Who’s Fabian???
I swallowed hard. This was worse than I’d imagined. Fabian wasn’t just trying to manipulate me; he was setting the stage for a full-blown coup. If I gave him what he wanted, it could spell the end of Simon, Lucas, and everything they had built. But if I refused… I didn’t want to think about what Fabian might do to me, or worse, what he might reveal.
“You’re asking me to betray the very people I swore to protect,” I said, trying to appeal to whatever shred of decency he might still have.
“No, my dear. I’m asking you to survive. Do this, and you might just live to see another day as Queen.”
There was a twisted logic in his words, one that made my stomach churn. I knew Fabian well enough to realize that he wouldn’t hesitate to destroy me if I became useless to him. But I also knew that if I played my cards right, I might find a way to turn the tables on him.
“I’ll need time,” I said, forcing a calm I didn’t feel into my voice. “This isn’t something I can do overnight. The twins… they trust me, but they’re not fools. If I start asking too many questions, they’ll get suspicious.”
Fabian was silent for a moment, as if weighing my words. Finally, he spoke. “Very well. But don’t take too long, Veronica. My patience has limits, and you wouldn’t want to test them.”
The call ended with a cold click, leaving me standing in the middle of my chamber, phone still in hand. My heart pounded in my chest, fear and anger mixing into a volatile cocktail. I was trapped in a web of lies and deceit, and with each passing day, the threads seemed to tighten around me.
But I wasn’t helpless. Not yet. Fabian had underestimated me before, and he was underestimating me now. I had climbed my way to the top, through blood, sweat, and tears, and I wasn’t about to let someone like him take it all away from me.
I placed the phone down and took a deep breath, steadying myself. If Fabian wanted to play games, then so be it. But this time, I would make sure the game ended in my favor.
The first step was to gather my own allies-people who were loyal to me, not just to the crown. If I could secure their support, I might be able to outmaneuver Fabian before he even realized what was happening. And as for Simon and Lucas… they needed to be kept in the dark, at least for now. They had enough on their plates without knowing the full extent of the danger looming over us.
As I made my way to the door, a plan began to take shape in my mind. It was risky, and the stakes were higher than ever, but it was the only way forward. I would have to tread carefully, trust no one fully, and be prepared to strike when the moment was right.
But one thing was certain: Fabian might think he had me cornered, but he was about to find out just how dangerous a cornered queen could be.
It took me a couple of days to get to this position, but I knew I just had to go on with my plan to ensure I was on the right side. After all, it is better to be safe than sorry.
There I was, standing right in front of Simon and Lucas, revealing the whole thing that had happened, but with my preferred version of the story.
“So now the thing is that this man has been threatening me for a while now, and to be honest, I really wasn’t sure whether to let you guys know or not since you’ve been so bothered with the issues going on in the kingdom right now.”
“Oh, come on, Veronica. You, of all people, should know that every little piece of information we get can be crucial for us in these trying times. But go on.”
“All right then. So he mentioned that he hadn’t been able to communicate with Ashley since she is no longer in the mansion. In fact, he even seemed to be extremely angry because, apparently, she was supposed to feed him more information to help achieve his long-term goal. But now that she’s no longer in the mansion, he felt betrayed.”
“Wow, that no-good, lying, and deceitful woman! Imagine if we hadn’t discovered her whole plan when we did; only God knows how much damage she would have caused while still being here,” Simon said with so much disgust in his voice, and I took it as an opportunity to fan the flames even harder.
“Exactly, that’s the thing! I used the opportunity to pretend like I was also against you guys, and that man was able to reveal so much to me about what he and Ashley had been planning.”
“What? And what could that be exactly?” Lucas asked this time, curiosity hitting him deeply as he focused on what I had to say.
“So the plan-and I mean the long-term goal for the plan-is actually to have you both overthrown as rulers of the lycanthrope. That man wants to know everything about what goes on here in the mansion regarding the administration of the kingdom. But his goal isn’t necessarily to destroy everything and cause chaos, but rather to bring you both down and claim the throne for himself.” I remained silent for a while, allowing them to absorb the news, before proceeding.
“I agreed to everything he said, giving him the impression that I wanted to help as an ally. But deep down, I know, and you both also know, that I can never give away these things and let my loyalty shift away from either of you.” I paused once more, excited to see that they were both buying my story so easily. All I had to do was crown it with a few more words before everything began to work in my favor.
“All right then, thank you very much for this vital information, Veronica. Honestly, it’s good to see that we at least have someone who would never break our trust no matter what,” Lucas said, and I smiled in return.
