My Stepbrother Wants Me-Chapter 203: He Hates Me

Catherine’s POV

I stood outside Gabriel’s bedroom door, my hand trembling as I hovered it over the handle. Julian and I agreed to try and talk to him again but I told Julian to allow me to do it alone.

I knew for a fact that Gabriel would be more furious at Julian about this because they were blood. Imagine finding out that the one person you trusted so much had been lying to you.

My eyes squeezed tight while I begged for courage to knock. My hand finally moved and after knocking twice, Gabriel ignored me.

There was no way I was leaving without seeing him, so I pushed the door open quietly and stepped inside, preparing to be yelled at.

The room was dark, the only light coming from the pale moon through the windows, but I could see him clearly. He was sitting in a high-backed chair by the window, dressed in his robe, staring out at the dark.

"Hey Gabriel."

He didn’t turn around but I saw his shoulders stiffen. The air in the room was cold, matching the expression I knew was on his face.

"I didn’t think you’d have the nerve to come into my room. Have you no shame?" His voice was flat and cold but not as cold as his taunting words. Right now, he sounded exactly like Richard.

"Please, Gabe. My conscience has been eating me up. I couldn’t even go to sleep," I whispered, stepping further into the room and closing the door softly behind me. I didn’t want anyone to hear us. "I am here to say I’m sorry. I never wanted you to find out like that. I never wanted to hurt you."

Gabriel stood up then, turning to face me. The moonlight caught the jagged edge of his jaw and the hardness in his eyes.

"So you are actually here to say sorry and make the guilt wear off, right?"

"No, stop misunderstanding me. I am so sorry about this."

He scoffed. "What exactly do you feel sorry for, Catherine? For lying to my face? For letting me believe that Sasha and Collins made that shit up when the truth is that you’ve been letting Julian fuck yoy?" He took a step toward me, his movements jerky and filled with a suppressed energy. "I asked Julian directly. I asked him if there was something between you two, and he denied it. He looked me in the eye and lied to me. And you... you just stood by and let me play the protector. I can’t believe I actually thought I was the one you could trust, I thought you liked me more than that bastard."

"You are not totally right, Gabriel," I argued, my voice thick with a guilt I couldn’t shake. "Julian and I... we didn’t plan for any of this. It happened suddenly. We both tried to control it but we couldn’t. This doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. I value your friendship more than you know."

"Friendship?" Gabriel let out a bitter, jagged laugh that echoed off the high ceilings. He crossed the remaining distance between us in three long strides, stopping so close that I could feel the heat radiating from his skin. "Is that what you think I felt for you? Is that the lie you’re going to tell yourself so you can sleep at night?"

He reached out, his hand hovering near my face for a split second as if he wanted to touch me, but he pulled it back and clenched it into a fist at his side. "I didn’t want to be your friend or brother, Catherine. I stayed in this house, and protected you because I fell for you. I thought if I was patient enough, if I was different enough from Julian and Richard, you would eventually see me. I thought I was the safe choice. The one who wouldn’t bruise you or drag you into a war." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

He looked down at me, his eyes filled with a visceral disappointment that cut deeper than any insult Lucy had ever thrown. "And then I saw you in that bed with him. I saw the way you looked at him. You’ve given Julian everything I’ve been waiting to earn. You gave him the one thing I actually wanted from this family, and you did it while deceiving me."

"Gabriel, I am so sorry," I said, tears finally stinging my eyes. I reached out and took his hand, forcing him to look at me. His skin was cold, but he didn’t pull away this time. "I never really knew how you felt for me and I’ll be honest, I don’t think I would have ever reciprocated it."

"Shut the fuck up! Don’t make this any worse!" He yelled and I flinched, closing my eyes, my chest heaving.

"So— sorry. I didn’t mean to yell, Ca..."

"Don’t apologize. You have every right to be mad, you have every right to yell at me."

Gabriel stared at our joined hands for a long time. His chest heaved as he fought to maintain his composure. Finally, he let out a long, shuddering breath and looked back at my face. The rage was still there, but it was being drowned out by sadness.

"I accept your apology, Catherine," he said softly. "I accept it because I have to. Because as much as I want to hate you for this, I can’t. You have my heart. You’ve had it since the day you walked into this house and looked at Richard like you weren’t afraid of him. I can’t just turn that off because you chose my brother over me."

I felt a small wave of relief, but it was short-lived. I looked at him, my heart aching for the rift I had caused. "Thank you so much, Gabe. Is... Julian.... I mean, are you forgiving hi—."

He cut me off, and his expression hardened instantly. He pulled his hand out of mine and took a step back, the wall between us slamming back into place. "No. Don’t ask me about that."

"Gabriel, he’s your brother—"

"He’s the man who took you anyway," Gabriel snapped. "He knew, Catherine. Julian isn’t blind. He knew I liked you, and he didn’t care. He took what he wanted because that’s what he does. I forgave you because you have my heart. Julian doesn’t have that. He doesn’t have my loyalty anymore, and he certainly doesn’t have my respect."

He turned his back on me then, returning to his chair by the window. The conversation was over. "It’s going to take a very long time for me to even be in the same room as him without wanting to finish what I started in that hallway. You got what you wanted. You have him. Now leave me alone."

I stood there for a moment, the weight of his words settling over me. I had been forgiven, but the cost was the total destruction of the only bond Julian had left in this family. I had achieved peace with Gabriel, but the war between the brothers was just beginning. I turned and walked out of the room, wondering how I would explain this to Jules.

When I entered Julian’s room, he was sitting up in bed, watching the door. He saw the look on my face and knew.

"What happened? Did he say anything bad to you? I told you going alone was a bad idea. That..!"

"Stop it. Gabriel didn’t do anything bad to me."

He nodded and moved closer to me, brushing my hair backwards. "Then he didn’t take it well, did he?" He asked, his voice rough.

"He forgave me," I said, moving away from him and sitting on the edge of the bed. "But he said he’s done with you, Julian. He said it’s going to take a very long time for any form of reconciliation."

Julian didn’t look surprised. He just reached out and pulled me into his arms, his grip tight and uncompromising. "I don’t really care. Right now he hates me so much, but he will get out of it soon, I am sure of that."