One Star Review: He Loves My Stepsister

 My Incubus won t let me touch him. It s been a month. Is he broken?
I typed, my brow furrowed as I stared at the customer support chat.
The reply was swift and polite.
 Our store s Incubi are practically designed to cling to their masters! This sounds like he might be defective. We can process an exchange for you, dear. A new one will arrive in a week.
My gaze fell on Damien, the man who was sculpted exactly to my aesthetic standards.
I d give him another chance. If not, I d get him serviced.
He was too perfect to give up on.
But at the family dinner, I watched in horror as my Incubus had a reaction& to my stepsister sitting across the table.
That s when it hit me. The day the package arrived, it was my stepsister who opened the box for me.
That night, I contacted customer support again.
 A new one in a week, you said? Yes, please. Ship me another one.
Damien s eyes were bloodshot, his brow tight as if he were enduring the ultimate agony.
He d been growing weaker these past few days.
Now, he sat on the edge of the bed, breathing heavily. I flipped through the Incubus manual.
 It says right here that all you need is& 
I cleared my throat, a little embarrassed.
 & and you won t feel so bad.
I reached for his collar. A small, crimson mole pulsed on his clavicle, hypnotic with each rise and fall of his chest.
The moment my fingers brushed his skin, he shoved me away. Hard.
I looked down at the red mark blooming on my pale wrist and frowned.
He still wouldn t let me touch him.
 Sorry, he rasped, his eyes dark and unreadable.  Instinct.

 I m going to take a cold shower.
As he disappeared into the bathroom, I pulled out my phone.
Damien was the Incubus I had received a month ago.
I d paid a fortune for him, custom-made to my exact specifications. I waited a full year for his arrival.
The irony was thick enough to choke on. An Incubus is supposed to draw sustenance from its master, yet he refused my touch at every turn.
 Why is my Incubus so different? He s clearly in pain, but he absolutely refuses to let me near him.
Over the sound of the running water, the support agent s reply came through.
 Dear~ Have you completed the binding contract with him?
I d read the manual cover to cover. I wasn t a fool.
 I bound him the very first night he arrived.
There was a long pause on the other end.
 That shouldn t be possible. Our Incubi are professionally trained. Every single one is clingy, desperate to be with their master 24/7.
I was losing my patience.
 Are you saying I m lying?
 Of course not, dear, please don t worry! the agent typed quickly.  How about this? Send him back to us, and we ll ship you a brand-new one. The replacement should arrive in about seven days.
Just as the message appeared, the bathroom door opened.
Damien stood there, wrapped in a white towel. Water dripped from his temples, tracing a path down his chiseled jaw, over his pecs and abs, before disappearing into the towel.
I swallowed hard.
He was my perfect type. Custom-built for me. And he was a lemon.
 I ll observe him for a little longer. If he doesn t improve, I ll consider sending him in for service.
The agent meant scrapping him entirely. What a waste.
 Of course, dear! Ping me anytime if you have more questions! xoxo~

I shut off my phone. Seeing his pale face and bloodshot eyes, a pang of pity struck me.
 I just talked to support. They said they ve never seen a case like this& 
I looked at him, my voice soft with concern. How could he get sick? He looked perfectly healthy.
The hand drying his hair paused. His eyes darkened, and when he looked at me, they were completely devoid of emotion. Nothing like the ads, where the Incubi looked at their masters with stars in their eyes.
 If you still can t handle it in a few days, I ll take you to get serviced.
He seemed to let out a breath of relief and nodded.
I felt wronged. A delicious meal right in front of me, and I couldn t even take a bite. The frustration was unbearable.
I got up and left the room.
The whole reason I bought an Incubus was because I had& appetites.
My father s call came through. I answered, annoyed.
 Your grandmother misses you again. When are you coming home?
I knew it was an excuse. It was him who missed me.
My dad was a complete daughter-doting slave. Two days without seeing me was like torture for him.
I rubbed my forehead.
 Fine, I get it. I ll be there soon& 
I glanced back and froze. Damien was already packing a suitcase.
 You& really like going to the estate, don t you?
I hadn t even hung up the phone, and he was already getting ready.
The man s hands stilled for a second. He said nothing. I didn t think much of it then.
I hated going back to that house, but I couldn t fight my dad s emotional blackmail.
 Your grandmother only has so many years left. Is it wrong for her to want to see you?
So, after only three days away, I was back.

