Chapter 171: Chapter 171 A Narrative Against Her
Reginald’s POV
I struck her across the face for the second time, but Fiona’s reaction caught me off guard—she was laughing like a madwoman, her behavior completely unpredictable.
"You think you can break me?" Fiona’s eyes blazed as she stared at me. "You traded me away. You never loved me. You never wanted this arrangement, did you?! Did you?!" She shrieked right in my face.
"Fiona! Have you lost your mind?! Do you understand why I did this?! Why I put my own life on the line?!" I shouted back at her. "Why do you think I’d go through with this?! Why would I willingly put myself in harm’s way! I did everything for you!"
Fiona clamped her mouth shut, and I caught a flicker of awareness in her gaze. Finally. She was actually listening.
"Why would I want to endanger you? Don’t you think it tears me apart when you spend nights with him? He’s trying to humiliate me by using you, and you know it. We both know it. I warned you not to go along with it, didn’t I?"
Fiona dropped her eyes, shame washing over her features as she realized her outburst and what she’d done the previous night.
"I told you to forget about it, yet you were the one who chose to proceed because you claimed it was the least you could do for your father. I never wanted to share you with anyone. How could I? You’re my mate. It destroyed me every time he laid a hand on you."
Guilt consumed Fiona. She’d thrown baseless accusations at me. The drugs had completely scrambled her mind. She fought back tears, but one escaped down her cheek.
"I don’t want you anywhere near him. But you know as well as I do that they control everything. They want to break us because we can’t survive without their support. You know this. How can you pin this on me?"
In the end, it had been Fiona’s choice to go through with it, and she was finally grasping that reality.
"I’m sorry, Reginald, I’m so sorry." Fiona reached out toward me, but I pulled back, startling her. "Reginald?"
Fiona raised her head, confusion clouding her features. Why was I avoiding her touch? "Reginald?"
"You spent the night with him, right?"
Fiona’s eyes went wide as she struggled to find words, unable to deny what we both knew was true.
"Did you?"
"Reginald, please..." Fiona broke down, panic setting in as she realized how twisted it was for her to sneak behind my back and sleep with Allen. "I didn’t mean to..."
"What do you mean you didn’t mean it, Fiona? Explain to me how you think you didn’t mean any of it?" I glared at her, slapping her hands away when she tried to touch me. "Before, you went to Allen with my permission. I know that. I told you, I asked if you wanted to go or not, but you always said you would."
That was because I would explain that we desperately needed the Valerium warriors’ help, and we had no choice but to keep royal beta Allen satisfied.
That’s why Fiona always agreed whenever I told her Allen was asking for her again.
"But now, you went there on your own. You gave yourself to him like a whore!" I spat the words, watching them cut into her like a blade.
"I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I just wanted the drug. I feel better when I have it."
I narrowed my eyes, and Fiona could see the hatred burning there. I despised her, and that much was obvious. The realization hit her so hard she could barely draw breath.
"Please, don’t hate me. I’m sorry, it was a mistake. I did something terrible."
"You know what, Fiona?" I fixed her with a cold stare, letting her see exactly how much pain I was in. "What you did was cheating. You betrayed me while I’ve done nothing but carry the burden of avenging your father."
Fiona sobbed uncontrollably, crying so hard she couldn’t catch her breath. She’d never experienced this kind of agony before—the crushing weight of disappointing her mate and dishonoring her late father’s memory. Self-disgust consumed her.
"Don’t touch me. You’re a cheater and a junkie."
"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please forgive me."
"Give me one reason why I should forgive you."
It was remarkable how effortlessly I could twist the situation in my favor. I’d managed to make Fiona feel guilty and crafted a narrative that worked against her.
"Tell me what I need to do for your forgiveness, please."
"Give me space, Fiona. I need time to process this."
I walked out of the room.
Once outside, the anguish vanished from my expression almost immediately as I made my way to the war room, where everyone was waiting for me, including royal beta Allen.
The old bastard smirked at me knowingly, but I completely ignored him as I took my seat beside Darius, facing the three other alphas who remained loyal to me and supported this Movement.
Alpha Sterling sat to my left. He would be running this meeting. My alphas flanked my left side, while royal beta Allen’s people occupied the right, with Allen positioned at the opposite end of the head table.
Darius and I would eliminate him when the time was right. But not yet. We still needed him, and we couldn’t risk a confrontation with him now.
That’s why I had stopped Darius when he was about to storm from the room and kill Allen.
"Let’s begin," I announced.
