finally tell my side of the story, nobody will believe me. They’ll think I have a habit of—” I stopped talking as my breath caught again.

“Hey, hey!” Lamar quickly started rubbing my back.

Everyone was busy taking pictures with the newly engaged couple, but I stayed in the background, hyperventilating.

As I raised my head, I noticed the family staring at me in confusion.

“Your face is so red,” Lamar explained why everyone had their eyes on me. The guests hadn’t noticed, but the family had.

There was no interest on Norman’s face, but Emmet quickly excused himself. Norman tried to raise a hand to get Emmet’s attention—probably to stop him from coming over—but Emmet had already stepped off the stage.

“I’ll head back inside. I don’t want any attention on me, Lamar,” I requested.

“Okay, I’ll walk you—” Lamar cut himself off as another hand rested on my back, immediately warming my body. I looked up from the ground and met Emmet’s concrete-filled eyes.

“It’s okay, nothing new. Some people get anxious in crowded places,” Emmet comforted me almost instantly. “Let’s go for a walk. What do you say?” he asked Lamar, who nodded because I couldn’t get any words out.

Within minutes, we were walking down the road. Night was starting to fall, and the weather had worsened as a storm rolled in.

Lamar walked beside me while Emmet walked ahead.

“Sir, may I ask you a question?” I spoke up, realizing that talking helped calm me down.

“Sure, Lamar,” Emmet said, rolling his shoulders as he moved.

He was so tall. His presence was really comforting. There was something about him—his aura was peaceful, like sitting by a fireplace wrapped in a warm blanket.

That’s how I would describe him.

“The rogue community is interesting. There’s almost a pattern of monsters coming and going,” Lamar paused when Emmet slowed down and eventually stopped. He turned his head slightly, as if to show interest in Lamar’s statement.

“How many monsters have you come across?” Emmet asked.

“I mean, there are plenty that I’ve heard of,” Lamar answered.

“Hmm, there’s a reason for that. You see, there’s always one big force behind these small monsters coming out to attack the rogues. If you ever encounter one, you’ll know,” Emmet said, pouting slightly.

His phone rang, and he excused himself but didn’t walk away.

“We’re right outside the mansion, Norman.” Of course, it was Norman calling him. He had already started showing his disapproval of my interactions with his brothers.

“We’ll eat in the mansion. All three of us aren’t really party people anyway,” Emmet said, already knowing I wouldn’t be going back to the venue after what had happened earlier.

Thankfully, he made the decision for us. We stayed in the mansion, where we were served food before the ceremony ended.

“Come to the celebratory lunch tomorrow,” Emmet told Lamar before heading outside to be with his brothers and say goodbye to the guests.

“You’ll be okay?” Lamar looked so concerned for me. Just a few days ago, I felt like I had everything. And today, after seeing the look in Norman’s eyes—the disgust he had for me—I hated it.

It only proved my point. I should have stayed away from the brothers. I should have never gotten involved, and none of this would have happened.

There’s a reason it’s called a forbidden relationship.

“I’ll be fine. Please be safe out there,” I said, walking with him to see him off. After giving me a side hug, he left the mansion, but I stayed standing outside my room.

Before I could go inside, the mansion door opened, and someone walked in.

“I’ll be quick,” Kesha told Kaye, rushing toward the staircase. “I’ll be in the bathroom,” she added before heading upstairs.

I felt awkwardly out of place when I came face-to-face with Kaye.

He looked like a stranger, not even sparing me a second glance as he kept walking past me.

“Okay!” he responded to her, dodging me and walking away.

The fact that he was acting like I was the reason he got hurt and that we weren’t together reminded me of Maximus.

The brothers had played a clever game—since they couldn’t be with me, they accused me instead. That way, none of the blame or guilt fell on them.