My Sister Stole My Mate And I Let Her (Seraphina) novel Chapter 368

Chapter 368: Chapter 368 THE TRUTH

BRETT’S POV

I had imagined this moment more times than I cared to admit.

In those imaginings, I was composed. Detached. Indifferent.

And when I stepped into the living room and saw Celeste fall to her knees, eyes widening as recognition dawned, imagination met reality.

Celeste Lockwood had always known how to hold a room with nothing but posture and a smile.

Even kneeling, she carried herself like a dethroned queen rather than a disgraced conspirator.

But that magnetic force that once pulled me helplessly into her orbit had vanished, leaving something brittle in its wake.

I thought I had already seen the worst of her vanity. The worst of her cruelty.

During our years together, I witnessed her jealousy flare like wildfire. I endured the subtle barbs and the silent treatments at the slightest infractions.

Yet even then, I had believed—fool that I was—that her viciousness came from fragility.

That it was armor.

That beneath it, there was something soft.

There had been sweetness, too. I could not deny that.

Quiet nights abroad when she would curl into me, tracing idle circles over my chest, whispering about how lonely she felt in foreign cities.

Mornings when she would press a kiss to my jaw and call me her only peace.

Those moments had convinced me the ugliness wasn’t innate. They made me believe letting her go—releasing the bond that was suffocating us both—was mercy. Mutual liberation.

But watching her earlier tirade from the shadows blasted those thoughts right out of my mind.

The mask had been discarded, and the woman before me was terrifyingly unfamiliar. Cold. Cruel.

At that point, I let the questions I held back in that hotel room flood my mind.

Had I ever truly known her?

Or had I loved a projection crafted precisely for me by fate?

As if sensing the turmoil in my thoughts, Maris stepped forward beside me without a word and slid her hand into mine, her grip warm and steadying.

The bond between us answered instantly, a surge of heat traveling up my arm and anchoring somewhere deep in my chest.

I exhaled.

In that simple touch, I understood something with startling clarity.

I was no longer the man who had been bent around Celeste’s emotions.

I was no longer the Omega boy who was grateful for every minute scrap of affection he got.

Maris’s thumb brushed over my knuckles once in silent reassurance.

I squeezed.

Then I walked toward Celeste, each step deliberate and measured.

She stared up at me as I stopped a few feet away. For a flicker of a second, I saw calculation spark in her gaze.

Old reflex.

Old tactics.

Tears poised at the rim. Her lower lip trembled just enough to suggest vulnerability without surrender.

It might have worked on someone else.

It would have worked on the man I used to be.

“Did she?” I asked quietly, echoing my earlier interruption. “Did Sera really ruin you?”

Silence.

Her throat moved with a swallow.

“You said you suffered,” I continued. “You said you were stripped of everything. That you were abandoned.”

I crouched slightly so we were closer to eye level.

“I was there, Celeste, remember?”

Her lashes fluttered as her gaze darted around the room before returning to me.

“I was with you abroad. I saw the penthouse in Barcelona, the villa in Barbados, the monthly stipend, the invitations to private galas.”

I shook my head. “You were not destitute. You sure as hell weren’t ruined.”

Her jaw tightened.

“And you were not alone,” I added softly. “You had me.”

Something flickered in her expression then—annoyance? Shame? It vanished too quickly to name.

“You told me you’d been betrayed. That you’d been manipulated. That the world conspired against you.”

I scoffed. "Here’s a fun fact: the ’Jason’ you were talking to in Corin’s illusion was me."

A gasp tore out of her,

“That’s right. You revealed all your ugly, evil thoughts directly to me.” 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Her lips parted, her breathing quickening as she shook her head, still not speaking.

“Save it, Celeste. The truth is out. The only conspirator is you. The only betrayer is you. You lied and manipulated and deceived, and when you weren’t satisfied with making everyone around you bleed, you turned around and cut yourself.”

Her lips pressed together so tightly they blanched.

The room was very quiet now.

Even the fire seemed to lower its voice.

“Tell the truth,” I said, not louder, but firmer. “You were never miserable. Only furious that your plan failed.”

I waited.

Maris’s hand remained in mine, steady as a pulse.

Celeste trembled.

But she did not answer.

***

CELESTE’S POV

My tongue felt glued to the roof of my mouth.

I couldn’t reconcile the Brett from the Vesper Grand and the Brett before me with the boy I had once wrapped around my finger, not the Omega who had looked at me like I was salvation.

Not the Brett who used to cling to me like I was his anchor. Now it felt like he was the anchor—and I was the one drifting.

I hated that thought so much I wanted to scream.

And then there was her.

I had no idea who the fuck she was, but the sight of her fingers laced through his, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, scraped at something raw inside me.

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