Tied To My Ex's Stepbrother
Caliste couldn't help but chuckle at the words she had just heard spilling out of his mouth.
Her painful laughter echoed throughout the room, forcing the duo on her bed to scatter like scared rats.
The room reeks of sweat and sex and she couldn't help but tremble at the betrayal she felt deeply in her heart. She laughed again, a painful sound that made her eyes itch with tears.
“Caliste? I don't love her. I just want you.” He had said barely a minute ago.
Right there in her room, on her bed was her fiancé, Jasper. The man she was supposed to marry in three weeks. A man whom she had introduced to her family, a man she was looking forward to spending the rest of her life with, groveling at her feet, tangled in his own damn pants as he fumbled to cover himself.
Caliste couldn't believe what she heard moments ago, her eyes glazed over with tears as she stared at the man before her.
“I can explain..” Jasper muttered, his face pale and hair disheveled.
A woman Caliste had never seen before lay half naked on the bed behind him, the silk sheets tangled around her body as she scrambled away like a cornered coward. Her eyes dart to Caliste's in
panic before she clutches the blanket to her chest and bolts toward the bathroom.
Caliste scoffed, fighting back tears. Jasper stares up at her, panic laced in his eyes. "Cali…it's not what it looks like."
A hollow laugh escapes her, she was weak. Numb. She had just lost everything.
"I came here because I…I needed you." Her voice cracked. "And I find you like this?" She quivered, gesturing to the bed, their bed, where another woman had just lain with him. The sheets she had picked out. The mattress they had
chosen together. The room that was
supposed to be theirs.
Jasper pushes to his feet, his pants falling down around his ankles. He reaches for her. "Please, I-"
"Don't touch me!” She snapped, jerking away from him. The thought of his hands on her made her skin crawl.
His face twists, desperation seeping into his features. "It was a mistake! I wasn't thinking..”
Caliste scoffed. “Oh. She trapped your dick inside her pussy uh? Tell me something crazy, Jasper. Please, tell me something so crazy I could run you over with a fucking truck!” She yelled, anger vibrating through her entire body.
"Cali..”
“You told me you love me. Hell, our wedding is in a few weeks!”
Her breath was ragged and her vision blurred but she refused to cry. Not in front of the man who betrayed their bond like this.
Her eyes flickered over to the flower vase on the floor. She felt the overwhelming urge to throw it right at his face but she couldn't.
She felt too numb, too broken. Too shattered.
A part of her, a stupid, naive, pathetic part of her wanted him to explain himself, to tell her that it was all a lie. To drop to his knees and beg her. That all this was a nightmare.
Except it wasn't. She was wild and awake. She just stood there, breathing in the reality of it all.
"I do. I do love you and I want us to get married..”
Her laugh is bitter. "Gosh, you're delusional. You think after all this, I would still agree to marry you?”
Silence.
Maybe if this had happened yesterday, she would have screamed and clawed at him. She would have cursed him out. But now? She was already exhausted. Her world was already shattered that morning.
Caliste took a deep breath and turned on her heels, heart pounding against her chest. She was done with this.
“Caliste, wait! Please….let me explain.”
But she was done and out the door before he could even reach her. She didn't bother to look back, leaving behind her apartment, their apartment…
She walked out of the apartment building in a daze, her mind lost to the mourning of her father, mourning the love she'd thought was real with Jasper.
She only had one destination in mind, her parents' house. She had to check up on Kyle. Her younger brother had told her to stop by Jasper's place, assuring her he would be fine on his own.
What would she tell him now? He had told her to go to her fiancée, hoping he would make her feel better but now? He'd know that something was up. He had always seen past her lie and tonight would be no different.
She finally arrived at her parents' house and pulled up to the door. Her hands trembled slightly, reaching for the knob slowly, swallowing the tears that threatened to roll down her chin.
She pushed it open and her heart sank at how dark and hollow it was when she stepped in. The funeral felt like a lifetime ago.
There were no more tears to shed.
Everything feels different, colder. A perfect reflection of what she had just witnessed barely an hour ago.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and walked deeper inside, her heels clicking against the wooden floor.
"Kyle?" She called softly.
Silence.
He must be sleeping. She wiped her eyes, barely aware of the way her body shook. The exhaustion crashes into her, weakening her to the bones.
She made her way up the stairs, one exhausting step after the other towards Kyle's room. Pushing the door open, Caliste's face paled.
It was Kyle.
On the floor. Motionless.
“Kyle!” She called out, rushing to his side with horror in her eyes.
She shook him violently, her heart racing wildly against her chest.
"Kyle, wake up! Please!"
He was still motionless.
Her throat felt tight, heart slamming hard in her chest, and air refusing to flow freely as she glanced down at the only family she had left.
"Kyle? Please talk to me! What's going on?” She cried, holding back choked tears.
Still nothing.
Caliste pulled Kyle closer to her body, pushing back all the negative thoughts at the back of her mind.
She pressed her index finger on his neck; he had a pulse, but it was weak. Terrifyingly weak.
“No! No! Please! Please, Kyle, don't do this to me. Kyle! Kyle, can you hear me? Kyle, please open your eyes!”
She's lost everyone. Their mother, their father, just a few days back, and now Kyle? No! No, there's no way she's going to lose someone else!
Her fingers fumbled with her pocket, grabbing her phone. The screen blurred as her eyes pooled with tears, she could barely put in the right number.
She sobs, wiping her face and finally putting in the right number. She dials it instantly.
Each ring only seemed to fuel her fear, why is nobody picking up?! Why is it taking so long?!
"911, what's your emergency?"
"My brother…I don't know what happened but I found him on the floor. His breathing is heavy and his pulse is weak…please….please help me, please…”
“I want you to calm down, madam. I'll have an ambulance sent your way, but I need your address.”
She managed to give them the right address before pulling Kyle closer to her body, trying to warm him up. She can't lose him, she just can't.
“You're going to be fine. You're going to be fine..” she muttered, her entire body trembling.
