Mated To My Obsessive Stepbrother

Chapter 115

KASMINE

I have been feeling a bit too weak lately. It had been four days since we returned from the Maldives, yet my body still felt sluggish and drained.

At first, I thought it was the stress from the entire trip, but how I was beginning to think otherwise.

Could it be that I caught the flu during our stay there?

I couldn't afford that right now. My birthday was in eleven days, and the last thing I wanted was to look pale and exhausted on a day that was meant to be... perfect.

The reality hit me mildly.

Eleven days

And Thadn't even begun preparations yet. Murn was probably already deep into planning, shaping everything into her own version of perfect. But I also had some things I'd like to add to her 'perfect' list.

Scrap that.

This year's birthday is meant to be very significant. I needed to be in full control, not just a passive guest at my

own event.

She would have to work with me. Not the other way around.

I pulled open the drawer beside my bed, my fingers finding the small bottle tucked inside as I took a tablet of my birth control pills.

I was left with just a few. I hope we'll return to Kester's house in time before I exhaust them. I'd have to restock soon, but not from here-not anywhere near the house. If Mum ever found them, I wasn't sure how she'd react, and I wasn't about to find out.

It feels weird.

Some things were better left undiscovered.

Dropping the bottle in the drawer, which I always lock because I wouldn't want Kester to find out that I'm on the pills, my fingers brushed the jewelry box Jake had given me, and a smile spread across my face.

I borrowed Mum's phone last night and called Jake. We spoke at length, and I couldn't help the velvety tips of butterfly wings that brushed against my heart at all the sweet things he said to me.

"This if love."

I

but... I mean... I was already convinced what I felt for Jake

could call it a thrill..... I didn't feel anything other than that

though he made my heart flutter

presence unsettled something deep inside me, something I refused to

single glance from him sent

between my thighs and dec inside my core until

my mind, my very soul bent to

Chapter 115

days without seeing him left me restless,

though he wielded my senses like a master puppeteer, bending them to his will with a mere flick of

of that meant I loved

Right?

phone jolted me out of my spiraling thoughts and the stupid comparison I was making

up from the bed stand. It was a text

had been ghosting me for days, and now, out of nowhere, she was

Perfect.

half-hearted apology or an excuse. Instead, I saw a

sent a strange ripple

never shared this sad news with me!

Sad news?

My pulse stuttered.

the hell was she

chest as I

in a tauntingly slow

Then-

screeched to

What-?

me faster than my mind could process, my pulse pounding in my ears

told me you had picked a date for..." The words died in my

adjusted. The dim light bled into my vision, and suddenly, I wished I hadn't stormet in so

What the hell?

did I just say about a thrill being what I felt for Kester? Because how else do I explain the sharp, hot twist in my stomach right now? The reason my heart stopped beating for a second and