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."

kept repeating the mantra each time I thought about Jake.

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

Kester was nothing more than... I could call it a thrill..... I didn't feel anything other than

heart flutter in ways that

though his presence unsettled something deep inside me,

glance from him sent fire licking

and dec inside my core until I could barely

bent to his will, answering

Chapter 115

left me restless, unraveling, and on the verge of

puppeteer, bending them to

of that meant I

Right?

on my phone jolted me out of my spiraling thoughts and the stupid

up from the bed stand.

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

Perfect.

on the message, expecting some half-hearted apology or an excuse.

that sent a strange

shared this sad

Sad news?

My pulse stuttered.

was

gripped my chest as I tapped the link. It took me straight

the screen loading in a tauntingly

Then-

heart screeched to a

What-?

carried me faster than my mind could process, my pulse pounding in my ears as 1 burst through Kester's

me you had picked a date for..." The words

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

What the hell?

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 the heat leaking into my bloodstream at the sight before