Fated To Three, And I Broke Them All

Verity:

"Earlier, when you woke up, you were saying some things," Ragnar questioned.

I sat in his study, staring past him at the sky through the window. The two brothers were seated beside him.

I felt like I was being interrogated again.

This time, though, I was much more relaxed because I wasn’t the one who had to explain why she shouldn’t be abused.

I took a deep breath before speaking.

"It was a nightmare from the past. Something that happened before I left my previous home, when I was threatened and given two days to leave."

I replied flatly, refusing to look at any of them.

I thought that after making Oliver go through the same thing, I’d feel much better.

But the stress came back because it felt like I was reliving that moment.

The familiarity of it all hit me at once.

"I’m really sorry that happened to you."

The moment Ragnar said that, I slowly lowered my gaze before looking directly into his eyes with a deadpan expression.

"I can’t believe Oliver turned out to be such a scumbag," Theodore remarked.

After blinking, I shifted my eyes slightly toward him on Ragnar’s right.

"I wanna fucking kill him myself," Jaguar added.

Once again, my gaze moved, this time toward him.

I remained completely still, my hands resting on the armrests, my back leaned against the chair and my head slightly tilted.

"The things he said about you and your body–" Ragnar began, slowly shifting in his seat, possibly hoping I would react enough to tell them what I was feeling.

"Those things were disgusting and completely wrong. And we acknowledged that. You are not supposed to feel like you are the reason someone is harassing you," he continued.

I stayed silent, pulling my lower lip inward as my chin began to tremble slightly.

"And I certainly didn’t know you had gone through all of that in the past."

As soon as Ragnar said it, I looked back at him.

From the corner of my eye, however, I noticed Theodore leaning back in his seat as though he were stretching while secretly meeting Jaguar’s gaze behind Ragnar’s back.

That look told me everything.

"But it’s not your fault," I said.

After I passed out, Ragnar had beaten Oliver and forced him to walk all the way back while continuing to hit him, just as Oliver had wanted to do to me.

This time, Oliver was the one being beaten on the way back to the center.

Ragnar had gone too far, though, and Oliver eventually passed out.

The latest news was that he wasn’t doing well in the hospital.

The doctor had said he’d lost so much blood that his chances of recovery were extremely poor.

And no one was willing to donate blood to him.

Everyone had practically washed their hands of him, especially after the truth came out.

One of the warriors had even stolen the footage and uploaded it.

That was all I knew.

I hadn’t watched any of it yet.

"If the interrogation is over, can I go back to my room?" I asked, watching all three of them shift in their seats.

"It’s not an interrogation, Miss Verity. We just wanted to apologize because we failed to–because justice failed you. Your brother was punished, but you had no right to go through what you went through."

Ragnar spoke quickly, referring to what Oliver had said about me when I had gone to ask him for money.

In response, I simply smiled.

I could tell all three of them looked lost, unsure of what that smile was supposed to mean.

"If you want, you can participate in deciding what punishment Oliver should get."

I heard Ragnar say it just as I reached the door, and I stopped, turning back to look at him.

"Why? What punishment are you planning for him?" I asked, watching his eyes widen slightly.

"It’s okay if you don’t want to punish him for me, but for Jenna, you should definitely consider the harshest punishment possible."

I made it clear that I understood they still hesitated to punish him because of Gigi, as though upsetting her would somehow be worse than what he had done.

"That’s not the case. We definitely want to punish him," I heard Jaguar say, but I didn’t stay around to listen to the rest of his bullshit.

I walked away.

I decided not to return to my room.

Jenna had already been moved out of it, and I’d heard that she had taken another pill and gone to sleep the previous day.

So I was waiting for her to wake up.

Now that everyone in the house knew what she had been through, I really needed to speak with her.

It was a dreary, sluggish day.

When I reached Jenna’s bedroom, I noticed lady Lucille and Jenna’s mother sitting in Lucille’s room with the door open, seemingly waiting for Jenna to wake up too.

"Verity?" Lady Lucille called.

I stopped and walked toward their room instead, keeping my head lowered.

I wore black pants and a black sweater, my hair tied into a messy braid.

"I don’t know how to thank you for what you did for my daughter. You put yourself in danger with such a dangerous man just so she could finally sleep peacefully. You’ve made me believe in goodness again."

Mrs. Bundy began to cry the moment she took my hands in hers.

"Tell me, what can I do for you? Anything. You can ask for wealth, a car, a home, or land."

She was crying, and so was Lady Lucille, both of them offering me something in return for what I had done for Jenna.

"If you really want to give me something–" I paused. "Then don’t say anything to Jenna when she wakes up. Don’t blame her for anything. She was just trying to find happiness in her life."

Lady Lucille nodded firmly, while it took Mrs. Bundy a few quiet whimpers before she finally agreed.

"I want to go see if she’s awake," I mumbled, gently freeing my hands before walking toward Jenna’s room.