The moment I stepped through the door, a girl lunged at me.
I frowned and sidestepped her, my expression cold.
Lila s eyes filled with a manufactured hurt. Her voice was sickly sweet.
 Sloane, you re finally back! I missed you so much these last three days.
She was my father s stepdaughter.
How ironic. My father could love me enough to sign over the entire company to me.
He could miss me desperately after a single day apart. But none of that stopped him from marrying another woman and raising her child.
My dislike for Lila had nothing to do with my father. It was because she was so fake.
I d caught her shooting me nasty looks more than once, her expression shifting too slowly to hide her true feelings.
Seeing that I wasn t responding, she didn t even flinch. She just turned to Damien, who was standing behind me.
 Damien, you re carrying so much. You must be tired.
She shot a resentful look in my direction.
 Sloane, really. Damien is your Incubus, not a servant. Why are you making him do all this heavy lifting?
I let out a short, sharp laugh.
 You want to do it?
The girl s face froze for a fraction of a second. Damien glanced at me, his eyes dark, but said nothing.
I was already annoyed. I stormed off to my room, unwilling to look at Lila s hypocritical face for another second.
So I didn t see it.
Behind me, Damien gave Lila a small, gentle smile and a nod.
During dinner, my father s face soured as he watched Damien sit beside me.
 It s just a plaything. You parade him around like he s some kind of treasure.
The man beside me stiffened. I looked at my father, exasperated.

Before I could defend him, Lila spoke up.
 Dad, don t say that about Damien. Even though he s an Incubus, he has his dignity.
A flicker of movement from my side. I turned to look at him.
Damien was staring at Lila, his eyes wide with& gratitude.
I narrowed my eyes, studying him. Was I imagining things? Why did it look like my Incubus had stars in his eyes when he looked at my stepsister?
This was interesting. I paid a fortune for him, provided for his every need, lavished money on him, and gave him almost everything he could ever want.
He said he  couldn t handle it, so I didn t touch him.
And in the end, all of that was worth less than a single, casual defense from Lila.
That little viper was still chattering away, and the noise was grating on my nerves.
 Can you shut up?
My words fell, and the entire table plunged into an eerie silence.
My father frowned at me, a clear sign he thought I was being too willful. Lila s mother continued eating as if nothing had happened.
Lila looked at me with wounded eyes, then glanced at Damien, tears welling up.
There was a clatter of cutlery against a plate. Then, Damien s uniquely cool voice cut through the silence.
 Do you have to be so aggressive with your words?
Everyone froze. In this house, no one had ever dared to speak to me like that.
My father slammed the table and shot to his feet, his face red with rage.
 You ve spoiled him rotten! I ve never seen an Incubus talk to his master that way!
I wasn t angry. I was just watching Damien, my thoughts racing.
This man had been nothing but distant and detached since I bought him.
Like an emotionless robot.
I thought that was just his personality. But suddenly, I realized something was wrong.

My reaction to scolding my stepsister& his emotional response was a little too strong, wasn't it?
And the way he looked at me was like staring into dead water. But his gaze towards Lila& it was undeniably charged, almost intimate.
The rest of dinner was a disaster. That night, my father forbade me from sleeping in the same room as Damien.
 Let him starve a little! That ll teach him who the master is!
I didn t have the heart to tell my dad that Damien had never had a full  meal to begin with. And that it was his own choice.
It was too humiliating.
In the middle of the night, I went downstairs for a glass of water and heard a sound from the next room.
I paused.
Was that a woman s voice coming from Damien s room?
I crept closer, my eyes turning to ice.
I wasn t mistaken. It was Lila.
Her cloying voice was disturbingly clear in the dead of night.
 Damien, thank you so much for speaking up for me at dinner. You have no idea what it s like in this house. No one ever stands up for me. I came here specifically to thank you.
Damien s voice was softer than I had ever heard it.
 Sloane s personality can be a bit harsh, but she s not a bad person at heart. If she says something to you again, just talk back. She won t actually do anything to you.
A mocking smile touched my lips. We d only known each other for a month, and he thought he had me all figured out.
But it was only in that moment that I finally remembered. One month ago, on the day the package arrived, it was Lila who opened the box for me.
It was like a fog had lifted. My Incubus wasn't broken.
My Incubus had fallen in love at first sight with someone else before he was ever bound to me.
No wonder he wouldn t let me touch him.
Remembering the customer support agent s words, I turned and went back to my room. I found our chat history.
 My Incubus is still not right. I don t want him serviced anymore. I want a new one.

The reply was, as always, fast.
 Of course, dear. We ll ship a new one out for you tomorrow. He should arrive in about a week.
I thought for a moment, then typed another question.
 What happens to the one I have now?
This time, the agent took a while to respond.
 Don t you worry, dear. For Incubi like this, the ones with issues, returns, and negative ratings& we eventually round them up for unified processing. They re resold at a low price.
Resold?
I thought about Damien s vow-of-chastity act every time I got close to him. That was& interesting.
If he didn t end up with Lila, he was probably destined for a lifetime of bad reviews. A bug that could never be fixed.
The next morning, I yawned as I walked out of my room and ran right into Damien.
He was in workout clothes, looking like he d just gotten back from a run.
Lila s voice, sickeningly sweet, followed him.
 Damien, you re in such good shape, and so disciplined. If I had the money, I would definitely buy an Incubus exactly like you.
That sounded& off. A blatant, open invitation.
Damien carefully watched my expression. When he saw no reaction, he visibly relaxed and gave Lila a faint smile.
I watched the two of them interact and couldn t help but roll my eyes.
A cheater and a homewrecker, flirting right under my nose.
But then again, Damien had already been returned. He really had nothing to do with me anymore.
Lila didn t have much money. My dad had transferred all the company shares to my name. She and her mother just lived a comfortable, carefree life.
Her allowance definitely wasn t enough to order a custom Incubus.
And the cheap ones on the market? She wouldn t deign to look at them.
That night, before my dad could say anything, I again chose to sleep in a separate room from Damien.

