Fated To Three, And I Broke Them All

Verity:

When Ragnar carried me into the house, I kept wondering how he had gotten inside.

He must have unlocked the door using the passcode.

I had no idea how he knew it because I had two locks on the door.

But the moment we entered the living room, I noticed a phone on the couch.

Someone had been here.

Not only that, there were croissants on the table with a piece of paper beside them.

Through my blurry vision, though, I only focused on the phone.

The moment I saw the phone case, I recognized it.

It belonged to Jaguar.

How he had gotten inside was still mind-boggling to me.

But when Ragnar laid me on the bed, my eyes drifted toward my walk-in closet, and I noticed the door slowly sliding shut.

That’s when I knew he had been hiding in there the entire time.

Having him there didn’t help me, and I wasn’t surprised.

I should have known it was too soon to trust him with my life, or with anything.

But I knew Jaguar was watching. Like I said, I always had two plans, or somehow luck was on my side.

It always seemed to help me with the second one.

This time, Jaguar was hiding in the walk-in closet, and I had a lot to say.

The moment Ragnar stepped out, I dropped to my knees, tears streaming down my face.

”What did I do wrong?” I cried, looking up at the ceiling, almost as though I were speaking to the Moon Goddess. ”What am I being punished for?”

I took deeper, heavier breaths.

”Justin—Justin, do you see what’s happening to me?” I cried out, saying my brother’s name. ”Why would you do something like that to me? Why would you? You were never like this. I just don’t get it.”

I cried even harder.

”You and Gigi were doing so well. So what happened? How did you end up abusing her? I just don’t understand.”

I broke down into hysterical sobs.

Then I sniffled and touched my cheek, which was probably swelling and had already turned black.

”Look what’s happening to me. Someone is punishing me, and I don’t even know why. Don’t I deserve care? Don’t I deserve protection? Your little Verity is being punished for your crimes, and nobody even wants to listen to what I’ve been through. Because apparently only your victims are victims.”

I took another shaky breath.

”What about me? What about what Oliver did to me?”

The moment I said those words, I broke down, crying as loudly as I could.

Then I sniffled and tried to get up from the bed. It was incredibly difficult because I was in so much pain.

I forced myself to my feet, groaning with every movement.

Then I slowly dragged myself toward the bathroom.

I did it for one reason only.

So the Jaguar would have enough time to escape.

Once I knew for certain he had already left, I let go off the breath I had been holding in the bathroom.

By then, I had taken a shower. I checked my injuries, and they were really bad.

I really needed to go to the hospital.

But I knew that if I did, they would ask me what had happened, and I would have to tell them something.

I couldn’t just check myself in and expect them to treat me unless I went to a very low-class omega hospital, where I couldn’t even be certain they would be able to treat me properly.

Once I was in the bathroom, I kept staring at myself in the mirror.

Sure, I wanted to be strong. Sure, I was trying to get my revenge. But it truly hurt.

I wasn’t very old either, yet I had never gotten to live through my childhood or my teenage years.

I had been forced to grow up too soon.

And now, when I was in so much pain, the Alpha King had outright told me not to tell anyone because he didn’t want anything to happen to his beloved Gigi.

When I came out of the bathroom, I was wearing a white silk dress.

I don’t know why, but I just didn’t feel like doing anything.

Even if Jaguar contacted me, I would just ignore him.

The funny part was that this would have been the perfect opportunity to use against everyone, to push my plan one step further.

But I didn’t know what had happened to me.

I was letting my emotions take over.

However, when I reached the living room, I noticed that, before leaving, Jaguar had taken the paper slip and his phone with him.

I shook my head and was about to return to my room when my phone began to beep.

I looked around and realized Ragnar hadn’t even had the decency to hand me my phone.

He had just left it on the table.

I picked it up and noticed a text from Jaguar.

I knew he would text me. He would ask what I was doing because he had seen everything that had happened here.

I took a deep breath and opened the message.

However, I was surprised when I read it.

”Open the door. I’m waiting.”

I stared at the front door and wondered whether I should let myself drown in my tears and sorrow or pull myself together and take my plan to the next level.

Despite wanting to be alone, despite wanting to curl up in bed and cry myself to sleep through the pain, I chose otherwise.

I walked over to the door and slowly cracked it open.

”What are you doing here?” I asked him.

Before I could think to close the door, he leaned his face closer.

I was watching through the crack, only positioning my secured side of face to him.

He narrowed his eyes before placing a hand on the door. Slowly, he pushed it halfway open, forcing me to step back.

He walked inside and stopped in front of me. I could feel the heat radiating from his body.

Then he shut the door and, very gently, slid two fingers beneath my chin, making me lift my face to meet his gaze.

A warm tear rolled down the corner of my eye.

I stood in front of him like a victim.

Somewhere along the way, the tears had become genuine. I wasn’t faking them.

But he was the last person I wanted comfort from.

Yet when he pulled me closer and wrapped his arms around me, I melted and closed my eyes.

With my hands resting against his chest, I cried softly, quiet whimpers escaping my lips.