Chapter 14%
My voice echoed louder than I meant as I shoved Brent hard in the chest.
“You don’t get to do this, Brent! Not anymore!”
Zack’s chest was rising and falling beside me. His jaw already bruised from Brent’s punch, but his fists were clenched, ready to retaliate.
“You think she’s still yours just because you wore a ring once?” Zack growled. “She’s not your property.“>
Brent’s nostrils flared. “You think you know her? You think a few weeks and childhood memories give you the right to–“#
“I know her enough to respect her, which is more than you’ve ever done.”
I stepped between them, heart hammering. “Both of you, stop!“%
But they didn’t!
Brent lunged again.
Zack blocked it, and suddenly they were trading punches like wild animals, a blur of fists and fury.
“Stop it!” I screamed, trying to shove them apart.”
But I didn’t see it coming–the elbow, the shove, someone’s back slamming into me.
Pain exploded through my side as I hit the pavement, hard.
My ears rang. My vision spun.S
The shouting turned muffled as I lay there, struggling to breathe.
And then-
“Layla!”
Brent’s voice, broken. “Layla, baby–no, no, no–“>
Zack was kneeling next to me, his face pale. “You hit your head–don’t move, okay?“}]
The world blurred around me, but the pain was sharp and real.
I was rushed to the hospital in a blur of flashing lights and panicked voices. The cold of the gurney seeped into my spine, but none of it compared to the pressure inside my chest.
They were fighting over me like I was a prize.
And in the process, I got broken–again.”
I woke up in a white room with beeping machines and the smell of antiseptic. My ribs ached. There was a bandage on my forehead. But worse than the physical pain was the sight of Brent pacing near the window like a caged lion.
He noticed me stirring and rushed over.
“Layla–God, thank God you’re awake–“>
I turned away.
“You need to leave.“E
“Don’t do this,” he whispered, grabbing the edge of the bed.
“You already did it,” I snapped. “You ruined the only peace I’ve had in years. You and your ego. You think throwing punches will fix what you broke?”
His eyes glistened, and for a second, I saw a flicker of the man he used to be–before everything turned into lies and betrayal.
“I’m sorry,” he choked. “Host it. Seeing you with him-“0
“Stop!” I cut him off. “This isn’t love, Brent. It’s obsession. It’s control. And it’s hurting everyone, including me.”
He looked devastated. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying until you’re better–until you believe I mean it.“>
I laughed bitterly. “No, you won’t. Because once Celeste calls for you, it’ll be her. Just like always.“>
As if on cue, his phone vibrated in his pocket.
He didn’t even move.
“Answer it,” I said. “It’s probably Celeste. Go be the hero she needs.“}]
“I’m not picking it up,” Brent said firmly. “Because I don’t care what she wants. I care about you. Only you.“>
“Then prove it,” I challenged. “Answer and put it on speaker.”
He hesitated. Then with a sigh, he pulled the phone out and swiped to answer.
He hit speaker.
But it wasn’t Celeste’s voice.
It was his father.”
“Brent–where the hell have you been?! Celeste–Celeste just tried to take her own life! She’s in the hospital, unresponsive! Her wrists–she nearly bled out! You need to come home now!”
The words rang through the sterile hospital room like a death sentence.}]
Brent went still.”
I felt my face go numb. But my heart? It caved in on itself, tight and silent.}]
bandon My Husband who Only loves His Stepsister
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“There,” I whispered. “Go. Be with her.”
He turned to me, eyes wide, desperate. “No–Layla–she’s not–this isn’t what I-”
“But you’re going, aren’t you?” I asked, my voice hollow. “You’ll run to her because that’s what you do. No matter what you say to me, you’ll always run to her.“}
“I have to make sure she’s alive!” he burst out. “But it doesn’t mean–“@
“You don’t have to explain,” I said coldly. “You said you loved me. But the moment she needed you, you ran.“}]
“I’ll come back. I swear to God, I will.”
I looked at him, at the man who used to be my whole world–and now was just another scar on my soul.!!
“Then don’t bother,” I whispered.
And with that, I turned my face to the wall.
He stood there for a moment longer.
Then he left.
The door clicked shut behind him.
And alone, in the sterile silence, I let out a laugh–a hollow, broken laugh that filled the room with nothing but grief.
“He says he loves me,” I muttered to the empty air. “What a liar.”
