Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.-Chapter 285: Madness.

Zevran.

It is quite obvious that by now, you all must have grown tired of my constant sulking and the way I would constantly lament about losing Leilani forever.

Well, this Chapter isn’t one of those where you’d get to hear about how much I struggled with coming to terms with the fact that she would never be mine or my brothers’. If anything, it would go to show just the lengths I can go to get her to soften up to me.

How much I can do to make her like me.

As I watched her walk away with a mixture of sorrow and pain gnawing at my chest, I quietly made a firm resolve.

That I would have her.

But not just that, that she would have me too.

She disappeared up the flight of stairs, and it wasn’t until then that my brothers turned to look at me, their faces a blend of embarrassment and something else... something that looked like desire as we passed the next few seconds in utter silence.

"What do we do now?" That was Caelum breaking the ice.

And no, come to think of it, did I ever mention to you guys that Caelum, the well known callous brother has been growing up these past couple of days?

Do you know that for some reason, he’s softened both mentally and physically; and now, he avoided conflicts like it is a plague.

His eyes found mine in that moment— searching and hesitant. He hissed; "She’s mad at us and we simply cannot leave her like that."

"But she wants us to leave." Kael cut in, then in a smaller voice added; "I don’t want to though, but I want to respect her choices..."

If anyone had told me some months ago that my brothers would be... you know... like this. Soft and considerate especially towards Leilani of all people, then I would’ve argued. I would’ve branded them mad and deranged.

I guess I am the mad one now.

"Let’s leave her be." I said softly, glancing briefly at the top of the stairs. "She’s fine... she’s safe..."

"But I still worry about her. Louis escaped!"

"You both shouldn’t be worried about Louis escaping or what he could do to her as she can take care of herself in that regard— to some extent..." Caelum drawled, frowning as he spat out the word ’herself’ as if it was something vile, then continued;

"You should be worried about her indifference towards us. Because how the fuck do we protect her if she wouldn’t even spare us a glance? How in purgatory do we keep her safe if she has refused to have anything to do with us... even friendship?"

"This is one of the moments where I wish I am Frostclaw," I drawled without thinking, but as soon as those words left my mouth, I cringed and turned away, hating the way my cheeks then began to sting.

What made me even more embarrassed was the way my brothers laughed at me, patting my back like it was one of those times I’d just found out what a crush meant and I had snuck out after dinner to tell them I was having a crush as big as Madagascar on Penelope, our butler’s daughter.

Caelum smiled. "I wish so too."

But that was all we said. That was all that had to be said before we settled into a comfortable silence one more time.

However, this time around, the couple of seconds of having nothing to hear or listen to but my thoughts made me completely lose my mind. It gave me an idea that was both golden and dope at the same time, and without thinking it through, I brightened up with a smile and blurted out;

"Let’s make her dinner!"

"Huh?" Both Kael’s and Caelum’s mouths hung open as they turned to stare at me, a flicker of uncertainty and unease crossing their features before one of them had the boldness to say;

"But we’ve never cooked before, Z."

I nodded slowly. "I know that."

"I’ve never even boiled water of all things before..." Kael spat,

"I have never done that either." I added, feeling an intense heat creep up my face as I thought more about this bizarre idea I’d just come up with.

However, I was snapped out of my little bubble when Caelum shook his head and seethed; "So how the fuck do you expect us to make dinner for Leilani? Do you intend to make her suffer from food poisoning?"

"No, of course I do not." I hissed in annoyance— partly because my brothers were beginning to make me think that I may have lost my mind, and partly because at this point, they were winning and I was also beginning to think that I may have indeed lost my mind.

"We can do it," I hissed, even though I no longer had the courage and conviction I felt earlier anymore. "We would use YouTube or TikTok recipes."

As soon as I said that, I had half expected my brothers to laugh at me. Goddess even at some point, I feared that they would walk out on me; But to my utmost surprise, they did not.

Instead, Caelum turned to face the kitchen and sighed, his voice quiet as he muttered; "Let me check what she has at home... her pantry to be precise."

I froze.

"I could also check her fridge and freezer. Let me see if she has some beef or chicken or something," Kael added, and this time, so help me goddess, I couldn’t help but open my mouth in astonishment.

I also feared that just like me, my brothers may have completely gone mad as well.

But in a good way.

—

We spent no less than four hours preparing anything and everything we could come up with. Now, if you ask me to name whatever we’d just made, I wouldn’t know what they are called.

Why?

Because we were simply copying all the recipes we stumbled across on the internet today until we unknowingly made a feast.

And now, all I know is that by the time we were done, her kitchen was completely upside down, Caelum and Kael were bickering amongst themselves, comparing who was a better cook than the other.

And I... I was simply glowing in joy and brimming with warmth at the idea that I’d pieced this all together myself.

That I was the mastermind behind this genius idea.

I placed the apple pie carefully on her small dining table and took a step back to admire the artwork that we had just created.

And I know that I am not supposed to blow my trumpets but they all looked divine. They looked like something the chefs back at home would prepare—

"Only that they do not taste half the same," Caelum spat, his face scrunching up into a mini sneer as he brought his spoon down.

Earlier he’d been busy scooping up the chicken broth we made into a bowl, and just as expected, as soon as he was done with that, he’d tried to taste what was left of it...

No, scratch that! He had tasted it!

So tell me why the fuck he looks like he’d just been hit by a moving train?

Goddess, I hope it is so sweet, he is frowning now due to how stunned he was?

My throat instantly went dry due to the fear now spreading in my veins and I could tell that I was already sweating due to how clammy my palms suddenly were.

I turned to him and hissed coldly; "What do you mean?" But even the goddess knows that right now, I was more afraid than mad.

He turned away. "It tastes horrible."

"On a scale of one to ten, how horrible does it taste?" I found myself asking, even though I already knew that I would hate the answer.

He shrugged. "A thousand and fifteen." He hissed, and as soon as I heard that, my heart dropped into my stomach. Fear worse than the one I had when our father made me spar for the first time with grown ups and I was just seven, surged through my bones.

I croaked out; "Taste it, Kael."

But I was too slow. He was already tasting it. And just like Caelum, he looked like he’d just been made to chew cow dung. I wasn’t the one who ate it but my face stung.

"She wouldn’t like the food. Let’s get her flowers." I rasped.

"And designer bags and clothes."

"We could add some money to that too." Caelum hissed, but then me... like the completely rational person that I was asked;

"What if she doesn’t take them?"

They froze and immediately went quiet. Because truth be very told, she may not.

I mean, it’s Leilani we’re talking about here.

However, before any of us could decide that, we heard the faint sound of her footsteps coming down the stairs and we literally froze.

Especially since she soon asked; "Why does the house smell so nice? Did any of you cook?" And when we wouldn’t respond instantly, she frowned and asked; "Let me see it."

And crack!

I could swear I heard my heart shatter into a million pieces.