Watching my retreating back, Damien seemed stunned for a moment. His pale fingers tightened on the doorknob.
He had expected the old routine. He d push back a little, I d force my way in.
He d claim he was uncomfortable, and I d sigh in resignation, settling for just holding him platonically through the night.
But staring at my closed door, Damien s heart sank.
In my room, I was carefully studying the new Incubus manual the support agent had sent me when there was a knock on the door.
This time, I was going to do it right. I was going to raise a proper, dedicated Incubus. I swiped through the manual on my tablet as I went to open the door.
I thought it was my dad with my nightly glass of milk. I never expected to see Damien standing there.
He seemed annoyed at how long I was taking, but when he saw the content on my tablet, his expression softened considerably.
 That s all just textbook knowledge. If you have questions, isn t the real thing standing right here?
I looked up,#aOO, then looked from my tablet back to him.
It took me a moment to realize. He had misunderstood.
I found it hilarious. My father was right. I had spoiled him way too much.
Did he really think I was so desperate for his approval that I was up late studying and taking notes for him?
But I didn t correct him. What was the point of arguing with a product I was about to return?
 What do you want?
I leaned against the doorframe, my expression flat.
Damien froze. He clearly hadn't anticipated such a cold reception.
He didn't know why he'd come either. He had just been lying in bed, the emptiness inside him growing more and more intense.
The image of my retreating back had flashed in his mind, and he had found himself knocking on my door.
I looked at the man standing there dumbly, a hint of impatience in my eyes.
 It s the middle of the night. Do you need something?

 I think& 
His voice was hoarse. His eyes were locked on my lips.
 I think we could try. Maybe& maybe tonight I can accept you.
My eyes widened in shock. He savored my expression, as if he were bestowing some great favor upon me.
I almost laughed out loud.
Had my days of boundless indulgence made him forget that his very existence was meant to serve me?
Not to stand here and grant me his pity like some benevolent god.
*SLAM.* I shut the door in his face, not bothering to waste another word on him.
The man outside seemed to stand there for a long time. It wasn t until the dead of night, as I was drifting off to sleep, that I heard his footsteps finally retreat.
Over the next few days, Damien was like a different Incubus.
He started dropping subtle hints, trying to be near me, becoming more and more clingy. Seeing his increasingly pale face, I figured he must be starving.
But I had already lost interest. So I just pretended I didn't understand his signals.
The new Incubus arrived on a Friday.
My dad had left for work early, my grandmother was at her senior center activities, and my stepmother was out shopping. The house was practically empty.
The moment I opened the new package, a man with a beaming smile and eyes that seemed to hold the shimmer of water looked up at me.
He crashed right into my heart.
When he saw me, tiny little hearts literally sparkled in his eyes.
 Good morning, Master. My name is Zane. It s my pleasure to serve you.
I swallowed hard. Now *this* was the Incubus I wanted.
That customer support agent was a gem. I made a mental note to give them a five-star review later.
I circled him, occasionally reaching out to poke his muscles. He just stood there obediently, letting me have my fun.

A noise from upstairs. I paused, momentarily reigning in my lust to go see the drama unfold.
Zane followed behind me quietly.
Lila s voice came from Damien s room.
 Damien, did you and Sloane have a fight? I ve noticed you re looking thinner and thinner. I looked it up in the manual& it seems like if you sleep separately, you can t get enough to eat, right?
My sister was finally showing her true colors. I leaned against the opposite doorframe, ready for the show.
I don't know what happened inside, but I heard Damien s flustered voice.
 Lila, don t do this. I belong to your sister& She ll be upset if she finds out.
Lila s voice was breathless.
 But you re starving. I just want to help you get a full meal& 
Before she could finish, the door flew open and she was pushed out by Damien.
The disheveled pair saw me standing there, and the scene froze in silence.
Lila s clothes were a mess. Her eyes widened in disbelief.
 Sloane, why are you standing there?
Damien s face was pale. There was a smudge of Lila s lipstick on his cheek.
 Sloane, it s not what you think. I didn t& 
I just shook my head.
 I don t mind. You ve got it all wrong. Because you ve already been returned.
Zane stepped forward from behind me, his smile still bright and sunny. The words that came out of his mouth, however, were pure poison.
 Damien, serial number 0201, is that right? Hello. I m Zane, serial number 0204. As an Incubus who lacks the basic self-awareness of an Incubus, the store manager asked me to inform you that your binding contract has been completely transferred to me. You can leave now.
His smile widened as he looked at Damien s instantly bloodless face.
 You defective product that gave its master a terrible experience.

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