My Stepbrother, My Enemy {BL}-Chapter 146: Not Going Down Without A Fight

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I pushed myself further into the cramped shadow under the old workbench, forcing myself to breathe slowly despite the panic that rose in my throat like a living thing, desperate to claw its way out. My heart thudded loudly, and I was terrified they might hear it. Everything around me smelled like oil, metal, and dust, and the air was heavy with a cold that felt like it seeped right into my bones.

When I heard their voices erupt into frantic arguments, it was a mix of relief and terror that nearly made me sob. They hadn’t found me yet-but I knew they would. I wasn’t naive enough to think they’d give up easily; this was clearly planned. Every footstep on the concrete sent a jolt of fear through my body, making me feel like some cornered animal in a horror movie, just waiting for the killer to pull me out by the ankle.

I forced myself to look around, desperately searching for anything I could use. My eyes landed on a long metal pipe wedged between a toolbox and an old tire. It wasn’t huge, but it was heavy enough. Before I knew it, my fingers closed around it; the cold metal stung my palms, grounding me and reminding me that if I didn’t fight now, I might not get another chance.

I swallowed hard. Three guys. Stronger, bigger, faster.

Every part of me screamed that this wasn’t a fight I could win... but I didn’t need to win. I just needed to survive.

Just as I adjusted my grip on the pipe, the footsteps grew louder-slow, cautious steps that told me they were searching now. My breath caught in my throat as a shadow stretched toward me, creeping across the floor like ink until it reached the edge of my hiding spot.

"Shit! Check over there, Liam!" Jace barked from somewhere across the workshop, his voice cold and impatient.

Liam grumbled something under his breath, and then I heard the heavy tread of his sneakers coming closer-too close for comfort. I shut my eyes for a moment, forcing myself not to panic, not to cry, not to make a sound.

Then his hand appeared, brushing aside a stack of boxes, and his face followed, bending down to look under the workbench-his eyes widening the instant he spotted me.

"Here he is-!"

I didn’t wait for him to finish. Instinct kicked in, roaring louder than fear, louder than reason. I swung the metal pipe from my shoulder in one desperate arc, feeling it connect with the side of his head in a sickening thud that vibrated up my arms.

Liam screamed-sharp and furious-staggering backward and crashing against a shelf, sending tools clattering to the ground.

"Damn it! Liam?" Jace’s voice cracked with alarm. "What happened? Where the hell is he?"

Their footsteps thundered toward us like an approaching storm.

I scrambled out from under the workbench, clutching the pipe so tightly my hands trembled. My muscles burned, and my vision swam from whatever they injected me with, but the rush of adrenaline kept me on my feet.

Liam was still holding his head, blood dripping between his fingers. He glared at me with wild, furious disbelief that only spiked my fear.

"You little bitch-"

His words sent another wave of terror through me.

And the others were almost here.

I stepped back, lifting the pipe again, though my arms shook. I wasn’t ready...God, I wasn’t ready, but I refused to let them drag me down again.

Not without a fight.

3rd Person Pov

In the passenger seat, Adrien’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel as he sped through the quiet streets of Willow Haven, the headlights slicing through the darkness. His jaw was clenched so tightly that a vein stood out sharply along his neck, and each turn he made felt sharper and faster, more reckless than the last.

Beside him, Ethan sat stiffly, one leg bouncing from anxiety, breaths coming in uneven bursts like he couldn’t decide whether to be terrified or furious. When he’d climbed into the car earlier, confusion had clouded him. But as soon as Adrien started explaining what Kris had told him, that confusion melted into a raw, unfiltered horror that hollowed him out by the second.

Adrien didn’t hold back; he didn’t have time to.

He told Ethan how Noah had disappeared from the party without a trace.

He explained how Jace, Liam, and that Patrick guy along with Vanessa had been involved.

He recounted what Kris had overheard, what they were planning, what they intended to do, and where they had taken her.

The words spilled from Adrien like poison he’d been forced to swallow. With each detail, he noticed Ethan’s expression twisting, his knuckles whitening as they dug into the edge of his seat. His breath caught when Adrien mentioned the drugging. It quickened at the mention of the workshop. And when Adrien finally said the word video, Ethan’s entire body went still, as if the world had shattered inside him.

For a long moment, the only sound was the roar of the engine and the hum of passing streetlights.

Then Ethan whispered, his voice breaking, "I knew it..."

Adrien didn’t respond, his eyes glued to the road, every muscle urging him to drive faster.

"I knew it," Ethan repeated, louder this time, his words thick with self-loathing as he raked a trembling hand through his hair. "I shouldn’t have let him go to to the party. I should have talked him out of it. God, I should have been there." His breathing became unsteady. "He must be so scared. And I wasn’t there."

Adrien swallowed hard but chose silence because if he opened his mouth, he might scream.

But Ethan wasn’t done, not by a long shot.

He turned sharply toward Adrien, eyes bright with fury, pupils wide in a mix of rage and panic. "This is your fault."

Adrien finally turned to him, jaw tight. "What?"

"You heard me." Ethan’s voice cracked, but it only made him sound more unhinged. "If you hadn’t decided to ruin Noah’s life when he first got here, if you hadn’t treated him like crap every single day...your idiot friends wouldn’t have felt so comfortable doing the same to him."

His breaths were shaky now, each inhale making his shoulders tremble.

"They followed you. They always followed you," Ethan continued, his voice hoarse. "And because of that, he’s out there right now terrified, because of you."

Adrien’s grip on the wheel tightened so hard his knuckles turned white. A storm churned in his chest, crashing violently against the walls he’d spent years building around himself.

"Don’t," he said, his voice low but trembling with restrained anger.

"No, you don’t get to tell me not to," Ethan shot back. "You started this! You made her a target. You made his life hell. And now–now he’s paying the price for everything you did."

Adrien’s breath came out harsh, guilt and fury twisting together like barbed wire. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"You think I don’t know that?" he snapped, his eyes blazing as he briefly glared at Ethan. "You think I don’t hate myself for it every damn day?"

He slammed his foot harder on the gas, the engine growling as the car surged forward.

"Don’t you dare act like you’re the only one who cares about him," Adrien growled, his voice low and shaking. "You have no idea...no idea, what he means to me."

Ethan’s jaw clenched. "Then why the hell did you do all those things to him?"

Adrien had no answer.

He couldn’t.

And the silence that followed was sharp-heavy, suffocating, charged with everything neither of them was ready to confront.

The car rumbled deeper into the industrial side of town, the air growing colder as they sped toward the workshop.