Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates - Chapter 516

Chapter 516: 516-Kiss Or Slap?
Helanie:

“Helanie, please open the door,” he had been calling out for me while I cried in the bathroom.

Ever since he told me I would lose, I had locked myself in—but not before I cried loudly in front of him. I don’t do that in front of anyone.

But I don’t know why I get so comfortable with him. Or maybe… I love showing him that he’s the reason I’m so hurt.

But a person would only do that when they know the person they’re crying in front of would care.

Did I, deep down, know Norman cared?

I mean—more than what he showed?

“Helanie, I just meant—look—”

He shut up when I opened the door and faced him. He instantly stepped back, fixing his white shirt.

“What? What do I need to look at? Show me,” I said with my whole chest, challenging him—and as I kept moving forward, he kept stepping back from me with a weird look on his face.

“I meant—you couldn’t even land a punch on my face today,” he muttered, trying to look away because I kept glaring at him.

“Exactly. Why? Because you didn’t let me,” I yelled, and he sighed, placing his hands inside his gray pants’ pockets.

“Because that would not be realistic?” he complained.

“Huh, look at Maximus and Kaye—they let me beat them up. And you—you didn’t even let me slap you,” I stomped my foot, and he narrowed his eyes at me like he was in disbelief over what I was saying.

“You wanted to slap me?” he asked.

I nodded aggressively.

“But you’re such a bad person. You only think about yourself and your face—” I scoffed, turning away and folding my arms over my chest.

“Okay. Slap me.”

I heard him say it, and my posture shattered.

My arms slowly started to unfold and drop down from my body, and when I turned around, I found him standing behind me—body hunched slightly, his face turned to the side, ready for a slap.

“You’re allowing me to slap you?” I asked in a low voice.

“Yeah, since you so badly wanted to do it,” he said, hands still in his pockets.

‘Norman is asking me to slap him?’

Since when did Norman start to bow before someone?

“Come on. If that’s what will make you stop crying, do it,” he insisted.

I tied my hands behind my back.

I remembered how he came to save me when I was being married off. I remembered how he defended me every time I was in trouble.

The man who used to hate my guts was now taking care of me.

Did he really deserve a slap?

I stared at his face, and my body started to feel this weird kind of itch. I gulped as I looked at his cheek next.

An urge to get on my tiptoes and kiss him on the cheek rose in my chest. He had done a lot for me. I mean… I could thank him, right?

So I did get on my tiptoes and was just about to kiss him—when his phone beeped.

He quickly turned his face, probably to check if I was going to slap him, and that’s when our faces met.

Not met, but… almost.

We breathed on each other’s lips briefly before I stepped back in a panic.

“What were you doing—?” he asked, eyes wide.

“Nothing,” I groaned, yelling like I just got caught doing something I shouldn’t.

“No, you were doing something. You were on your tippy toes,” he pointed at my feet. “What were you doing?” he asked again.

He was so annoying. Why was he like that?

“You said I could slap you,” I said, planting my fists on my waist, glaring at him.

“You were slapping me with your face?” he said—then paused, probably realizing how dumb that sounded, and looked down at his phone to avoid eye contact.

I was so embarrassed.

And this giant didn’t help either. He wasn’t the type to let something go. He’d dig and poke until the other person admitted it and fully drowned in shame.

What a beast.

I should’ve just slapped him instead.

He stared at his screen and sighed.

I instantly knew who it was.

“Jessica, what is it?”

As he answered her call, I remembered what I’d found out about Jessica. She had tried to end her life.

“Shit, shit, shit. I’m such an idiot. I shouldn’t even be doing—”

I shut myself up. I didn’t even know what I did.

I was just glad I didn’t go through with the kiss on the cheek.

I’ll keep my distance from him—for Jessica’s sake.

After Norman returned, I had changed my whole mood and behavior.

“She was just asking about the deal we’ve been working on together. The files are over there, you can take a look,” Norman said, placing his phone on the stand—with their chat still open.

“Take a look.”

I shook my head.

“You don’t need to show me anything. I’m your wife until next full moon. I’m not going to call you out or anything. You can continue your relationship with Jessica, no need to act all loyal,” I said with a dry laugh, trying to play it off.

“I’ll go change and then rest,” I added, and quickly ran into the bathroom again.

After I showered and came out, I found Norman sitting on the couch in black shorts and a gray shirt.

“You can sleep in the bed,” I offered, and he shook his head.

“Norman, I don’t move much in my sleep. And you don’t either, since you can literally sleep while sitting, so it’ll be fine. We can make a barrier in the middle,” I said, starting to place pillows down.

“It’s okay though. I don’t really sleep like that,” he mumbled, making me glance at him from the bed.

But then, he slowly got up and came to the bed.

“But thanks,” he added quietly.

Then he lay down on his side, back facing me.

I wanted to ask him so many things… but he seemed so down, I let it go.

Within minutes, I was asleep.

—

I woke up to my hand hurting and someone groaning loudly.

Rubbing my eyes, I saw Norman standing tall next to his side of the bed, holding a pillow.

As soon as he noticed I was awake, he started complaining,

“So much for ‘I don’t move in my sleep’—you freaking went all commando on me! You punched me, kicked me—”