Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates

Chapter 711: 711-Planning A Proposal

Maximus:noveldrama

Of course, Emmet came in like a hero. I should have known, he had planned the whole trip. He had taken everything into consideration. He had placed cameras near the edges of the decks so that he could monitor any unfortunate activity, or at least have evidence if something like this ever happened. And in this case, it worked.

"Wait, you pushed me?" Lamar stepped in, pointing at Lucy.

My eyes kept drifting toward Helanie. I knew she wasn’t very happy with us. We had all let her down, especially after she found out I had hidden the truth about Emmet from her. I could tell she wasn’t pleased. She didn’t complain again, but I knew she was still upset.

I didn’t really have an excuse for myself, except that I couldn’t bring myself to say something like that about my brother. Even though I always argue with Emmet, it’s mostly one-sided. Because I want his attention. Because I want my brother to care. I want us to be close again.

But that doesn’t mean I would ever believe my brother became a murderer and killed a baby. There had to be something else affecting him that day. And I had already started my own research. I was beginning to uncover things that didn’t sit right with me.

"I mean, it was accidental," Lucy muttered, making all of us glare at her. She was such trouble now. I don’t know what happened to that sweet, innocent girl who first joined our academy. I guess when she fell, she hit her head so hard she became someone entirely different.

It was also strange that she and Gavin were ever mates. But now, Gavin just seemed broken. I could see it in his eyes, because I would feel the same. When my mate gets upset with me, it feels like my whole world starts to fall apart. So I could only imagine how he must be feeling.

"No, it wasn’t. She literally pushed me. I felt the pressure on my back," Lamar argued.

"Lucy, we’ve had enough of your nonsense." Norman stood up, slamming his hand on the table, startling everyone.

Well, I kind of knew my brother would be looking for ways to let his anger out. And now he had found one.

"You will no longer be a part of our academy," he yelled. It seemed like everyone else agreed, until Lucy started breaking down.

"I’m so sorry. I’m really sorry. I don’t know what’s going on with me. It’s been happening a lot—," she began to stammer, finally breaking down after being caught in a lie.

Not only had she pushed Lamar, an innocent person, into the water, she had also lied about Hans. So it felt premeditated. She did it just so she could accuse Hans. But why?

She had no beef with him, at least as far as I knew. I mean, I only knew what Helanie had told me, so there might be something more.

"What do you mean by ’it had been happening a lot’?" Norman asked.

I noticed Kaye had been unusually silent ever since Helanie accused our mother of some truly harsh things.

It was hard for her to believe that her mother wasn’t completely innocent. I mean, we loved Helanie. But we had also been there, watching our mother suffer. We never saw her retaliate. Not until now.

So we couldn’t be sure her mother was innocent either.

For us, this wasn’t just a he said, she said situation. Her mother was the one making claims no one had witnessed. Our mother, on the other hand, had clearly endured abuse, and we had seen it. There were witnesses. Many of them. On one side, there was evidence. On the other—nothing.

But of course, every time we brought that up to Helanie, she would lose her mind.

So we made a decision, we wouldn’t defend our mother too aggressively, so Helanie wouldn’t feel like we were rejecting or distrusting hers.

But we would still look for evidence. We would try to find the truth. So that, one day, we could finally tell her, the truth may not be what her mother had told her.

"I have been scared of the entity." The minute Lucy uttered that, I watched her look into Norman’s eyes, and I could tell my brother was already affected, or maybe intrigued. "I need therapy," she then added. "I want help." I guess it was something she should have been provided when she took a fall. So, the responsibility for her condition kind of fell on us. We were her trainers, we were supposed to take care of her. After such a tragic fall and being in a coma for days, we just let her wander around with her issues. We saw the changes, and we did nothing. I guess we were wrong. It was time we took our duty seriously.

"Fine, I’ll be the one providing you therapy." And suddenly, Norman decided. He didn’t even look at us or ask for anyone’s suggestion. And I guess that was the right thing to do. He was also a rogue king. He had every right to make decisions on his own. The conversation was wrapped up, and we left for home early for dinner.

Helanie had been silent this whole time. It was killing me. I wanted to be close to her, to have a word with her. But she went straight to Norman’s room and stayed there. That was when I made up my mind. I didn’t want it this way. I want to marry her. so that I wouldn’t have to feel like I’m hitting on my brother’s wife. She needs to be in our bedroom too. She’s our mate as well. My mate as well.

With that thought in my mind, I had planned to speak with my father.

But once we were at home, we realized there was another big issue. Charlotte had been crying non-stop.

"What is going on?" I asked, approaching her and my father, who was sitting with her, trying to comfort her.

"I don’t know. Mom left early in the morning, and she hasn’t come home yet," she sniffled through tears.

"I’m pretty sure she’ll be back soon," I said to her, looking at my father. "Where did you say she left for?" I asked, worried.

"She said she wanted to go meet a friend. She always goes there, and then she stays a few days there, but this time, she didn’t talk about staying," Charlotte said, looking so helpless.

I admired the fact that she had corrected her mistakes, and we had practically told everyone that the engagement was over.

"I’m pretty sure she’ll be back. Maybe the Mate full moon is a bit hard for her," my father said, as we all knew how strongly Emma reacted to mates and mate bond issues since she hadn’t been able to find her mate after she lost one.

"I hope so," Charlotte uttered.

"You get emotional too soon," Ursula said to her, giving her a smile.

My eyes briefly landed on Ursula, and I began to remember everything Helanie had told me. What if there was an inkling, a very small truth, to the whole thing? Wouldn’t that make us all guilty for staying here and not realizing that our mother was a monster?

I shook the thought away. Tonight, I wanted to talk to my father about my marriage with Helanie, and that was the only thing I wanted to keep my focus on.