B1
Mated To My Obsessive Stepbrother.
‘Well, I guess you’ll keep on bearing the pains of my betrayal, then, Because I won’t stop until…” Mum was speaking when the next thing I heard was a slap.
It was so loud and so hard. I shut my eyes tight and pressed my hands over my ears. I didn’t want to hear it. I couldn’t. The noise of their fighting was always too loud, and it made everything spin.
I knew what was to come next.
I ran over to the corner of my bed with shaking legs where I had hidden a small bottle that I had stolen from the many my Mum had.
I grabbed it and uncorked it with trembling hands. I took a small sip of the liquid inside it.
It had the worst, awful taste I could imagine. It burned all the way down my throat, making me choke.
But I didn’t care. I had to swallow it.
Because every time I did, I felt something else take over me. It was the only thing that made the bad stuff go away, even if just for a little while. It made my head feel all fuzzy, and the yelling seemed far away.
T’d been doing this for months now. Stealing the bottles from Mum’s stash, hiding them in the corner of my bed, where no one would know. No one had ever caught me. Mum had too many bottles to keep track of them all. I was lucky she never noticed.
As I took another sip, the world started to blur.
And I didn’t care if it was wrong. I didn’t know what else to do.
I just wanted to sleep and forget.
The bad words and loud sounds slowly started to fade, and my eyes got heavy. My bed felt so soft. I just wanted to sleep forever so I didn’t have to hear them anymore.
I7 YEARS AGO.
It was my 11th birthday, but there was no cake, no balloons, and definitely no presents. I sat in my room, alone, in the same birthday outfit Mum had bought me two years ago for my 9th birthday. Back then, it had been way too big. The sleeyes had swallowed my arms, and the pants hung off my waist like a parachute.
I looked silly in it, but now, it fits perfectly-well, almost. The pants were a little tighter than I remembered, squeezing uncomfortably around my waist. But it was fine. I didn’t mind. It wasn’t like I had anywhere to go or anyone to see.
I gazed out the window, and my mind wandered to dark, crazy thoughts. I wondered what it would feel like to just… jump out of the window.
Would it make them notice me? Would it make them stop fighting for a minute and finally come to my side?
Maybe they’d rush me to the hospital, hold my hand, and say kind words to me.
Will they spend some time with me at the hospital while I get better
Maybe they’d finally laugh with me, like families were supposed to, and tell me childhood stories of how brave they were when they
A heavy sigh escaped my chbe as 1 chumped neuse this in pride against
My shoulders started in sadness.
I only got to see Norlan at school during the week we were only and to visit each other during the wekend fill this vestant, hin parente had token him to California for somethi digital playgrounds that let you get lost in come learn more. His parents were so proud of him. He had a future all mapped out, something I could never have
That would have been a great place to be on my birthday since I’d be taking over my father’s tech company when I grew up. It sounded like the best place ever
But here I was, all alone with no one to wish me a happy birthday.
The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, turning the sky a seft, golden pink, yet Mum and Dad weren’t home.
I sighed again, the same heavy sigh that I had been sighing all afternoon.
A cold shiver ran through me as I moved closer to the window, pushed by a force I couldn’t see. My leg lifted, just hovering over the sill. The wind picked up, and my long, shoulder-length hair whipped cross my face.
I made up my mind.
I’ll jump.
The possible results I thought of getting from the fall made me happy to take the risk.
But then something caught my eye.
A tiny figure was standing just outside the house, by the fence. A little girl, no older than four. She was dressed in a white gown that fluttered in the breeze, her hair tied with a small ribbon.
She walked across the grass, looking so small. She had these big, bright green eyes. She looked up at me as if she knew exactly where to look, and when she saw me looking, she smiled.
I froze, my heart thumping in my chest. Who was she? I hadn’t seen her before, not up close like this. She was so little, so small.
The kind of smile that made my heart ache a little because it was so pure and so innocent.
Her tiny hand waved at me, and my breath caught. I felt a lump form in my throat, but I didn’t know why. Maybe it was because I was just so used to being ignored and not being seen. But here she was, waving at me like I was someone she was happy to see.
“Happy birthday, Kester!” she called out, her voice high and sweet, like the sound of wind chimes. “Some people say it’s your birthday!”
My heart skipped a beat. She knew. She knew it was my birthday.
I couldn’t answer her, though. I didn’t know what to say. I just stood there, staring at her in disbelief, my hands gripping the window frame.
She didn’t seem to mind. She smiled again and pointed at the window. “Close your window, Kester, she said, her voice so soft and filled with concern. “It’s going to rain soon. If you fall down from there, you’ll die.”
Her words were so simple and so matter-of-fact, but it felt like a slap in the face. Not in a bad way, though. More like she was reminding me that I was still important and that I was still worth something.
I blinked as her words sunk in.
I didn’t know how to respond, but something inside me shifted. Maybe it was her smile, or maybe it was just the way she said it. But for the first time today, I felt a little spark of warmth in my chest. Someone cared. Someone wished me a happy birthday.
She waved again, that same sweet, innocent wave, and then turned, skipping away. Her small feet pattered across the ground, her dress fluttering behind her. I watched as she disappeared around the corner, like a little angel that had come down to remind me that I wasn’t forgotten.
I felt something strange bubble up inside of me, something I hadn’t felt in a long time: hope.
I didn’t even know her name, but she’d made my heart feel light, and for a moment, I forgot about the sadness and the loneliness.
I smiled, the first real smile I’d had all day, closing the window.
Maybe it wasn’t such a bad day after all.
KASMINE.
I would be doomed to go to the office today. I was certain the news of me being mated to my stepbrother would have saturated the town.
I stayed curled up in the bed, wrapped in the illusion of safety that the blankets barely provided.
Kester had carried me here last night while I was still half-asleep. And by the time I woke up a few minutes ago, I feind out that all my necessities had been moved into his room.
My phone rang on the nightstand.
I turned sluggishly, already dreading whoever it was
-but when I saw the screen, my heart dropped straight into my stomach.
It was Mum.
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