“Oh, and yes, what did you say was the name of the man again?” Simon asked, and I raised a brow as I thought quickly about whether or not to reveal his real name. However, what exactly did I even have to lose in this? Absolutely nothing! If anything, I would be getting so much from all this, so I decided to go for it.
“Fabian. His name is Fabian.” I turned to leave, allowing both brothers to evaluate the situation and do whatever they wanted to, because I had started something that would most definitely secure my place in this house for sure.
“Fabian? Who’s Fabian”
I heard Simon say, as I went out towards the garden to have some time to myself to think, but I was surprised to see my mom’s car approaching the mansion.
“Mom? What could she possibly be doing here?” I asked myself as I waited patiently for the guards to open the gates. I walked over to the entrance to wait for her to come out, and as soon as she saw me, a smile appeared on her face.
“Mom!” I exclaimed, walking over to where she stood, embracing her warmly.
“What are you doing here? Did you seriously leave Dad alone at home?”
“Oh, come on, Vee, aren’t you happy to see me? You know you shouldn’t welcome your own mother with so many questions.”
“My bad. How was the journey coming here? I hope it wasn’t too stressful, Mom?”
“Well, not at all, and no, I didn’t leave your dad at home alone. He had a conference meeting to attend, so I decided to come here and see my daughter.”
“Mom, you should have told me before coming.”
“So, I need to tell you and ask for permission before coming to my own daughter’s marital home?”
“Oh my goodness, Mom, that’s not what I meant. If you had at least called me to let me know you’d be around, I would have prepared something and, you know, gotten the place to your liking.”
“Spare me all that, child. Come on, let’s go in. You have lots to tell me, you know.”
“What? I don’t understand you, Mom,” I asked, as we both made our way inside. As we approached the lounge room, I ordered snacks and tall glasses of fresh juice for both Mom and me, and the maid went to do as I asked. We both sat down, and Mom looked at me with a weird smile on her face.
“What is it? Why are you looking at me like that, Mom?”
“Come on, you really thought I wouldn’t ask for all this tea? You have no option but to spill everything, okay? I’m not leaving here until you give me all the juicy details that I need to know.”
“Details about what?”
“You’re really going to keep pretending, right? Come on, it’s been a few months since you got married. Tell me how married life has been for you. I’m sure you’ve been having the time of your life,” she said, and I scoffed, shaking my head as I listened to her continue. “… and of course, I should stop getting ready to have a grandchild, right?”
“Grandchild? Mom, Simon and Lucas haven’t even touched me since we got married, and you’re here talking about a grandchild, oh please!”
“What? Please tell me you’re joking, Veronica.”
“Joking? I’m being very serious here, Mom. They have both refused to touch me since we got married, and all I’ve been using to satisfy my urges were, you know…”
“But how could they do this? It’s very wrong for you to be using those stupid sex toys when you have two husbands who should be doing the job without even being asked.”
“Shhh! Lower your voice, Mom. Do you want the maids to know what’s going on between us?”
“My bad, sorry, dear, but that’s just wrong! I’ll make sure to speak to them about it, I mean, come on!”
“Please do, because I am literally so tired at this point.”
“Sorry, my dear.” The maid walked in with a tray in her hands and very carefully placed the snacks and drinks on the table in front of us before leaving. I took a fistful of the deep-fried, bite-sized snacks and began munching on them.
“So tell me, what exactly has been going on with you in the house? I hope everything is going fine and no one is on your trail.”
“Well, things have been okay here, but that stupid Fabian has started making life very difficult for me,” I said in a hushed tone.
“Him? What could he possibly want from you again?”
“That’s the thing, Mom. At this point, that man is extremely power-hungry. He’s asking for more, and if I begin to ask too many questions and move around the way I was before, it’s only a matter of time before I get exposed.”
“Yes, that is very true.”
“So what I decided to do was tell Lucas and Simon everything.”
“Wait, what? Veronica, are you mad? You seriously turned yourself in?”
“No, of course not. I told them everything, but from the perspective that I wanted them to see it in. You know me already, Mom-I can never let myself be caught. Don’t worry, I handled it well, and trust me, everything will go according to plan.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Trust me, Mom, it definitely will. I’m very confident about it.” She took a deep breath and shook her head at me.
“At this point, you need to be extremely careful. I keep telling you this.”
“And I am, Mom. You have nothing to worry about, okay?” I took a sip of the juice and nodded in response.
“By the way, what exactly did you tell them?” my mother asked, her eyes narrowing with curiosity.