Fated To Three, And I Broke Them All

Verity:

The minute Ragnar arrived and announced to his brothers that he was getting engaged to Gigi, I didn’t know what happened to me, but my mood instantly soured.

Something almost flipped inside my chest, and I chalked it up to the fact that I had failed to fulfill my mission.

I was supposed to stop him from ever marrying that bitch, and now I was being asked to plan their engagement.

After the brothers left, I walked back into my room, completely forgetting why Lady Lucille had come to my wing in the first place.

So she followed me inside herself.

"Oh, I’m so sorry. Did I leave you out there?" I asked, forcing a smile onto my lips.

She tilted her head and pouted at me, leaving me confused by her reaction.

Then she came over and sat on the bed beside me, reaching for my hand.

"You’re a really good girl. An amazing woman," she began.

I gave her a faint, broken smile.

"Just so you know, I like you for my grandson too."

Her comment stunned me.

I waited for her to add something, anything, but she simply remained quiet, smiling at me.

"I’m sorry, what?" I asked, wanting to make sure I had heard her correctly.

"I know. I saw the look on your face when Ragnar announced that he was getting engaged to Gigi. Love is a strange thing."

Her words made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"Um, I’m not in love with him," I replied with an awkward laugh.

She only pouted at me again.

Okay, this was getting ridiculous.

She was just assuming things.

Who in their right mind would fall in love with someone like Ragnar when I already had two mates I was supposed to destroy?

"That’s not... that’s not why I’m so sad." I laughed almost hysterically, trying to dismiss the ridiculous assumption.

But I really did like Lady Lucille. Maybe I was biased when it came to her.

She wasn’t exactly the most righteous person, I knew that much, but perhaps it was because she disliked Gigi.

Still, I liked her.

It seemed we shared quite a few opinions.

"You know, I wanted you to be the one."

Her words made another loud, confused laugh escape me.

"Because Gigi is not it."

The moment she said that, I fell silent.

Now I needed to know what she meant.

"Look," she began with a soft, weary sigh. "Ragnar has a lot of power. He has a strong hold over his subjects. He is powerful, unlike anyone else."

My body stiffened as she spoke.

Oh, I remembered.

I remembered exactly how powerful he was and how easily he could use that power.

"And I’m afraid that sharing that kind of power with someone like Gigi would not be good," Lady Lucille continued. "With great power comes responsibility, and I don’t think Gigi has that. You cannot convince me otherwise."

She leaned back, resting her hands in her lap as her gaze shifted toward the door.

"When Jenna was going through everything she went through, she told me that Gigi threatened her. Every opportunity Gigi got to silence Jenna, she took it. But you had no connection to Jenna, and yet you did everything you could to help her, even putting yourself in danger."

Lady Lucille turned her attention back to me.

"That is the kind of woman who needs to be Luna Queen. Someone who knows how to use that power in the right way."

I didn’t know what to say.

"Anyway, now they’re getting engaged, and I don’t even know what to think anymore." Lady Lucille rolled her eyes before pushing herself to her feet. "I don’t even remember what I came here to talk to you about."

She sighed, making me smile as I got off the bed and took her hand, intending to walk her back to her wing.

"Oh, yes."

She suddenly stopped and turned toward me.

"It was about Jenna."

The moment she said her name, my heart began to pound.

"Is she okay?" I asked immediately.

Lady Lucille smiled reassuringly.

"She’s fine. It’s just that I think something happened last night at the ball. She refuses to tell me anything, but I don’t know... she’s been acting strange."

Her reassurance did little to ease my concern.

"Strange how? Good strange or bad strange?"

Lady Lucille shrugged.

"I’m not sure. Sometimes she seems really weighed down, and other times she looks worried. I was hoping you could talk to her. She might open up to you."

With that, Grandma Lucille started walking, and I accompanied her back to her room.

Jenna’s room was right beside hers, so I considered stopping by to check on her.

Then I heard it.

Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Click.

The loudest footsteps imaginable.

That walk was unmistakable.

I knew exactly who had just entered the mansion.

Fucking Gigi.

"Is nobody home?" she called out at the top of her lungs before giggling to herself.

Her laughter was so loud that I could hear it all the way from the guest wing.

Dragging my feet, I stepped out and found her standing there, looking ridiculously pleased with herself.

Then her eyes landed on me.

Her smile faded.

So that was how it was going to be now.

Apparently, she was openly against me.

A moment later, she forced a smile and tilted her head.

"Oh, Verity, how are you? How are you dealing with the trauma and everything?"

She placed both hands over her chest and bowed slightly, visibly mocking me.

With a sigh, I forced a smile that matched the fake one she was giving me.

"I’m doing well. Dealing with it. Trying to stop thinking about your brother chasing me through the woods."

I delivered the words with the same sweetness she always used whenever she spoke to Ragnar.

Her smile disappeared.

She blinked slowly before smiling again, this time making no effort to hide the malice behind it.

"Well, I hope that memory fades soon," she remarked. "Because there’s good news, and I really think you’ll be happy to hear that one of the victims is actually getting better with the help of her boyfriend."

There it was.

That cockiness in her voice.

She was so pleased with herself that she didn’t even realize she was exposing her true nature.

"I’m getting engaged to Ragnar. You must have heard about it," she added, giving me a tight, closed-lip smile.

For the next two minutes, neither of us said a word.

We simply stared at each other.