Fated To Three, And I Broke Them All

Verity:

With swollen eyes, Jenna kept staring at her phone.

”You said when I woke up, everything would be different for me,” she repeated through her tears.

I reached for her hand and gently squeezed it.

”You were right.”

She broke down, turning the phone toward me.

This was the first time I was actually watching the entire footage.

It showed Oliver without his clothes, being beaten by Ragnar as he listed the crimes Oliver had committed.

Of course, the names and identities of the women had not been disclosed.

Neither mine nor Jenna’s nor those of any of the other women he had traumatized were revealed, and I could tell there were far too many.

They were investigating him now, digging into everything.

They had confiscated both of his cell phones, including the secret one he had been using to text and film women.

Jenna clutched her chest as she cried, rubbing it with one hand.

”Jenna, it’s all over now,” I told her.

”You know, I thought nobody would ever be able to help me,” she began. ”So many times, I thought that if I just ended my life, I would finally be able to rest. It seemed like the only way out for me. But then you— you just appeared out of nowhere in my life, like an angel.”

Jenna broke down again, crying hysterically.

I could tell her mother could hear us because the bedroom door was completely ajar.

Knowing her mother, I was certain she was standing outside, listening.

”Jenna, listen to me,” I said, taking the phone from her and setting it down before holding her hand. ”You have to be strong, okay?”

I tightened my grip on her hand.

”It doesn’t matter if anybody finds out your videos were in there. Nobody has seen them. And even if someone has, it wasn’t your fault. None of this is your fault.”

I gave her a firm look as I spoke.

I had to help her return to her life and continue her studies because, at that moment, she still seemed completely distraught.

Then Jenna paused as if drawing in a breath before looking at me, her eyes slowly widening.

”What is it?” I asked, wondering if there was something else she knew.

”Your brother,” she uttered, wiping her cheeks with the backs of her hands.

”What about him?” I asked.

”Was he really guilty?”

The way she asked the question made my heart feel as though it had stopped beating.

Tears gathered in my eyes as I stared back at her.

”I mean, I know I shouldn’t question a victim, but was your brother ever given the chances Oliver had been given?”

She simply stared at me again.

I kept watching her face until a gentle knock sounded at the door, forcing me to look away.

”I just came by to ask how you’re feeling, Jenna,” Ragnar said, standing in the fully ajar door.

She nodded, giving him permission to step inside.

He entered and sat on the couch positioned farther away from the bed.

At least he understood that Jenna didn’t want anyone too close to her at the moment.

”I’m feeling much better,” Jenna replied, a broken smile forming on her face.

”Jenna, you should have come to us. Any of us brothers. We would never have judged you.”

From the way Ragnar spoke, I could tell he still wasn’t done with Oliver.

He looked tense and irritated. The veins along his skin kept bulging, and I noticed his ears turning red.

Even the tiny veins in his eyes seemed more pronounced.

I could only imagine how angry he was.

”No, that’s not true,” Jenna replied with surprising confidence, even though I could tell she was still anxious about everything and deeply traumatized too.

”What makes you say that?” Ragnar questioned.

Jenna glanced at me before looking back at him.

”You guys judged Verity hard.”

I felt strange.

It was as if, after I had helped her, Jenna had unintentionally begun helping me by asking all the questions I couldn’t ask them myself because I had to pretend I trusted Gigi.

But Jenna didn’t have to.

”We never did,” Ragnar replied.

His eyes briefly flashed toward me before returning to Jenna and settling on her.

I noticed the way he pressed his fist into the soft couch cushion as he adjusted his posture.

”That is so not true. I had everyone telling me to stay away from Verity because she was a bad influence.”

I guess hearing that statement made him feel some kind of way because even he shook his head before looking at me, almost as if asking whether it was true that people had been staying away from me, as if he wouldn’t already know that.

Jenna shocked me with how suddenly straightforward she became.

”Tell me something, Alpha King Ragnar.”

Then she continued, surprising me even more.

”Did you guys give Justin that much time as well?”

Her question didn’t just make my breath hitch. I watched Ragnar’s jaw clench too.

”I mean, the way you guys investigated Oliver, the way you had to set up an entire act to catch him and get him to confess. Did you do all of that with Justin too? Or did you just take someone’s word for it and go after him, punishing him and ruining a man’s life without any proper evidence?”

Jenna spoke very calmly, choosing each word carefully as though she were concentrating on saying exactly the right thing.

And she was asking the right questions.

I immediately turned away from Ragnar, afraid my emotions would give away my true feelings.

”Jenna, I think you’re deeply upset,” Ragnar replied. ”As for Justin, I had video evidence of him committing the act.”

My head snapped up, my attention flying back to Ragnar.

Even he seemed to notice how shocked I was.

I guess they thought I was automatically accepting and believing everything they told me. That was why I had stayed quiet the entire time.

But when I reacted so aggressively, Ragnar seemed a little taken aback.

Then I glanced away because, in a way, I could imagine Justin doing something like that.

”Anyway, if you need anything, let me know. As for your self-worth, it’s still intact,” Ragnar told her in a soft, gentle voice, completely unlike the way he usually spoke to everyone else.