Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates-Chapter 565-Planning A Romantic Encounter

Norman:

"How is she?" I asked Jessica’s father, whose swollen eyes showed he was grieving the loss of his son.

I didn’t care.

But I couldn’t tell them not to cry. Parents cry even when their kid is wrong. Tears can mean many things. Sometimes, they come from guilt—for not helping shape their kids into better people.

"She is a mess," her father replied. "Now that you’re here, give her some medicine. I can’t look at her face right now." He had been distant from her ever since she saved Helanie’s life by killing her own brother.

She didn’t have to do it, we knew that. We were going to protect Helanie anyway, but Jessica taking that step still meant a lot.

I went into Jessica’s room, where everything was in chaos. She was sitting on the floor, covered in her own blood.

"Jessica, what have you done?" I rushed over and knelt down, holding her hands. Thankfully, the blood came from scratches, not a serious injury.

She had thrown around the vases and decorations, which caused the bleeding.

"Bring the first-aid kit!" I shouted at the maid, helping Jessica up.

After tending to her wounds, I told the maids to get her some food. She had been sobbing nonstop the whole time.

"I’ve lost everything, Norman. Look at my hands—they’re empty," she whispered, sitting on the bed, but mentally still on the ground where she had killed her brother.

"I lost you... killed my brother... and now my father can’t even look at me," she cried hysterically, patting her chest like she was trying to comfort herself.

"Things will get better, Jessica. I’ll be there for you, Helanie will be there for you. As for your father, he’ll understand your side too. Just give him some time," I said, cupping her face, feeling sorry for her.

She had been my friend for a long time and had stood by me through everything.

"You’ll stay with me?" she asked, sniffling. I nodded. The maid brought in the food, and I had to feed her. It was something I had never done before, but I was doing it out of frustration.

Every time Helanie’s face flashed in my mind, the way she was on top of Penn—I wanted to do something reckless too.

Jessica lay down and held my hand. Her eyes showed she wanted me tonight.

I kept staring at her face, then at her hand over mine, and then I remembered how Helanie and Penn had kissed.

I nodded to Jessica and sat down—but on the chair next to her bed.

There was no way I would make a mistake that would cost me even more damage.

’Finally, you didn’t do something stupid,’ my wolf said. He had been silent because he wanted to see what decision I’d make—so he could scold me if I agreed to get in bed with Jessica.

"No! Nothing can make me do that. My anger toward Helanie is one thing, but I won’t sleep with Jessica and Jessica false hope. And even if I wanted to, I don’t think I’d be able to feel anything with Jessica."

She lay down and finally fell asleep while I sat in the chair, my head resting back, eyes on the ceiling. But there was only one person on my mind.

"She was trying to get a rise out of you," Rome said, making me scrunch my eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" I asked. Not being very experienced in this area, I had to rely on Rome. It’s not like he was some expert either, but he gave decent suggestions and advice.

"She must have known you’d come back. Who even starts making out in the hallway? And Helanie—she never even kissed your brothers in front of you, let alone made out with random Penny in the hallway," Rome hissed.

"Penn," I corrected him.

"I don’t care. He can go to hell," Rome snapped, and he was right.

"I will make this Penn run so many rounds around the mountain tomorrow, he’ll forget what it’s like to kiss Helanie," I said, clenching my jaw as my anger slowly rose like lava.

"That’s the Norman I know. Look—he’s trying to steal her. Or maybe she did it to get a reaction out of you or out of anger. It doesn’t matter. What matters is, she’s not with our brothers now. So you’re not stealing her from them—you’re stealing her from Penn. That’s fair game," Rome said, making me close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"What are you trying to get out of me?" I hissed at him.

"A confession. You can tell me how you feel about her," he whispered, trying to sound innocent—even though he was the reason everything got messed up tonight.

"So you can cause more trouble? I was doing just fine—" I was in the middle of the conversation when Rome’s laughter cut me off.

"Those baby steps will result in someone stealing her from you. I’m telling you, it’s the only way. Steal her from Penn. It will be hard—" Rome’s words made me open my eyes, and he knew he had gotten under my skin.

"He knows how to reach a woman’s heart, and you? You only know how to lead a woman to the battleground. You need to step up your game. Look! Women like bad boys. Someone who acts sexy. You need to act sexy in front of Helanie," Rome suggested.

And for a moment, I wondered if that was it.

Maybe Penn was acting more sexy? I mean, I don’t know how to be sexy or hot. So that makes sense.

"You’re not setting me up for disaster again?" I asked.

"No! I just know that even if you’re too shy to admit your feelings, you want her. And I want to be the first person who only puts you and your happiness first."

I quickly closed my eyes when tears started to itch at the corner of them.

"Helanie worries about you too. You deserve love and care, Norman," he said. And he was right.

"That’s it. I don’t want her care—or her worries—I want more."

Finally, I had made up my mind. I would do what my wolf was telling me to do.

"Just do everything right. Be sexy—and make her feel jealous. Women love when they are pinned against the wall. Be aggressive but also romantic," Rome said. I nodded and closed my eyes. That is what I will do. I will show her I can be that too.

I don’t sleep much—just a few minutes at a time. But that night, in those few moments, I saw Helanie in my dream.

That was the first time I ever had a dream like that. She looked radiant, beautiful—like someone who should be mine.ƒгeewёbnovel.com