Stepbrother Claims It All (Leo's Harem)

Chapter Twelve

Elowen's POV

I stood still for a moment, my brain scrambling for a lie.

"I... I actually want some morning air," I said, my voice coming out too high. "I don't mind the little drive."

Morning air? Really? That was the best excuse I could come up with?

Since when did I go out for morning air?

My mum stared at me, her head tilting slightly. The silence stretched, dangerously thin.

"If you want to go for a drive, go for a drive," she said, her tone cool. "But don't take the jobs belonging to the servants. We have structure for a reason."

And Leo was the servant? Of course.

I forced a smile, feeling it crack at the edges. "Sorry, Mum. I just thought—"

"Then don't think." She interrupted swiftly, her tone final. "We have an errand boy for a reason." She picked up her teacup again, her eyes never leaving mine.

"Yeah, Avery," Sarah chirped in, a sly grin spreading across her face. She leaned back in her chair, enjoying the show. "An errand boy is meant to run errands. That's his whole thing."

My cheeks burned. I looked down at my half-eaten eggs, my appetite gone. I couldn't look at Leo. I felt like I had failed him. Failed my master.

I had tried to shield him, to protect him. But instead, I made everything worse, drawing more attention to us.

My mum shifted her gaze to Beatrice. "You're free to send him. I'm sure he can manage the dishes later." Then she looked at Leo, her expression hardening into a familiar, icy command. "And you had better not refuse her this time."

Leo's jaw tightened. I saw the muscle flex, but despite his anger he gave a short, stiff nod. "Yes, ma'am."

Beatrice snapped her fingers in his direction. "You heard her. Bistro Laurier. The spicy seafood hangover soup. Now. And don't you dare dawdle."

He didn't look at me. He just turned and left the room, his footsteps silent on the floor. The tension left with him, but a heavier, sicker feeling settled in my stomach. I despised how my family treated him.

The meal continued quietly. But my thoughts were not as quiet. I felt a loyalty to Leo, to tell him the truth about the secret he knew nothing of.

But I also had some sort of family loyalty toward my family. Something about blood being thicker than water.

Who even made that rule? Just because someone was your family didn't automatically make them good people.

About five minutes later, or probably three, Beatrice's phone buzzed on the table. She grabbed it, squinted at the screen, and her face lit up. "Finally," she muttered. She pushed her chair back then yelled loudly before rushing out of the dining room. "Be right back."

Sarah and I exchanged a glance, wondering what was up with her.

I heard the front door open and close. A minute later, Beatrice walked back in, but she was not empty-handed. She carried a branded paper bag from Bistro Laurier, and a delicious, savory smell wafted from it.

Wait—wasn't that the same restaurant she sent Leo to?

"No way!" Sarah exclaimed, bursting into laughter. "You sent him out when you already ordered delivery?"

Beatrice grinned viciously. "Of course I did," she said, placing the bag on the table, then pulling out a steaming container. "You know I always have to put him in his place. Reminding him that he is just a f*****g nobody meant to do my bidding."

"Exactly." My mum looked up from her tablet, a wicked smile touching her lips. Her stare was one of approval. "If you don't remind him where he belongs, he'll start thinking he's one of us. He'll get ideas."

Sarah nodded, still giggling. "And we can't have that happening."

I was not even in the least surprised by the conversation they were having. This was not the worst thing they had done to him. It had always been one endless, petty degradation after another.

"What if Leo finds out?" I said, my voice cutting through their giggles while I picked at my food slowly.

Sarah stopped laughing. Beatrice paused, a spoonful of soup halfway to her mouth. My mum set her tablet down slowly.

Once again, I had become the center of attention.

"Finds out what?" Sarah asked, her smirk fading into confusion.

I lifted my head. I looked at my mother, then at my sisters. "What if he finds out that the house... everything... actually belongs to him?"

The air in the dining room shifted.

"Mind what you say, Avery. If you think this is funny, it is not." Sarah glared at me, her eyes literally throwing darts.

"I'm just thinking, that's all," I said with a shrug, trying to make it sound casual. "I mean, have you guys never thought of what would happen if he found out?"

Beatrice snorted loudly, dismissively. "Don't be ridiculous. How would he ever find out? And even if he did, so what? We will never let him take anything from us. This is ours now."

Could she even hear herself? She sounded so deranged. Like a messed-up fucker. And the fact that she thought everything would still stay the same hours after Leo found out made her even crazier.

