Fated To Three, And I Broke Them All

Jenna:

It had become not so easy for me to sneak out because of Verity.

I had no idea she would be so clingy.

She kept asking me one question after another, and the more I answered, the guiltier I felt, as though I were doing something wrong.

Thankfully, I managed to gather my courage, and before long, I was outside.

The moment I entered the woods, anxiety suddenly hit me.

It was as though my whole body began to tremble.

I had no idea why.

I’d convinced myself I would just forget about last night.

My goal was to be with the man I loved.

Once I was with him, I believed he would heal me.

So what was happening?

My body began to give out.

Cold sweats broke across my skin, and everything came rushing back.

It hadn’t been a nightmare.

It had really happened.

I took a deep breath and forced a smile when I spotted Theodore standing beneath a tree in the darkness.

Even as I walked toward him, my body felt unbearably heavy, as though it were resisting every step.

Small whimpers escaped my lips, and I began to hiccup between my sobs.

By the time I reached him, I was crying uncontrollably.

The first thing I did was run straight into his arms and hug him.

The moment I embraced him, I realized he didn’t hug me back.

Instead, he gently pulled away, took my hand, and started leading me toward the river.

"No."

I resisted, pulling my hand free.

"I think we should just sit and talk tonight," I pleaded, unable to even look at him.

I hurried over to the riverbank and sat down.

When I realized he hadn’t followed me, I slowly got back to my feet.

He pointed toward the river again.

"No," I repeated, this time more firmly.

"Fine, then. I’ll leave," he almost yelled.

"You’re not supposed to leave me here alone," I pleaded, running after him.

He suddenly turned around and cupped my face in his hands.

He moved so quickly that my mask slipped off my face.

"I love you."

The moment he said those words, he pressed his lips against mine.

I thought he was about to leave, but instead he was saying all of this.

A thousand thoughts raced through my mind as he kissed me.

For the first few seconds, I didn’t respond.

I didn’t know what to do.

Then it hit me.

If I pushed him away now, he would never speak to me again.

And if he moved on from me, what would I have left?

Another man had already forced himself on me.

He had seen my body, touched me, violated me.

Had I gone through all of that for nothing?

As that reality settled over me, I felt my body go limp.

The next thing I knew, he was leading me back into the water.

For the next hour, he had me in the water.

My mind kept drifting back to the other night.

I loved Theodore. I wanted to enjoy being with him.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about that other man.

How the hell had he done that to me and gotten away with it?

Would I ever get justice?

I mean, Gigi hadn’t even asked me what had happened, why I was so terrified, what that man had done to me, or what I’d been through.

Those thoughts consumed me the entire time.

I don’t even think I cared what Theodore was feeling anymore.

The longer we stayed together, the more detached and disgusted I felt.

Eventually, after he cleaned me up, he turned me around, intending to continue.

I couldn’t do it anymore.

I caught his wrist and shook my head.

"No. I’m not feeling it anymore," I said firmly.

The way I said it made him gasp.

"That’s it, Theodore. You don’t even care about me. You bring me here like it’s some kind of obligation, and then you’re only concerned with what you want, without caring how I feel."

As the words poured out of me, I started to realize what I’d been doing to myself.

This had been nothing but lust.

He didn’t love me.

I looked straight into his eyes, holding his gaze.

Then I noticed something.

I nearly gasped.

"If you don’t do it tonight, then I will—" he said, but I didn’t hear the rest.

I was too focused on his eyes.

Then it hit me.

Theodore didn’t have blue eyes.

He had green eyes.

Then I noticed his voice.

His hair.

Everything.

It wasn’t him.

"You–" I whispered, staring at him in disbelief. "You’re not Theodore."

The moment the words left my mouth, I shoved him away.

"Bastard!" I screamed.

He only snickered.

In that instant, I knew this wasn’t Theodore.

My mind felt foggy, as though I were waking up after days of unconsciousness.

"What? What the heck?" I stammered, pressing a hand against my chest as I struggled to steady my breathing.

"Oh, come on. You enjoyed it. All this time, you didn’t care who it was. You just wanted someone to give you pleasure, and luckily for you, it was me."

A smug grin spread across his face as he stepped closer and reached for my hand.

My heart sank into my chest.

Before I even realized what I was doing, I slapped him.

His mask scraped against my palm, and I grimaced.

Blood dripped into the water as I stumbled backward, trying to get away from him.

He didn’t hold back and slapped me harder, almost knocking me off my feet.

The horror of what had just happened hit me all at once.

All this time, I’d thought this was Theodore.

It wasn’t.

"Who are you?" I screamed.

He rose from the water and slowly made his way toward the shore, getting dressed as he chuckled to himself.

"Well, I’m not Theodore," he replied.

"Wait—so all this time?" I gasped, my breathing growing rapid.

Then I noticed my phone lying on the ground beside him.

Still clutching my clothes against my body to cover myself, I rushed toward it.

Before I could reach it, he stepped on the phone, crushing it beneath his foot.

"Go home, silly woman. But don’t you dare tell anyone about this," he warned as he stepped away, making sure to crush my phone beneath his foot.

I hurriedly grabbed my clothes, threw them on, and ran.

I didn’t ask another question.

I just bolted.

The fact that I climbed into the same car that had brought me there only proved how terrified I was and how desperately I wanted to get away from him.