His new stepsister His biggest threat (Claire and Elijah) novel Chapter 37

**TITLE: Betrayal Births by Joseph King**

**Chapter 37**

**Claire’s POV**

“Naomi?”

The moment I answered the phone, I called out her name, my heart pounding in my chest. Silence enveloped the line, stretching on and on until I began to wonder if the connection had been lost.

Then, abruptly, I heard her sharp intake of breath.

“Claire…” Her voice trembled, uncertainty lacing her words as if she were grappling with whether to share what was weighing on her heart. “I don’t know how to tell you this.”

My heart raced, a sudden surge of adrenaline coursing through my veins. “Tell me what?”

What was going on today? It felt like the universe was conspiring to throw me off balance.

“It’s—” She exhaled, the sound shaky and filled with dread. “It’s Jessica. I was just at the library, and I forgot to return some books. While I was there, I overheard her and those girls she hangs out with—Maya, Phoebe, all of them. They were talking about you.”

A knot twisted in my stomach. “Naomi, what did they say?”

“I couldn’t catch everything,” she rushed out, her voice tinged with urgency, “but they were planning something. A prank. A really cruel one.”

A prank. A prank?

The absurdity of it all seemed almost laughable, yet I felt no humor in it. “They’re always talking nonsense, Naomi. It’s probably nothing.”

“No, Claire, it’s not nothing. They said—” She hesitated, and I could sense the fear creeping into her voice, tightening like a noose around my chest. “They said they were going to make sure you ‘felt’ what being weak really means. Something about shocking you. I think they meant it literally. Like, they want to mess with the electricity in your locker or something.”

“What?”

“I know how it sounds, but I swear, that’s what they said. They were laughing about how it’d be hilarious if you fainted again, how the whole school should see it happen this time.”

For a moment, the air felt thick and heavy, and I struggled to breathe.

The thought of Jessica, that smug grin plastered on her face while I crumpled to the ground, the entire school as my audience—it was a pain that cut deeper than the physical.

I sank onto the edge of my bed, pressing my palm against my chest, feeling the frantic thump of my heart. “Why are they like this?” I whispered, the question escaping my lips like a prayer.

Naomi’s voice softened, almost maternal. “Because they’re cruel, Claire. They despise that Ethan and your mom are together. They hate you. But you can’t let them get to you, okay? Promise me you won’t confront them.”

“I wasn’t planning to,” I murmured, my voice barely a whisper. Then, almost inaudibly, I asked, “You think they’d actually do it?”

“I don’t know. I just—” She paused, her next words slipping out so quietly that I almost missed them. “There’s something else you should know.”

The tone of her voice shifted, a tremor of anxiety threading through her words.

“What is it?”

She hesitated again, a heavy sigh escaping her lips as if she were dreading the weight of what she had to reveal. “It’s Elijah.”

My throat constricted immediately, a tight band of anxiety wrapping around me. “What about him?”

“I heard Jessica bragging about something. She said she had Elijah exactly where she wanted him. That he’s finally paying attention to her again. I think he’s in on the prank too.”

I found myself staring at the floor, the words hitting me like a punch to the gut. They shouldn’t have meant anything. They shouldn’t have hurt at all.

But they did.

“Naomi…” I started, but my voice cracked, the emotion threatening to spill over.

“I don’t know if she’s lying,” she added quickly, her voice rushing to reassure me. “She probably is—you know how she is—but I thought you should know.”

The room suddenly felt like it was closing in on me. My chest felt tight, not painfully so, but enough to make every breath a struggle.

“Thanks for telling me,” I said quietly, forcing the words out. “I’ll be fine.”

“Claire, please don’t go to school tomorrow. Let me talk to the head nurse or someone—”

“I can’t skip,” I interrupted gently but firmly. “I have to turn in that assignment for history class. It’s already late.”

“Then I’m coming over in the morning. We’ll go together.”

I didn’t argue; I didn’t even know if I had the strength to do so.

After we hung up, I sat there for what felt like an eternity, staring blankly into space.

Jessica. Elijah. The prank.

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