Mated To My Obsessive Stepbrother

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

KASMINE.

"I am so sorry: I..." I said, heaving a sigh of frustration.

The phone felt slippery in my hand as I clutched it tightly, careful to keep my voice low. My heart pounded with an anxious rhythm that almost left me breathless.

"Kasmine... I know it's not your fault, but how many more apologies will you have to offer?" He questioned.

"I'm trying, Jake," I whispered, pressing my palm against my mouth to muffle the words. "I don't know how to make him see reason. Kester is-he's suffocating me." My voice cracked, and I bit down hard on my lip to stifle a sob.

On the other end, Jake's silence lingered for a beat too long before he finally spoke. "Mine, you have to fight for yourself. You deserve your own life. He can't keep dictating everything you do." His voice was so gentle that it made my chest ache more.

He chose to call me 'Mine'.

From Jake, the name felt sweet, almost natural, as if the name belonged to me and not to his control. But from Kester... it was different. Every time he said it, the word wrapped around me like chains-possessive, inescapable, suffocating.

Kester made it specific that he was the only one allowed to call me Mine. He claimed the

name as his own, made it clear that no one else was allowed to utter it. But Jake didn't know that, and I couldn't bring myself to stop him. He'd chosen it on his own, just as Kester had, drawing it from my name in an innocent way.

Why should it matter? Why should it feel like I was betraying something-or someone-when it wasn't meant to belong to him in the first place?

I turned my head towards the door, my gaze darting to the thin sliver of light spilling through the gap at the bottom. The last thing I needed was Kester knowing

I had a secret phone, which I used in communicating with Jake.

If he ever found out... The consequence is something I don't want to think about. No. Not now.

"I don't know how to fight him," I admitted in a hoarse whisper, gripping the phone tighter. "It's like he's everywhere. Watching. Controlling. I-" My voice broke off as tears threatened to spill, and I drew a shaky breath. "I'm tired, Jake. I just want to be free. To live my life without feeling like I owe him every moment of it."

He sighs, "If your brother keeps up like this, we'll never have the chance to spend any time

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You deserve happiness, and it kills me to know you don't

was still trying to woo me, he must have exhausted his

to feel the things people feel when they are at this stage of a relationship. There isn't

creak broke the quiet, and my

Footsteps. Coming closer.

trembled as I scrambled to think. My eyes darted to the room, searching for a place to

pads and tossed it under the wardrobe. But right now,

stopped just outside my door. The handle jiggled once,

I perched on the edge of the bed. My breath came in shallow bursts, and I forced myself to appear calm

slamming against the wall with enough force to rattle the picture

room, narrowing

are you doing?" he demanded, suspicion reeking off of him. He

the edge of the bed to

lies. My thighs clenched involuntarily around the phone, praying to the

out.

He'd kill Jake.

Then, he'd kill me.

He asked, slowly stepping in and taking in my surroundings before his gaze landed on my phone on the dressing

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regular

to myself. Isn't that what you like? Me being alone, isolated, and miserable?" I asked with an eye

cold detachment before walking out without saying a word. His silence scared me to death.

silence was

***

Thankfully, Kester asked one of his

the office because he had other important things to

be more grateful. As soon as I stepped into my large office, I halted. Something strange caught

indicating someone else's workspace, were set just adjacent to my

What the hell?

this new person might be. Besides, why would Kester allow someone to share the office with me? I