Chapter 423-I Lost To That Garbage

Gigi:

I stared at the two of them through tear-filled eyes, yet neither seemed ashamed enough to stop themselves from repeating it.

"Gigi, please, there’s no need to get emotional about this. You were in the wrong. She’s our mate. How could you disrespect her in front of us?"

The worst part was that Jaguar actually felt the need to explain himself.

Every word out of his mouth only drove the knife deeper.

"You want me, Gigi, to apologize to Verity?" I asked softly, pointing at myself as my lips began to quiver.

They both noticed. There was no way they could miss the tears gathering in my eyes.

"It would be the right thing to do," Theodore mumbled, averting his gaze because he couldn’t bring himself to meet my eyes.

So they knew they were hurting me. They could see it happening right in front of them, and they were still doing it.

"Does your brother know you two are here?"

If nothing else worked, I would remind them of their brother. His status, his authority, his very existence.

"Does Ragnar know you’re here asking me to apologize to Verity?" I asked, gesturing vaguely toward nowhere because that was exactly what Verity meant to me.

Both their jaws visibly clenched.

Every time they did that, it infuriated me because the message couldn’t have been clearer.

They hated hearing me disrespect Verity, and knowing that only made me want to disrespect her even more.

"Since when does Ragnar ever know every time we come here?" Theodore snapped.

Jaguar immediately placed a hand over the back of his brother’s, silently warning him to stop.

I had reached such a level of disbelief that I genuinely didn’t know what to say anymore.

These two had come here to pick a fight with me, and now they had to keep each other in check just to stop themselves from being rude to me.

"Wow," I breathed, pressing both hands against my chest.

"Fine," I told them. "I’ll apologize."

Relief immediately spread across both their faces.

"I’ll get down on my knees, hold Verity’s feet, and beg her to forgive me."

Their smiles slowly disappeared.

"That won’t be necessary. Just tell her you’re sorry and she’ll forgive you. She’s very kindhearted, trust me."

The audacity of Jaguar.

He was sitting in front of me, explaining what a kindhearted person looked like as though he had somehow forgotten that I had always been one too.

When had I suddenly become so awful in their eyes that Verity seemed better than me?

"No, no." I shook my head. "I’ll apologize properly. I’ll hold her feet, and now I’ll do it in front of everyone. Ragnar too."

Their expressions changed.

"I’ll tell everyone how you both came to my house at night to warn me that I needed to get down at your mate’s feet and beg her forgiveness."

The moment the words left my mouth, I broke down.

"Do you two have any idea how much you’re hurting me?" My voice cracked as the tears finally spilled over. "You’ve completely forgotten about me, haven’t you? Completely."

A hiccup caught in my throat.

"That’s not true, Gigi. We care about you. You know we do. How can you even question that?"

Jaguar was the first to move, coming over to sit beside me.

Theodore started to walk toward me too, but I immediately pointed at him, warning him not to come any closer.

He stopped.

"You get up too," I told Jaguar, recoiling from him. "Don’t come near me."

He looked offended, but that was hardly my problem. This was his fault in the first place.

"Both of you, get out. You came here to do what you wanted, and you’ve done it. I’ll apologize to her, okay? I’ll throw myself at her feet and beg her to forgive me. Just go. Please, leave me alone."

My breathing grew ragged as I clutched at my chest, then dragged my nails against my neck.

"Gigi, please, calm down. You’re hurting yourself."

Jaguar’s eyes dropped to my skin, catching sight of the red scratch marks my nails were leaving behind.

"No. Don’t. Don’t come near me." I struggled to catch my breath. "Just leave. Please, both of you, leave. I don’t want to talk to anyone."

I didn’t even know what was happening to me anymore.

All at once, my mind became so foggy that I could barely form a thought.

The words refused to come, and my entire body trembled beyond my control.

Maybe, for the first time in my life, I knew what it felt like to lose to another woman.

Women had come and gone before.

I had plucked countless women out of their lives and tossed them aside as easily as skimming a fly from a glass of milk.

But Verity was different.

Somehow, she had me pinned beneath her without even being in the room.

And the brothers looked so certain of themselves, so unwavering in where they stood, that a horrible realization settled over me.

For Verity, they looked ready to go to any lengths.

Suddenly, everything began to darken around me, and I could barely breathe.

I hadn’t realized how deeply their words were affecting me. I didn’t even need to act anymore.

Every single thing they had said had genuinely struck a nerve.

Before long, I found myself slumped against the couch.

Through the haze, I heard Jaguar shouting for the warriors to bring my mother, while Theodore stayed beside me, grabbing a glass of water and splashing some onto my face.

My eyelids grew heavier until I finally let them close, slipping into unconsciousness.

Little did they know that the moment I woke up, I was going to complain about both of them to their brother.

Enough was enough.

When I finally came to, however, my mother was the only person beside me.

I was back in my bedroom.

My shirt had been properly adjusted, everything covered and back in place, while my mother sat beside me looking absolutely terrified.

"Gigi? Thank goodness you’re awake," she cried, climbing onto the bed and gently touching my face. "Tell me what happened."

Her expression tightened with worry.

"What did they do to you?"

Honestly, I hadn’t been planning to say anything like that.

But the moment she asked the question, she gave me an idea.

I took her hand, gripping it desperately as I whispered, "They came here to take advantage of me again."

And with that, I broke down in front of her.