Chapter 124: 124-A Call From My Past
Verity:
"I’m in a lot of pain, Roman. Please," I said softly before walking into the guest room.
I turned and held out my hand for the medication.
He didn’t look happy about it.
As a doctor, he wanted to check everything himself.
He wanted to decide when I took my medicine, make sure I was recovering properly, and take care of me.
At the same time, he wanted to be close to me.
Thankfully, my injuries gave me the perfect excuse to keep my distance.
Reluctantly, he handed me the bag.
The moment I stepped into the guest room, I locked the door behind me.
I looked around. Unlike the rest of the condo, this room was simple but spotless.
A bed sat beneath the window, with a dressing table on one side and a white sofa on the other.
But one question refused to leave my mind.
Why wouldn’t he let me into his bedroom?
Then I looked through the medications in the bag one by one.
Some were painkillers, while others carried a warning that they could cause drowsiness.
I decided not to take those, not while I was here.
As I swallowed the rest of my medication, my phone began to ring.
Theodore.
He must have found out I’d been attacked to be calling me at this hour.
I pouted, staring into the distance instead of answering right away.
After taking a few deep breaths, I finally accepted the call.
"Hello," I answered softly, deliberately keeping my voice dull.
"Um–I didn’t want to bother you this late. I just—I hope you’re okay."
He spoke so quickly, as though he had too much on his mind.
"I heard about the attack. Did you get your injuries treated?"
The question alone told me he already knew what had happened.
Maybe Ragnar had told him.
Maybe Jaguar.
I wasn’t sure how he’d found out, but somehow, the news had reached him.
I touched my chin, pretending to think about my answer.
"Yeah. My boyfriend showed up and took me back to his place. I think I’ll be staying here for a while."
I answered as casually as I could, fully aware that he wouldn’t take the news well.
"What? You— I mean, you’re staying with him? Wait— you have a boyfriend?"
Every emotion crossed his voice, and he didn’t bother hiding any of it.
It was painfully obvious how much the news bothered him.
"Yeah. I met him a few days ago, and we just started dating," I replied. "Actually, he’s been really caring. He’s taking good care of me."
I said it as innocently as possible while absentmindedly inspecting my nails.
My gaze drifted to the bedroom door.
What unsettled me was the shadow moving beneath it.
Someone was pacing outside.
Roman was still there.
"So I will request your brother for a few weeks off now," I added, keeping my voice low to make my injuries sound more serious than they were.
"Um—but how can you take weeks off?" Theodore blurted out.
Realizing how it sounded, he quickly corrected himself.
"Actually, I have something I wanted to ask you. I thought you could use the extra money."
My brows furrowed, but I was listening.
"What is it?" I asked.
Not because I needed the money.
I could manage just fine with what I had.
I simply wanted to see how far he was willing to go to keep me away from my so-called boyfriend.
"Actually, my grandmother is coming to stay with us, and she needs a personal secretary. I was hoping you could help her."
For a moment, I was speechless.
Then I smiled.
Just by pretending I wanted to stay with my boyfriend, I’d accidentally opened a completely new path for myself.
"Oh?" I replied, unable to hide my smirk.
Working for his grandmother would give me the perfect excuse to enter their home naturally, spend time around the brothers, and finally get to know them beyond the surface.
"I don’t know if Ragnar or Jaguar would be okay with it," I murmured, deliberately pushing him toward a decision that might go against his brothers.
"You don’t have to worry about that. It’s my decision," Theodore replied, sounding almost offended. "I’m a grown man. I don’t need anyone’s permission."
"All right. That would really help. Thank you so much," I said, my smile reaching my eyes.
"Then try to come over as soon as you can so I can tell you a few things about my grandmother. Hopefully tomorrow. Would that be okay?"
The urgency in his voice made it obvious he wasn’t willing to let me stay with my boyfriend for even a single day.
"Sure. That’ll be fine," I replied before ending the call with a satisfied smile.
Not that I’d wanted to stay here any longer anyway.
For the next few hours, I felt uneasy as I watched Roman pace back and forth outside my door.
At one point, I wanted to get up and stop him, but what if he tried to come inside?
It was better not to wake the sleeping bear and let him continue pacing.
I didn’t even lie down on the bed. I just sat on the couch, staring at the door.
Countless thoughts raced through my mind.
One of them was how I would make Ragnar regret his decision not to take me to the hospital.
I also checked their profiles.
One thing I noticed was that they all followed different people.
The only person all three of them followed was Gigi.
Other than her, there wasn’t a single account they all had in common.
But whoever they followed, Gigi followed as well.
While I was staring at the screen, a message popped up.
My heart started pounding even harder.
’Your mother is back from the hospital. Maybe you can come and see her next week.’
I read the message, and my vision began to blur.
The last time I wanted to visit her, I was told she was in the hospital.
But now I was being told I could finally go and see her.
I let out a deep breath, tapping my foot against the floor as I wondered whether she would want to know how Justin had died.
Comments