Fated To Three, And I Broke Them All

Verity:

”And honestly, I didn’t know what you were going through. I just thought you were this crazy woman who didn’t care about anything, not even her own reputation. And I’m sorry for judging you for that. But how was I supposed to know when you were shutting everyone out?” Gigi continued.

Now she was starting to get on my nerves.

”Enough,” Ragnar said loudly, silencing both of them.

Jenna turned toward me and immediately rushed into my arms, crying against my chest as I hugged her back.

I caught Gigi looking at me, her eyes filled with anger and rage.

But within seconds, she smoothed her expression and turned back to Ragnar.

”Gigi, please leave her alone. Anyone who didn’t help her before, anyone who’s triggering her now, needs to stay away from her.”

It was the first time I’d heard Ragnar use such a harsh tone with her.

I could tell Gigi was stunned by the way she kept looking between him and Jenna.

”Ragnar, I only came here to apologize to her,” Gigi said, her voice suddenly much softer.

”Then apologize and leave. Don’t keep going back and forth with her,” Ragnar ordered, pointing toward the door.

Even the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

I could only imagine how humiliating that must have been for Gigi.

Ragnar’s tone had been brutally harsh, and it was the first time I’d ever heard him speak to her that way.

”I don’t. I only came here to comfort her.”

Gigi sounded even more disbelieving now.

”And she clearly doesn’t want your comfort, Gigi. So we’re not going to force her to listen to you. Please wait for me outside.”

This time, Ragnar used a gentler tone, but the meaning behind his words was still the same.

He was simply asking her to leave.

Well, I guessed the queen was having a hard time with it.

From the look on her face, no one had ever asked her to leave before.

Gigi nodded, still looking stunned, before turning on her heels and rushing out of the room as if her tail were on fire.

”Jenna, you should rest,” I said, gently rubbing her arm as I pulled away from the hug.

She nodded before taking my hand.

”Thank you so much, Verity. If you hadn’t been there for me, I probably would’ve ended up taking my own life.”

I immediately shook my head, cupping her face with my hands, refusing to accept that she had ever felt that was her only option.

”You’re the best. Really, the best person in the whole world,” Jenna uttered, kissing the back of my hand.

Tears gathered in my eyes.

But more than anything, I was grateful I’d made the decision to help her.

”I’d like to speak with Alpha King Ragnar about my studies,” Jenna murmured softly.

Ragnar and I exchanged a brief glance.

We didn’t say anything openly, but he seemed to understand what I did.

Jenna had finally gathered enough courage to start finding her way back to life.

And Ragnar looked more than willing to help her.

I gave them both a nod before walking away.

As soon as I left the left wing, I spotted Mrs. Bundy standing with Gigi.

”So you were taking my daughter around, dragging her to places where her reputation, self-respect, and dignity were being torn apart?” Mrs. Bundy screamed at Gigi.

Gigi glared at her, taking slow, heavy breaths.

She wasn’t openly defending herself, but judging by the way she was breathing, I could only imagine how badly she wanted to snap at the woman right then and there.

”I didn’t know. Your daughter wanted to have fun, so I just went along with it,” Gigi forced out, giving her a strained, broken smile.

But I knew she was more upset about her own brother than anything else.

”And it doesn’t matter. She was new here, and you were the one who introduced that scumbag brother of yours to my daughter. How could he not think twice before doing something like this in his sister’s boyfriend’s home? Forget about Jenna. Did he have no regard for you either?” Mrs. Bundy yelled.

Gigi closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself.

”Well, of course I’m going to get punished for my brother’s sins,” she muttered.

Then her gaze landed on me.

I watched her tilt her head slightly before looking away.

There was something dark in her eyes.

”What is going on here?”

Just as I expected, Theodore appeared.

He looked distraught too.

Of course he did. Now their precious little Gigi was going to start questioning them about everything.

”Nothing. I deserve it,” Gigi commented, dramatically turning her face away.

So let me get this straight.

My brother did something, and she was the victim.

Her brother did something, and somehow she was still the victim.

I genuinely didn’t understand how her mind worked.

”Mrs. Bundy, please. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that this was all Oliver’s fault. Gigi didn’t know. If she had, she definitely would’ve stopped him,” Theodore defended her.

I wasn’t surprised.

It would take some time before they finally opened their eyes to everything she’d done.

I could wait.

After all, it wasn’t as though these brothers were innocent either.

They were going to be punished too.

Mrs. Bundy glared at Gigi before walking past me.

However, she stopped long enough to give me a warm smile and gently rub my arm, almost as if she were showing me appreciation.

I saw Gigi notice the gesture before turning her head away, as though she couldn’t bear to look at it.

Once Mrs. Bundy was gone, I straightened my back and looked Theodore directly in the eye.

The fact that he still stepped forward and took Gigi’s hand to comfort her instead of coming to me first bothered me.

I had been there the night before, suffering on my own.

It only proved that I still had a lot of work to do if I wanted to completely drive a wedge between Gigi and the brothers.