Fated To Three, And I Broke Them All

Verity:

Even though I was still drowning in despair and my anxiety hadn’t completely settled, when Theodore was finally given a chance to prove himself to me, he didn’t disappoint.

To be honest, I had expected him to choose Gigi.

Their bond was strong, and with her standing right in front of him like that, I never thought he would turn her away.

That was exactly why I had told him to go to her.

I needed to leave myself an opening, an excuse I could use later to continue whatever relationship was forming between us.

Because at the end of the day, I still had a goal.

I had to get these brothers wrapped around my finger.

I had to replace Gigi.

I had to remind her of what she had done to my brother and make her pay for destroying him.

But the moment that thought crossed my mind, my entire body went rigid.

Those videos.

What was the truth behind them?

What exactly had I seen?

Were those thumbnails really what they appeared to be?

"There. Keep yourself warm."

Theodore’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

He gently wrapped one hand around my ankle, his fingers moving over it almost like a soothing massage before he let go.

"I’ll get you something to eat, and then I’ll bring you something to help you sleep so you can actually rest, okay?"

He got up from the bed.

I had done plenty of research on Theodore before all of this.

From what I had learned, he liked bold women.

The kind who spoke openly, weren’t easily embarrassed, and could say something completely inappropriate without batting an eye.

That was exactly how I had behaved in the beginning.

At least until I couldn’t keep up with it anymore and pieces of the real me started slipping through.

What surprised me was that Theodore still chose me.

I hadn’t needed to keep changing myself for him.

If anything, lately it felt as though Theodore was the one changing for me.

After making sure I understood that I was supposed to stay put, he left for the kitchen.

The moment he was gone, only one thought remained in my head.

Gigi was still here.

She was probably with Ragnar right now, filling his head with things about me and my brother.

She had planned this whole thing.

I had already started suspecting her, but I hadn’t expected her to betray me so openly.

Of course, she would never admit that she had set me up.

I got off the bed, grabbed my phone, and slipped out of the room.

Walking carefully on my toes because of my injured foot, I decided I would go to Ragnar’s room, apologize, and come straight back before Theodore returned.

At the very least, I needed to see what was happening.

Maybe I could intervene.

Maybe I would finally catch Gigi in the act and see her true intentions for myself.

I had barely reached Ragnar’s room when I heard voices coming from inside.

"I heard everything. I went there to check on them, and you know what? I don’t believe Theodore sent her there at all. And how did she even get the code?"

Gigi.

She was already getting into Ragnar’s head.

"Gigi, would you let it go?" Ragnar replied, sounding exhausted.

"What is going on with you, Ragnar? If anyone else had done something like this before, you would have thrown them out of the house on the spot. Why are you suddenly so soft when it comes to her?"

I froze.

It was the first time I had ever heard Gigi argue with Ragnar.

More than that, it was probably the first time I had heard her openly question him.

Something between them was changing.

Gigi was beginning to shed that sweet, delicate, girlish facade she always hid behind.

"Gigi, get that idea out of your head. I’m not showing anyone a soft corner. My brother isn’t like that, and I’m done discussing this. Besides, what she said was true. I checked the search history myself. She really was searching for information about her brother."

Ragnar’s response was noticeably harsh.

That surprised me.

But everything was so unstable right now that it was impossible to predict anyone’s reaction.

After everything that had happened with Jenna, everyone was carrying some kind of anger, whether they admitted it or not.

"Fine. But at least listen to this. Your brother is lying," Gigi argued.

"How do you know that, Gigi?" Ragnar asked tiredly.

"Because when I went into that room, he was practically sitting at her feet, taking care of her and bringing her first aid. I didn’t just see them together, Ragnar. I saw how close they were."

Ragnar didn’t answer.

My attention sharpened immediately.

"And there’s something else," Gigi continued. "I noticed something on Jenna’s birthday too."

My ears perked up.

If she was talking about Theodore, something major had happened between us in the kitchen that day.

But how could she possibly know about it?

It wasn’t the kind of thing Theodore would have told her.

Whatever it was, I would deal with Gigi later.

Things had already reached the point where it was an eye for an eye.

If she hurt me, I would make sure she felt it right back.

Within seconds, an idea came to me.

I pulled out my phone and called her before she could say anything else.

A moment later, her ringtone started playing inside Ragnar’s room.

"Who’s calling you this late?" I heard Ragnar ask.

He didn’t sound suspicious, only concerned.

"Forget it. I’ll deal with it tomorrow," Gigi replied sharply.

"No. Answer it."

The second Ragnar said that, I turned and hurried back toward my room as quietly as I could on my injured foot.

She still hadn’t answered my call.

So Ragnar was definitely trying to convince her to pick up while she probably kept making excuses.

Finally, the call connected.

The second it did, I knew I had to be on speaker.

Before she could say a single word, I started talking.

"Gigi, I’m really sorry. I couldn’t do what you asked me to."

A smirk tugged at my lips as soon as the words left my mouth.