My Horny Stepmom Turns Me into Her Vampire Slave-Chapter 20: The hurt she refuses to see

Clang!

Mia’s scythe strikes weakly at Chris, but blocking the lazy blow is child’s play even for a novice like him.

Chris counters with a quick katana thrust that wounds Mia in the thigh.

Yet not the slightest sign of pain escapes her lips before the wound closes completely before his astonished eyes.

Even though it should already feel normal to him, Chris still hasn’t fully gotten used to being a vampire. Things like near-instant regeneration and shaping his own blood into a weapon still seem far too absurd to be real.

"What’s wrong with you, Mia? You said you wanted to blow off steam, yet your attacks are even weaker and more predictable than mine!"

"It’s nothing. Let’s keep training."

"Alright."

A faint crimson aura surrounds Mia as she dashes toward Chris with far greater strength and speed.

He raises his guard, but it’s useless.

The gap in power between them is still enormous and she disarms him with a sharp swing of her scythe, so violent that it sends Chris crashing onto his back.

"Wow, Mia, you’re really strong!"

But the admiration in Chris’s eyes disappears the moment he meets hers.

Tears stream down her cheeks and her body trembles as if in shock.

"M-Mia... what’s wrong?"

The scythe slips from her fingers and Mia drops to her knees without a word.

He kneels in front of her and grabs her firmly by the shoulders.

"Now you’re going to tell me what the hell is going on. This isn’t a request, it’s an order!"

"I-I told you I’m fine... stop asking me..." she sobs.

"Even a blind person could tell you’re not fine! I’m your brother, damn it! You should be able to confide in me, not make me pry the words out of your mouth! Either you tell me what’s wrong or I’ll call Isabelle right now and you can tell her — and explain why we’re not at school!"

"Y-You’re really an asshole...!"

"No, I’m just fucking worried about you! I’ve never seen you like this!"

Mia takes a deep breath, trying to steady herself.

"Promise me you won’t judge me, okay?"

"You shouldn’t have to ask me that, idiot."

"You promised! Anyway... last night, while you and Isabelle were busy with your shameless stuff in your room, Zaira and I were in the bath when..."

Mia stops again, taking a deep breath to hold back her sobs.

"...she started touching me intimately and tried to kiss me. I pushed her away, and she got angry and left. That’s why she didn’t come with us to school this morning..."

Chris clenches his fists.

"Zaira did... what?! I swear if that damn bitch gets within my reach, I’ll—"

"Don’t talk about her like that! She’s just a succubus who wanted to show how much she cared about me. Sure, it might seem inappropriate to us, but it’s her nature! Succubi act like that, and it was mean of me to reject the way she showed her affection instead of understanding it and accepting it."

No matter how hard she tries to stay composed, Mia is now a volcano of despair and remorse, ready to erupt at any moment.

"I... I’m just a cruel, selfish girl who slammed the door in the face of the only person who cared about me. Instead of trying to understand her, I got scared and pushed her away. Despising someone because their customs are different from ours is disgusting. I deserve to be alone..."

"Shut that fucking mouth of yours—" Chris interrupts, his voice cold and tense.

She stares at him, stunned by his sudden outburst.

"I never want to hear you call yourself selfish or cruel again. Am I clear?"

Mia lowers her gaze.

"Most of all, stop calling that a demonstration of love and call it by its real name. You’re not stupid — you know exactly what I’m talking about, Mia! Open your damn eyes! That dear friend you’re so worried about wanted to take advantage of you while you were vulnerable! You have nothing to blame yourself for — you did what anyone in your place would have done!"

Chris lifts her face, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"You’re neither selfish nor cruel, Mia. You’re the kindest and most selfless person I know. You proved that four years ago when you pulled me out of that orphanage! Even if succubi show affection that way, if she were really your friend like she says she is, she would have respected your wishes instead of insisting again and again! She’s the selfish one, not you!"

Mia’s lips tremble. She wants to say something, but not a word comes out.

She is fighting the hardest battle of her life — the one against herself.

Chris’s words have opened her eyes to a reality she had been trying to hide from herself.

"Her possessiveness and jealousy are normal — that’s just how she is. The way she touches me, how she keeps trying to find moments of intimacy even though I’ve told her a thousand times not to — that’s normal too. That’s just how she is. And I’m her friend, so I have to accept her for who she is."

Mia has repeated that to herself for years, suffocating the voice inside her that kept telling her none of it was normal — that Zaira was the one in the wrong, not her.

And now that she can no longer silence that voice, the pain she has carried for years of silence and denial explodes all at once.

She collapses forward like dead weight, as if all her strength is suddenly gone, but Chris catches her and pulls her into a tight embrace.

In his arms, Mia breaks down in a heartbreaking, inconsolable sob that makes Chris’s chest tighten as if caught in a vise.

"And besides..." Chris continues gently. "...it’s not true that you’re alone or that no one in the world cares about you. Isabelle would give her life for you... and I would too. I care about you, Mia. Never forget that."

Mia suddenly lifts her face, face to face with him.

"D-Do you really mean that, Chris...?"

Her lips are so close that Chris can feel her warm breath on his face.

He suddenly blushes at the unexpected closeness.

"I’ve never been more serious in my life."

His heart starts beating faster as the distance between their lips shrinks inch by inch, as if an irresistible force were pulling them together.

Mia parts her lips slightly and gently closes her eyes when only a breath separates them.

Chris is about to do the same, but suddenly his eyes snap open as a shiver of terror runs through him.

Behind Mia, among the trees surrounding the abandoned baseball field, something emerges that makes his blood run cold.