Chapter 373-Right Next To My Room

Verity:

"Hey, hey. That’s enough. We know the rest," Ragnar said quickly, reaching for her knee.

Gigi flinched violently at his touch and looked up at him.

For a second, she seemed just as surprised by her own reaction, as though she didn’t understand why Ragnar touching her had frightened her so much.

But I think, somewhere deep down, all of us understood.

She had become afraid of being touched.

"Anyway, fill these out. I’ll take her upstairs," Ragnar told his brothers, handing them the files before gently taking Gigi’s hand and helping her toward her room.

"I’ll go and fill them out in my office."

Theodore immediately grabbed the files and hurried after Ragnar, and I knew exactly why.

He was avoiding me because he knew I had some serious questions for him.

Little did he know that running away wasn’t going to save him. I would ask those questions sooner or later.

Jaguar, however, was left behind, wearing the fakest innocent smile I had ever seen.

"So, how is everything going?" he asked, flashing me a wide grin.

"Why didn’t you tell me you were going to the hospital to see her?" I asked, watching him swallow as he prepared his answer.

"Why? Is there a problem with me spending time with her?"

That was fucking clever.

I clasped my hands together, forcing myself to calm down because, at that moment, he was making me sick to my stomach.

"That’s not what I’m saying. I’m asking about the lie. Why would you lie to me? What did you think I was going to do? Stop you? Is that really what you think of me?"

If they knew how to twist things around on me, I knew how to do the same to them.

"No. I just didn’t want you to feel bad because I wasn’t able to spend time with you," he explained, starting to rise from the couch.

I knew why.

He wanted to come closer to me.

But the moment I shifted away, he understood that I wasn’t going to let that happen.

I wasn’t in the mood for any kind of intimacy, and I wanted the physical distance between us to stay exactly where it was.

"So you really thought I’d be upset because I wanted to spend time with you while you were with someone who needed you more?"

I framed it perfectly.

I was angry, and I desperately wanted to let that anger out.

But I couldn’t do it directly, not while I was still playing a certain role.

I had to choose my words carefully and use them in a way that turned the situation in my favor without exposing what I was really feeling.

"I mean, I should get going. I have a lot to prepare for the mate ball," I said, rising from the couch.

"And there’s a trip coming up afterward." Jaguar called after me, but I didn’t stop.

I hurried back to my wing, only slowing when I noticed the door to the room beside mine was open.

Through the doorway, I could see Gigi and Ragnar inside.

That caught me off guard.

My wing and the guest wing had similar layouts, with two bedrooms in each.

Lady Lucille and Jenna were currently staying in the other one.

I continued toward my room but slowed as I passed Gigi’s door.

"I’m not staying in your bedroom?" I heard Gigi ask Ragnar.

"Your body has been through a lot. The doctor said it’s better if you’re not around anyone right now, not even your boyfriend," Ragnar explained.

"Yeah, but apparently my body is fine around you," she replied.

I quietly pushed my own door open, moving as carefully as possible so they wouldn’t notice me.

"Well, I wish that were the case, but the doctor said you need to heal first," Ragnar responded with a faint groan. "And it’s not like I’ll be far away. I’ll be in this wing most of the time."

His calm voice sounded forced.

"Well, okay," Gigi replied sadly.

I slipped into my room just as Ragnar stepped out of hers.

While closing my door, I watched him walk away.

A moment later, Gigi slammed her own door shut, clearly upset.

I sighed and was about to close mine completely when I heard her phone ring.

She had gotten all her belongings back, including her phone, and something told me I needed to listen.

I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I needed to know if anything involving Oliver came up.

I wasn’t going to let what happened to Gigi somehow give Oliver a free pass.

I quietly stepped back into the hallway and stopped outside her door.

"Yeah, I’d like to see you, Rochelle. You can come over. I’m at the Stone Mansion," Gigi said from inside.

Her voice made me frown.

"Yeah! We will talk about everything. I have an explanation."

She sounded harsh, almost taunting, nothing like the soft, fragile way she spoke around us.

I hadn’t realized there was trouble between her and Rochelle.

I went back to my room and sat down, remembering the call I’d had with O a few days earlier.

Flashback

I had barely sat down when O called.

"What is it?" I whispered as I answered.

I knew he only called or texted when it was something important.

"Do you actually believe Gigi’s whole victim story?"

His question caught me off guard.

"I don’t know about you, O, but this time it’s true. She had bruises all over her body, and when they found her, he was on top of her trying to kill her," I replied, anxiously reaching for the door and cracking it open to make sure no one was in my wing.

"Well, that’s what she says. Isn’t that what she said about your brother too? I’d think twice if I were you."

I frowned.

"Anyway, I’m already looking into it. If I find anything, I’ll let you know. Just don’t start feeling sorry for that woman. Remember, if this really happened to her, then it’s karma. After what she accused an innocent man of, she deserved whatever came back to her."

He ended the call before I could respond.

I stared at my phone for a moment before shaking my head.

A man would never understand what something like that felt like for a woman.

And this time, everything had been right there in front of us.

End of flashback

Now I was curious and I needed to know.

Whatever Gigi and Rochelle were about to discuss, I had to hear it.