"Avery," Mother called. I turned to her. "I don't know what's going on with you, but I want you to get one thing straight. This building... all of my ex-husband's wealth belongs to me alone!"

Ex-husband? He didn't even marry you.

Now Beatrice being mad actually made a lot of sense. I was just glad I did not have any of her genes.

"Yes, ma'am," I said with a tight smile, then went back to picking at my food, my thoughts fully on Leo.

He was out there on a bus right now trying to get Beatrice's stupid hangover soup with no idea she was already drinking it!

We finished eating in total silence. Mum had already gone to her room, but Sarah stayed. She was waiting for the drama bound to happen when Leo got back.

I, on the other hand, had stylishly covered up my breakfast that I barely ate. Then I proceeded to clear the table even though Beatrice and Sarah were against it!

I was just done clearing up everything when Leo walked in through the back door. Mum had told him never to use the front door. She said it was for us and guests.

And he was... well, not amongst those privileged.

He looked tired and his face was a bit sweaty. Walking out of the estate was not an easy thing, then walking from the estate to the bus stop was a really long distance.

He walked straight into the dining room. And I followed from behind. I needed to see for myself what Beatrice intended to do.

"Your soup," he said, placing the bag on the table in front of Beatrice.

Beatrice looked from the new, untouched bag to her own empty container. She wiped her mouth with a napkin, her expression twisting into theatrical anger.

"It's cold!" she snapped, not even touching it.

"You haven't even touched it. I'm sure it's still warm," Leo responded, his gaze on her empty bowl of soup.

He moved forward, taking the empty bowl from the table. "This is Bistro Laurier's," Leo mumbled.

"So?" Beatrice asked, her eyes bored.

"You sent me to get you the same hangover soup from Bistro Laurier."

"And you did a really poor job. What if I hadn't ordered from their website?" She dragged every word that left her mouth. "I would be drinking cold soup right now."

Leo moved backwards, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Are you f*****g with me right now?"

His tone actually shocked me. Leo had never used such a tone with my sisters.

"f*****g with you?!" Beatrice stood to her feet, grabbing what Leo had brought off the table. In a fit of rage she tore it open, revealing the hangover soup. "You took so damn long to get me the soup! It's gone cold! And you are bothered about me f*****g with you?"

"I'm just saying that if you were going to order the damn soup, then why send—"

OH MY GOD! No, she... she didn't.

But the evidence in front of me showed that she indeed did it.

My eyes went from Beatrice to Leo, my heart pounding in total shock.

Beatrice... she had thrown the soup at Leo, and her aim was so good it landed on Leo's head. Now the soup dripped down Leo's face, to his shirt and to the floor.

He stood frozen, gaze on the floor.

Beatrice stepped forward until their toes touched. "Listen carefully, houseboy," she sneered. "You are a nameless, spineless nobody whose entire existence is to serve and stay the f**k quiet!" She whispered cruelly, jabbing her finger hard into his chest. "The second you start thinking you're anything more, I'll remind you of what you are..."

She paused, placing a finger underneath his chin as she tilted his head upwards. Gazing into his eyes, she continued. "You are a dog on a f*****g leash!"

She stepped backwards and without another glance at the person she had just humiliated, Beatrice left the dining room.

"f**k!! That. Was. Hilarious!" Sarah's laughter cut through the tense room, her head falling backwards.

I paid her no attention. My focus was fully on Leo, who was still standing with soup dripping down his body and onto the floor.

Then he moved. In silence, he walked out of the dining room slowly, his fingers balled into fists at his sides.

"I got it all on video, Avery," Sarah giggled, rising to her feet. "I'm telling you, sis, the internet would go absolutely crazy for this."

With trembling lips, I watched her leave too. And then it was just me in the dining room, with the messed-up floor.

I didn't get it. I had never understood why they all had to treat him like that. It was f*****g wrong. So wrong.

And up until now, I had told myself... don't do any s**t, Avery. Blood is thicker than freaking water. But I didn't care.

No more.

No more of their humiliating rituals and their theatrics.

I would not stand by and watch it go on.

My eyes remained glued to the trail of soup on the floor, and I could see him walking that path over and over again.

No.

I... I would not let them break him.

My mind was made up.

I would tell him the truth. I would betray my mother, my sisters. And I would tell Leo what he needed to know. I would not hold back anymore, and I would help him claim back everything that belonged to him.