Fated To Three, And I Broke Them All

Verity:

”Well, there you go. I look pretty guilty, don’t I?” I said, feeling defeated.

”Actually—” Ragnar began, watching me hold my phone.

”Something doesn’t add up,” he added, making me look back at him.

I didn’t know what I was thinking.

I just knew Oliver was cleverer than I’d thought. Of course he’d figured it out.

I would never text him. Not in a million years.

”Are we still talking about it? I thought you would just immediately believe it. Don’t you wanna–” I paused, biting my tongue.

”What? Don’t I wanna what?” he asked, tilting his head further.

I was about to taunt him about always trying to please Gigi.

Thankfully, I caught myself before the words came out.

”Don’t you wanna look like the Alpha King who already solved the case?” I asked, coming up with an excuse on the spot.

Silence fell between us as I tapped my fingers anxiously against the table.

He remained seated, slowly forming an L with his fingers, two fingers resting against his temple and his thumb beside his cheek.

”What doesn’t add up?” I finally asked, returning to the main topic.

He removed his hand from his temple and adjusted his coat.

”He was speaking completely differently before that gap. Then, a few minutes later, his tone changed. It seems like something happened. Did you tell anyone that I’d taken your phone?”

Ragnar’s question hit me like a wrecking ball, and I immediately straightened my back.

”No, I haven’t,” I replied, looking him confidently in the eye.

He looked down, then sighed as he tapped his foot against the ground.

”Well, it’s quite crazy that you think he was faking being nice when you could simply believe him,” I said.

In my mind, Ragnar and his brothers would do anything to please Gigi, even if it meant closing their eyes and pretending something didn’t exist.

”Well, that’s your perception of me, Verity. That’s not who I am,” he commented.

Then he looked up at the sky before looking back at me.

”Are you sure you haven’t told anyone? Because it seems like he found out, and then he changed his approach.”

This time, he sounded much more confident about his question to me.

Suddenly, it hit me.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and my entire body went cold.

”What?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

”Nothing,” I replied.

I could have told him the truth, but right now, Jenna’s videos were at risk.

”Miss Verity, if there’s something you’d like to tell me, now would be the time,” he commented.

I could tell him, but that would mean I’d have to explain everything to him, and I wasn’t ready to do that.

Jenna had placed a lot of trust in me.

”Can you please give me some time? I need to figure out whether I accidentally told anyone,” I said, watching him tilt his head.

”You see, I was pretty drunk last night. I just remember not being able to keep track of what I was doing.”

As soon as I mentioned last night, I watched him suck in a deep breath.

Then it hit me.

He was getting embarrassed.

That wasn’t what I’d intended to do, at least not right now.

But watching him get so uncomfortable made me really happy.

”I don’t think—” he paused, shifting in his seat. ”You came to my room to talk about a few things and get some games on your phone, but then I dropped you off at your bedroom.”

He said it very confidently, definitely leaving out the incident that was making him turn so red.

”Oh, but are you sure I didn’t meet anyone on my way to your room? I mean, it could’ve been a maid or someone else, and I might’ve told them I was heading to your room to get my phone,” I said, watching his eyes shine even more when the sunlight hit them.

”Well then, I’ll figure it out. Don’t worry,” he said, his voice rough and low.

”Okay, you should go to work. I have something else to do,” I said as I quickly got up from the table.

”What do you have to do?” he questioned, watching me with furrowed brows.

”I have to prepare for Jenna’s mate ball, and it’s just around the corner,” I stated, giving him a cheeky grin before turning around and walking away.

I kept going until I briefly stopped, though I didn’t know why.

I turned around, just in case.

There he was, watching me before quickly looking away.

Well, what was that all about?

Deciding to ignore it for now, I rushed straight into the mansion, passing Mrs. Bundy as she stood outside the left wing.

”Hey, hey, hey! Where are you headed?” she called after me, but I ignored her.

I headed straight to Jenna’s bedroom and started knocking on the door.

”Hey, don’t bother her. She must be sleeping,” Mrs. Bundy complained as she came after me.

The moment she reached for my arm, I turned around and pointed at her.

”I have Alpha King Ragnar’s permission to speak with Jenna about her mate ball. There are some important things we need to discuss,” I said confidently.

I watched Mrs. Bundy’s jaw clench as if she wanted to argue with me, but she knew that if she did and I complained to Ragnar, she would get in trouble.

I’d already given them the impression that I was exactly the kind of person who would do that.

”Fine,” she replied, folding her arms across her chest. ”But I’m telling you, she’s sleeping.”

She had barely finished speaking when the door opened.

I gave her a smile and opened the door wider.

”I think not,” I replied, squeezing inside.

Before she could follow me, I quickly closed the door and locked it.

”What is it? Did something happen?” Jenna asked in such a mild, vulnerable tone that I almost instantly felt guilty for confronting her with all these questions.

The sad part was that the Jenna I knew had always been so positive, but now she’d turned into a scared little kitten, counting the days, minutes, and seconds until disaster struck.

”Have you told anyone that Alpha King Ranger has my phone?” I asked, watching her pout and slightly lift her shoulders.

”Yeah, that blackmailer called me. So I told him that you would delete the video after you got the phone from Alpha King Ragnar.”

The moment she said those words, I pressed a hand to my forehead as everything started to make sense, and it wasn’t a good story.

”What is it?” she asked, the color draining from her face.

”I think I know who it is,” I said under my breath before a hard knock sounded at the door.

Her mother was anxious and it was not the right time to have this conversation for now because Jenna was going to be very shocked and upset when she hears what I have to say.