Fated To Three, And I Broke Them All

Chapter 27: 27-He Is A Protector

Verity:

If I could get proof, I could show Ragnar’s brothers exactly what kind of man he was.

This wasn’t part of my original plan.

But by now, I had realized that if I wanted to survive here, I would have to adapt whenever the situation changed.

At the very least, this might create some division between the brothers.

Pulling out my phone, I quietly headed for the rooftop.

And when I stepped through the door, I froze.

Just as I’d expected, Ragnar and the old man were already there.

Standing face to face.

Deep in conversation.

And the look that passed between them was enough to convince me that I had been part of the plan.

I had always been the target.

Ragnar was leaning casually against the tall wall to the side, presenting his profile to me.

Beyond the low wall in front of me stretched the view.

The old man stood facing him, his profile visible as well.

One of Ragnar’s feet was bent, resting against the wall behind him as he lit a cigar.

The old man watched him in silence.

I had a feeling this was the moment when the old man would tell him about the progress of his plan and everything that had happened between us.

About how he had given me a time to meet him at midnight. freewebnσvel.cøm

I wanted to know what their plan had been.

If I had gone to him at midnight out of fear, what would have happened?

Would he have recorded me?

Would Ragnar have shown up and humiliated me?

I wanted to see how far these people were willing to stoop.

Ragnar took a slow drag from his cigar and flicked the ash toward the old man.

The old man didn’t even dare cough, though I could tell the smoke was irritating his throat.

Finally, the old man began to speak.

"I’m very sorry. I tried—" he uttered softly, tightening my face.

I started recording the conversation.

Ragnar continued smoking, looking more interested in the trail of smoke than in anything the old man had to say.

"I gave you one job."

Ragnar finally spoke up, his voice calm.

The old man immediately bobbed his head as though he understood exactly where he had gone wrong.

"You were supposed to do it properly. But what do you do? You mess it up."

His tone hardened.

I found myself wondering exactly how the old man had failed.

I mean, he had scared me.

He had delivered his threats aggressively enough.

It would have been frightening enough for most people to consider showing up at midnight.

Not me.

I was a cunning fucking bitch.

I would have found another way.

"Yeah, and everything had been going well until these people started complaining. I didn’t know how or when it had happened."

The moment Alpha Williams began explaining things, my entire posture stiffened.

Even so, I kept a firm grip on my phone and continued recording the conversation.

I was stunned.

I had thought they were talking about me.

"As the Alpha of the pack, you were supposed to make them happy. You were supposed to spend that money on them, not on building a harem for yourself."

Ragnar took one final drag from his cigar before dropping it to the ground.

He glanced at the old man, silently ordering him to put it out.

The moment the old man looked down to obey, Ragnar moved.

He grabbed the man by the collar and spun him around before slamming him against the wall.

The speed of it startled me.

Ragnar had to hunch slightly because of his height, but there was nothing restrained about the anger on his face.

"And then you had the nerve," Ragnar hissed, "to eye my secretary."

The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

"Your Highness, I don’t understand. She’s lying about it. I didn’t say anything to her, I swear. She came on to me."

The old man immediately shifted the blame onto me.

I guess that was another mistake.

Ragnar chuckled once. The sound was laced with contempt.

"She didn’t say anything to me. But the mark on her neck spoke for itself."

The old man’s face drained of color.

"The bruises on her neck," Ragnar hissed, "and her hesitation. Do you think I didn’t see the way you looked at her in the café?"

Then Ragnar wrapped a hand around the old man’s throat.

The old man immediately started struggling.

He looked terrified.

"I told you. I warned you. You didn’t listen."

As Ragnar spoke, I realized he wasn’t nearly as clueless as I had thought.

In fact, he clearly hadn’t been part of the plan either.

"Then you had your man take her laptop."

My grip tightened around my phone.

"Now I will have to punish you. And it won’t stop."

The old man’s face paled further.

"All the women you’ve kept here—"

Ragnar was still speaking when Alpha Williams made another mistake.

He interrupted him.

"They’re all here willingly!"

I watched Ragnar close his eyes.

A quiet hiss escaped him before he opened them again.

He tilted his head slightly, as if trying to contain his irritation.

"I would have appointed someone else as the alpha and put you in jail. But putting your hands on a woman under my care..."

The moment Ragnar referred to me like that, I slowly lowered my phone.

Tears burned behind my eyes.

If he was this thoughtful, this observant, then why had he done that to my brother?

Was his concern only reserved for situations that made him look honorable?

Or had Gigi’s love blinded him to everything else?

"From now on, every single day of your life will be a struggle, just as those women struggled because of you."

The old man visibly trembled.

"You’ll fight to survive while they live as free women. As for your pack, the new alpha will take care of them."

Ragnar released him and stepped back.

Then he began removing his coat.

"No, Your Highness. Please. I beg you. I’ll apologize to Verity."

The old man dropped to his knees.

His hands came together in desperation while Ragnar calmly removed his coat.

It was a striking sight.

The old man kneeling and begging for mercy while Ragnar stood over him, silent and scary.

"Ms. Verity."

The correction was quiet.

Yet goosebumps spread across my skin.

Something in me suddenly screamed to leave.

I turned and hurried downstairs.

I had only reached the second floor and grabbed a glass of water from the counter when a body crashed to the ground outside.

The sound echoed through the entire party.

Conversation stopped instantly, filling the air with gasps.

Everyone rushed toward the balcony to see what had happened.

I was one of them.

My hands tightened around the railing as I looked down.

The old man lay sprawled on the ground below.

Blood pooled beneath him.

But he wasn’t dead.

Just as Ragnar had promised.

This wasn’t the end.

It was the beginning.

Every day from now on would be its own punishment.

He would think he was free.

He wouldn’t be.

Then I noticed one of Ragnar’s guards approaching him.

I had a feeling that guarding him had just become the man’s new assignment.

Around me, shocked questions erupted from the crowd.

But when I looked at the old man’s wives and concubines, they were smiling.

They looked relieved and happy.

Their abuser was finally being held accountable.

Through the crowd, I saw Ragnar descend the stairs.

He handed his coat to one of his men.

Then he looked directly at me.

Without a word, he lifted two fingers and gestured for me to follow.

I guessed the meeting was over. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

I moved through the crowd and soon found myself walking behind him.

Without realizing it, I kept watching his profile while he strode ahead.

No coat and no hesitation.

No need to look back and see whether I was following.