My Stepbrother, My Enemy {BL}-Chapter 138: The End Of A Grand Love Story (BC)

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3rd Person’s POV

Adrien’s expression changed again, but this time the anger that washed over him was quieter, colder and much more sinister. He straightened, his shoulders tensing, and as he stepped closer to Vanessa, the atmosphere shifted. It felt like the temperature dropped, and the space between them shrank, making the shadows in the room sharper.

Vanessa instinctively took a half-step back, her breath hitching as he loomed just inches away, towering over her. The dim light outlined the sharp angles of his jaw and cheekbones, giving him a striking appearance.

"Don’t do that," he said, his voice low enough that she had to turn her head to hear him. "Don’t ever use that word against me again."

Vanessa swallowed, clutching her robe tightly, the remnants of her earlier tears still glimmering on her lashes.

"Adrien-"

"No." His tone cut through the air, quiet yet razor-sharp. "You can’t stand there and pretend this was some grand love story. You can’t manipulate me with that word as if you understand what it really means."

Her eyes widened as he leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a rare pitch and dark, steady, frightening in its control.

"You never loved me," he said. "Even someone as emotionally clueless as I am can see that."

Vanessa blinked, taken aback by his frankness.

"So drop the crocodile tears," he continued, stepping back just enough so he wasn’t looming over her. "It’s not working. Honestly? You had a better chance with me when you weren’t trying so hard."

Vanessa stiffened, hurt flashing across her face, but Adrien remained unmoved. He straightened his shirt mechanically once more.

"I know what we were," he pressed on. "And I know what we weren’t. There was never a real relationship, never a real future, never anything deeper than what it was." His voice held firm, steady. "So let me be clear."

He paused, allowing the silence to stretch just long enough for her breath to hitch once more.

"I’m done."

His words rang through the space like the final slam of a door. Vanessa gasped, her body jolting as if physically struck. For a moment, she was frozen in disbelief, her mouth parted, a sob edging on the horizon-

And then everything in her expression flipped.

Just like that.

The tears vanished. The trembling lip steadied. Her gaze turned cold and unyielding. It was as if a switch had flipped inside her, draining away every fragile emotion she’d shown just moments before.

She straightened slowly, lifting her chin with a sneer that twisted her once-tearful mouth.

"So that’s it?" she snapped, her voice now lacking the softness from earlier. "That’s your grand conclusion, Adrien?" She threw her arms out in disbelief. "Whether I love you or not, you’re still leaving me?"

Adrien didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. The silence said it all.

Vanessa’s glare sharpened, venom lacing her words.

"You’re really choosing him?" She laughed, a short, bitter sound. "You’re throwing away me-the prettiest, most talented cheerleader in school, the girl every guy wants, the girl even your friends want-"

She stepped closer, her voice rising with each accusation, as if the sound could patch up her crumbling composure.

"You’re doing all this... for a nobody like Noah?"

The name hung in the air, a sharp challenge.

Adrien’s jaw tightened, his expression unreadable.

Vanessa waited for him to deny it, to laugh, to tell her she was being ridiculous.

He didn’t.

And that, more than anything made her eyes widen in fury.

Adrien still remained silent.

He just stared at her with a weary expression that only fanned the flames of Vanessa’s rage.

When he still didn’t respond, she let out a humorless laugh that faltered halfway through. "You’re a freaking idiot," she hissed, her voice shaking with a mix of anger and heartbreak. "One day, you’re going to regret choosing some gay boy–of all people, over a girl who’s actually perfect for you."

Adrien inhaled slowly, a deep breath from his chest, and moved closer, making the room feel smaller again. He leaned toward her ear, his voice dark and low enough to send a chill over her skin.

"I’m choosing Noah," he murmured, "not just because he’s actually a good person... but because family comes first."

Vanessa stiffened.

Her eyes narrowed, not in anger this time, but in confusion. "What does that even mean? What family?"

Adrien exhaled sharply, a decision snapping into place within him. He understood that what he was about to say would shake everything to its core. He knew the fallout, the rumors, whispers, questions, all of it, but, he didn’t feel the need to guard his image any more.

His focus was solely on finding who killed his mother and looking after Noah.

So he said it.

"Noah is my stepbrother," he said calmly, watching disbelief spread across Vanessa’s face like ripples from a stone in water. "Everything you’ve been ranting about? You’re mistaken."

For a moment, there was nothing but silence as Vanessa struggled to process what she had just heard.

"W-what?!" Vanessa’s mouth fell open as the words registered. "No way." She stared at him as if he were speaking another language. "You’re lying. You have to be lying because..

because there’s no way you two are-"

"It happened recently." Adrien took a step back from her, giving her space but not comfort. "So whatever theories you’ve cooked up about me being in love with him or whatever... they’re pointless."

Vanessa’s hand flew to her mouth, trembling against her lips. "I...I can’t believe this," she whispered, reeling from the revelation, her voice faltering.

He moved toward the door and paused long enough to give her the final words she needed to hear.

"Stay away from him," he told her softly, but the coldness in his tone shifted the air around them. "I’m not fucking asking."

Vanessa’s eyes widened as if slapped, but she didn’t argue. She couldn’t. Caught between disbelief and humiliation, words failed her.

Adrien turned the doorknob, stepped into the hallway, and shut the door behind him with a firm click.

Outside the bedroom, the party noise surged back into his ears, the bass rattling the floor, distant laughter, drunken shouts echoing throughout the house. Yet everything felt oddly muted, swirling together like background noise he had no energy for.

He ran a hand through his hair, exhaling deeply as he walked down the hall. For a moment, doubts spiraled in his mind, wondering if he had made a mistake. Now Vanessa knew. And if she knew, then by morning the entire school would too. Rumors would spread like wildfire in the school blog and people’s group chats. People would talk. People would judge. They’d twist everything out of proportion just because they could.

He could already picture the whispers in the hallways, the curious stares, the absurd gossip about him and Noah being siblings.

But then, as he descended the stairs, weaving through sweaty bodies and neon lights, something inside him settled into clarity.

He truly didn’t care.

Not if it meant protecting him, even if only for a little longer.

Not if it meant shielding the truth of his true feelings, feelings far more dangerous than any rumor.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets, his eyes scanning the party with newfound urgency.

Because while Vanessa was upstairs, broken and furious frantically trying to get Jace to answer his phone, Noah was somewhere else in this house. Alone. Unsure. Vulnerable in a crowd that had never been kind to him.

And Adrien knew, deep within himself, deep enough to frighten him...that he needed to find Noah before anything or anyone else did.