Chapter 371-I’m Home

Gigi:

"How is everyone? How is Jenna? I’ve been so worried about her," I murmured, walking slowly beside Ragnar.

The doctor had explained my injuries to them in detail, including how rough Rocky must have been with me down there.

The truth was, Rocky could be painfully rough sometimes, but they didn’t need to know that everything between us had been consensual.

I had heard what the doctor told them about the bruises I had sustained and where he believed they had come from.

I could only imagine how badly their hearts had broken for me.

"Gigi, you should be worrying about yourself. Jenna is being well taken care of," Jaguar told me, stealing glances in my direction as they walked me toward Ragnar’s car. "The fact that she’s still what you’re thinking about makes me feel even worse that it took us so long to find you."

Once they settled me into the passenger seat, Ragnar leaned over and buckled me in.

They were treating me the way they had before, with so much care.

Except this time, I was lying.

But last time, it wasn’t only my body that had suffered.

Justin had broken my heart too.

Once everyone was in the car, I smiled at my mother as she climbed into her own vehicle to head home.

"She’s my mother. I can’t even imagine how all of this must make her feel," I murmured, sighing as I turned toward the window to hide my tears.

An awkward silence filled the car, probably because none of them knew what to say.

"Anyway, Lady Lucille and Verity are planning a beautiful mate ball for Jenna," Theodore said excitedly, rubbing his palms together. "You should get a gown too. Show the world that nobody can break you."

His words hit me harder than I expected.

I immediately turned toward Ragnar.

I could tell he noticed, but he kept his gaze fixed on the road, refusing to look at me as he drove.

Still, I knew he understood exactly what had crossed my mind.

The nerve of that old woman, planning a mate ball as though a woman from her own family hadn’t just suffered.

It was pathetic.

Throughout the car ride, Jaguar and Theodore had been busy on their phones, and I had a pretty good idea what they were doing.

They thought they were being slick, so I decided to act completely oblivious to the fact that they were planning something for me.

By the time we arrived, I could already tell they had arranged everything.

The warriors stood outside holding bouquets for me, and a huge illuminated sign above the mansion read:

’Welcome home, our Gigi. Our beloved Gigi.’

I smiled and turned in my seat to look at them.

"You guys did all this for me?" I asked, my lips trembling as tears gathered in my eyes.

"Why wouldn’t we? You’re special to us," Theodore replied, reaching between the seats to take my hand and give it a gentle squeeze.

"Okay, come on. We need to get her inside. It’s almost time for her medicine," Ragnar said, stepping out of the car and walking around to my side.

He opened the door, unbuckled my seat belt, and held out his hand.

Smiling, I placed mine in his and climbed out.

The maids and servants quickly collected my bags while the warriors came forward one by one to hand me their bouquets.

I accepted each one before passing it to the maid standing beside me.

"Welcome home. I hope you’re feeling better," one of the warriors said.

I gave him a small, gentle nod, making myself look every bit like the broken, shattered soul they believed me to be.

When I entered the living room, I found the entire place filled with white and pink roses.

Their scent hung heavily in the air, and every member of the family was holding a single rose for me.

This had to be Ragnar, Theodore, and Jaguar’s idea.

Everyone was participating except Lady Lucille.

She sat on the sofa with her arms folded across her chest, looking far from pleased to see me back.

"How are you, Gigi?" Mrs. Bundy asked, stepping forward to offer me her rose.

I accepted it with a smile that was entirely fake.

"I’m fine. Thank you."

Her husband handed me his rose next, and by then, I understood exactly what was happening.

They didn’t want to welcome me like this.

They were only doing it because the brothers had fucking ordered them to.

Then came Jenna.

She didn’t say a word.

She simply handed me the rose before returning to the sofa and sitting beside Lady Lucille.

I briefly glanced toward the three brothers, making sure they noticed Jenna’s attitude.

I understood that she was a victim, but our situations were completely different.

Yes, she had been blackmailed, but she had still made her own choices.

Everything that followed had started because of her decisions, while I had been abducted because of my brothers’ actions and Jenna’s stupidity.

If she had reported Rocky to the warriors sooner, perhaps he wouldn’t have started believing he could commit crimes and get away with them.

At least, that was what everyone needed to believe.

Then came Verity.

The first thing I noticed was how perfect she looked in her white dress.

She wore a bright smile, tears shining in her eyes as she held out the rose to me, but none of it made me forget what she had done to my brother.

She hadn’t needed to interfere the way she had.

So what if my brother had called her there?

She could have simply told him that she had reported him to the police, but no.

She wanted to humiliate him publicly because that was who she was.

She wanted everyone to see her as perfect and innocent, as though she were the victim, even though, in my mind, she carried some of the blame for what Justin had done to me.

And what she had done to my brother was far worse.

What angered me even more was that Verity knew what her brother had done to me.

After learning that, the least she could have done was forgive my brother because of me.

She had owed me that much.

If she wanted redemption, that had been her chance to earn it.

But she hadn’t.

Then she had the nerve to step forward and wrap her arms around me.

"I’m so glad you’re okay. I’ve been so worried about you," Verity murmured in that warm, loving tone of hers.

Little did she know that all the love and concern in the world would never make me forgive her.