Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates novel Chapter 343

Chapter 343: 343-So I Am The Bad One Now?

Helanie:

I returned to the ceremony feeling confused and stressed. My mother and Lord McQuoid had already exchanged rings.

I stood next to Lamar, feeling dizzy. All this time, I had tears in my eyes. I wanted to cry because of the turn of events. Maximus really broke my heart. At that point, I also realized I should have spoken my truth to Norman.

"Are you okay? What happened between you and Maximus? He never came out from the backyard," Lamar whispered, trying to be discreet.

"He accused me of never texting him and purposely delaying things to embarrass him at the last minute. He also claimed... I’m leaving him for Rudy," I forced the words out, my breath catching in my throat.

"Wait, what the fuck!" Lamar hissed, shaking his head before pointing at my phone. "Give me that."

I handed him my phone, and he opened my inbox, pointing at the text I had sent Maximus.

"There, you go. Proof. You’re worrying over nothing," he said with a reassuring smile. But it didn’t change anything.

Maximus had said I led him on and then backed out just to humiliate him.

"I don’t know... The way he made me look in front of his brother—when one of his brothers has already been hurt because of me—I think Norman is going to be really angry with me." I was panicking just thinking about Norman planning revenge for his brother.

That would be bad. Really bad.

"Don’t stress out. He can’t force you to love someone," Lamar said, but he wasn’t getting my point.

"Lamar, it makes me look bad. Almost like a troublemaker. My reputation will be ruined, and when I finally tell my side of the story, nobody will believe me. They’ll think I have a habit of—" I stopped talking as my breath caught again.

"Hey, hey!" Lamar quickly started rubbing my back.

Everyone was busy taking pictures with the newly engaged couple, but I stayed in the background, hyperventilating.

As I raised my head, I noticed the family staring at me in confusion.

"Your face is so red," Lamar explained why everyone had their eyes on me. The guests hadn’t noticed, but the family had.

There was no interest on Norman’s face, but Emmet quickly excused himself. Norman tried to raise a hand to get Emmet’s attention—probably to stop him from coming over—but Emmet had already stepped off the stage.

"I’ll head back inside. I don’t want any attention on me, Lamar," I requested. _{fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com}

"Okay, I’ll walk you—" Lamar cut himself off as another hand rested on my back, immediately warming my body. I looked up from the ground and met Emmet’s concrete-filled eyes.

"It’s okay, nothing new. Some people get anxious in crowded places," Emmet comforted me almost instantly. "Let’s go for a walk. What do you say?" he asked Lamar, who nodded because I couldn’t get any words out.

Within minutes, we were walking down the road. Night was starting to fall, and the weather had worsened as a storm rolled in.

Lamar walked beside me while Emmet walked ahead.