Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 442

Chapter 442: 442-The Missing Lover
Emmet:

“Mom shouldn’t have touched Helanie,” I hissed repeatedly, pacing from one corner of the room to the other.

“Why did she do that? Does it suit Mom to be putting her hands on a teenager?” Maximus agreed with me, shaking his head vigorously.

We were upset about the incident. I ran outside to check on her, but she had already left for the hostel. I was a little late because I had to give Davon his medicine. The kid didn’t want to take it from anyone else.

“You guys are acting like Mom killed her,” Kaye said as soon as he stood by Mom’s side. Maximus and I shared a glance before turning to look at him.

“I’m just saying that Helanie accused our cousin of a crime. Of course, Mom took offense. And then this Helanie—she always opens her mouth to complain,” he hissed, folding his arms over his chest.

“A minute?” Norman came in, knocking on the open door and asking Kaye to join him. “Since you’re the only one on Mom’s side, why don’t you go stay with her and calm her down for a bit? Because her drama isn’t over yet.”

I loved how openly Norman called Mom out for being dramatic.

“Drama? Why are you all being so disrespectful toward her?” Kaye retaliated, not liking that we were talking about Lady Darcy in that tone.

“Kaye, there was only one victim here today, and it was Helanie. Romeo tied her up in the snow. How the heck Mom somehow turned out to be the one who needs comfort right now is beyond me,” I yelled, frustrated.

My eyes landed behind Norman, and he followed my stare to see our mom standing outside my room with the most dramatic look on her face.

With a hand over her mouth, she ran through the passage, probably expecting us to follow her. Instead, only Kaye ran out.

Norman sighed and walked after them to make sure Mom didn’t manipulate Kaye too much with her tears.

“How are you, Maximus?” I turned my attention to him. It had been a whole week since we last talked. He had been keeping to himself mostly.

“I’m great, don’t worry about me.”

The way he avoided looking at me made my heart ache. If only I could tell him what he meant to me, he would realize I was never drowning myself in alcohol because I cared less—but because I wanted them to forget about me before I forgot about them.

But sometimes, my emotions would rise to the surface, and I wouldn’t be able to hold them in anymore.

“I care, Maximus—” As soon as I reached out to put my hand on his shoulder, he turned around angrily and pushed me back.

“No, you f***ing don’t. You never cared. All you do is drink and drink. Even when you knew your drinking would make you miss so much of our childhood, or that whenever we needed you, we found you missing because you had passed out—you still chose to drink,” he yelled, tears welling in his eyes.

“Maximus—I—” I stuttered, fighting the urge to tell him what he meant to me.

“No, don’t even try to say anything. Because every time you say something, your coldness hurts me more. You f***ing came for Helanie—not once have you ever come for me. I’ve always been left out—always suffering and in pain—” he stopped, biting onto his fist to silence himself.

It had gotten to the point that he didn’t even want to complain anymore because of the differences between us.

“I didn’t come for Helanie that night,” it was time to be honest with him.

He scoffed, waving his hand to dismiss me.

“I came for you. I didn’t even know Helanie was outside. I didn’t even see her when you had her cornered. All I could see was my brother—and I did everything I could for you.”

My words made him turn and look at me.

“You came for me?” he asked, as if he couldn’t believe it.

“I always did,” I uttered. “Even when—” I shut up, but he rushed at me, pushing me back until my back hit the wall.

“Tell me, even what?” he shouted, still pushing me.

“Even when—” I was about to tell him when my phone rang, and I quickly sidestepped away from him.

“Yes?” I asked, rubbing my hands over my face.

“Hi, Professor Emmet, it’s me, Salem. Is Helanie coming home or not? I’ve been trying to contact her. I was hurried back to the hostel, but I haven’t heard from her. So I was wondering if she had planned to stay there?”

It was like she had thrown a brick of ice over my head. My head suddenly started pounding, my ears ringing. For a moment, the world around me froze, and all I could focus on was—

‘Helanie left—if she hasn’t reached the hostel, where the heck is she?’

My wolf howled in worry, getting agitated.

“Umm, yeah. She’s staying here, but her phone died,” I lied, realizing that if the students left the hostel and started looking for her themselves, they could get in danger. I didn’t want to divert my energy or forces into saving them when all hands should be on deck to look for Helanie.

“Oh, alright. Tell her we said to take care of herself,” Salem sounded relieved, but I wasn’t.

Meanwhile, Maximus had a frown on his forehead after listening to my response. I bet he could already tell something was wrong and that I was talking about Helanie.

Once I hung up the phone, I stared into Maximus’ eyes and announced,

“Helanie didn’t reach the hostel, and nobody came to pick her up.”

“What?” Maximus gulped, shock in his eyes mirroring mine.

“She’s out there—and it’s f***ing snowing,” I grunted, quickly reaching for my drawer to grab a weapon.

“I’m telling Norman too,” Maximus yelled as he rushed out of my room to start a search for Helanie.