Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates-Chapter 564-A Blast From The Past

Helanie:

"Do you want me to wake him up?" she asked again, and I shook my head before answering her.

"No, it’s fine. I’ll ask someone else. I hope you feel better soon. I didn’t get a chance to talk to you earlier, but thank you, Jessica, for taking a stand for me," I said softly, feeling defeated but also... wrong.

The way I acted around her mate made me feel shameless. A homewrecker who gets upset when a taken man rejects her advances.

"Sleep well," I added, then ended the call, tears forming in my eyes as I stared at the screen.

"Eh?" Penn waking up made me quickly rub my face with my hands, pretending I hadn’t been crying.

"Helanie? What time is it?" he asked, sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes.

"It’s still dark outside," I responded, feeling so low.

"Oh, why are you up? Are you feeling okay?" he asked as he got out of bed. He looked so sleepy with his one eye still closed.

I wasn’t okay, honestly, but I had to pretend like I was.

"What happened last night?" I asked, trying to retrace my steps.

"You were drunk and made me carry you to your room," he said, laughing at the memory.

"I made you carry me?" I asked, surprised, and he nodded with a fake pout.

"On my back," he added, and we both laughed—before my smile faded once again. I was so low, I didn’t even know how to keep the conversation going.

"Helanie, what made you so upset that you drank so much? All I know is that you left the hostel briefly and came back to drink yourself into not being able to stand," he said, sitting next to me on the bed, making me think back on the night.

"It was nothing. I just wanted to clear my head. Being free of the burden of revenge made me look around and focus on my life. And, well... I realized I married a man who isn’t my mate. The man who could’ve been happily married by now. I was so lost in revenge, I didn’t focus on anything else until now," I rambled, rubbing my hands nervously.

"Hm. It’s okay. You have until the next moon to reject him. Although it would’ve been easier for Jessica to deal with the grief if she were married right now. But you didn’t do it on purpose. And you’re so respectful to them—you don’t even stay around Norman much," Penn said gently, having no idea what he was really talking about.

If he knew the truth, he would hate me. That thought made me lower my head in guilt even more. All of them thought so highly of me...And I was busy dreaming about the forbidden man.

"So don’t worry. I’m sure Jessica understands, and she respects you for keeping your distance from her man," he continued, and I couldn’t help but recall last night’s events.

Penn was so right. He reminded me that I should be grateful Norman shut me down last night.

That’s when my phone rang again—and without checking the screen, I answered it instantly.

"What is it, Norman?" I asked, shocking not only myself but Penn too. I answered like I had been waiting for the call. Jessica must have told him. He barely sleeps anyway.

Wait. She said he was sleeping.

Did her touch comfort him too?

I bit my bottom lip, frustrated that I was angry about him sleeping—when I should’ve been happy that he got some rest.

"It’s Altan,"

My body froze, and chills ran through me when I heard his voice. I tried to pull the phone away, but he quickly added,

"Please don’t hang up. I just want to talk to you."

I closed my eyes and sighed under my breath, Penn still watching me like he thought I was talking to Norman.

"What do you want to say?" I asked, jaw clenched. "What’s even left to say?"

"I’m sorry for what I did," he started, but I began shaking my head aggressively.

"No! You don’t understand, Altan—" It was when I said his name that Penn tilted his head and frowned in confusion.

"Do you know who was behind everything that happened that night?" I wanted to scream at him, but I didn’t want to wake the other students.

"What? Who?"

It became obvious that his father had hidden the truth from him. Alpha Diaz would get his karma. Vonston said he was pretending to take the accusations lightly just so he could do his own digging—and catch Alpha Diaz with proof. The thought that Alpha Diaz had done this to me just to control his son’s life made me sick. An old man paid others to gang rape a woman instead of just dealing with his own damn son?

"Your father," I hissed.

"What?" Altan sounded shocked—like he’d stay in that shock for a while. That’s when Penn snatched the phone out of my hand and growled into the speaker.

"You need to leave her alone like you did that night. It was all because of you—and your father—that she suffered. Being with you—if we can even call it that—made her suffer when she shouldn’t have. You and your father should’ve sorted out your problems instead of dragging her into the middle and turning her into a victim."

He shouted, his voice rising.

"Who am I to her? Why do you care? You’re not her boyfriend—so stop calling her!"

He ended the call and handed the phone back to me, staring into my face with rage.

"He had the nerve to be upset that I was with you right now. How the hell did you even like this manLook at yourself—you’re a porcelain doll, and that man— I swear, I’ll kill him if he contacts you again."

Penn got up from the bed and stormed toward the door.

I guess it was for the best that I was alone.

I had to cry—

And I didn’t even know why.