CHAPTER 138: CURSED

Hailee’s POV

Before I could even process what was happening, a hard slap landed across my face. Father.

The slap was so fierce my head snapped to the side, and for a moment, darkness clouded my left eye. A shrill ringing flooded my ears, drowning out every other sound in the room.

"How dare you!" Father spat, his voice shaking with rage.

I couldn’t answer. My mouth opened, but no words came. My cheek burned, throbbing under the heat of his hand. Slowly, I raised my trembling fingers to touch the spot, trying to steady myself.

"You fool!" His voice boomed again, echoing off the walls. "Do you even understand what you’ve done?"

Still, I didn’t respond. My lips were pressed tightly together. I blinked rapidly, trying to force my blurred sight to return. Spots danced in front of my eyes.

Step by step, I moved away, my body heavy, unsteady. I found a chair and lowered myself onto it, still clutching my cheek, my chest rising and falling as I fought to keep my head held high.

Father’s chest heaved, his eyes blazing with fury. "You are a disgrace!" he bellowed, his voice rattling the entire room. His hand snatched the goblet from the table beside him, and before I could move, he hurled it across the room.

It struck the ground near my feet with a loud clang, wine splattering across the floor like blood. Gasps echoed through the mansion, the sound of shock and fear rippling in every corner.

I didn’t flinch. I only sat there, my hand still pressed against my cheek, my chin lifting slowly. Let him throw everything he wanted. His rage couldn’t undo my words.

"Enough!" Mother’s voice cracked as she rushed to his side, clutching his arm. Her face was pale, her eyes wet with tears. "Please, stop this. She is still your daughter. Don’t let anger blind you!"

But Father ripped his arm free, his jaw tight, his whole body trembling. "Daughter?" he spat, glaring at me as if the word itself was poison. "She is no daughter of mine. She has dragged shame upon this house—upon me!"

Mother’s tears spilled over as she shook her head, trying to calm him, her hands pressing against his chest to hold him back. "Please... please, enough. Not like this."

Father pushed her away and took a step towards me. With a trembling body, I lifted my eyes to look at him. My sight was now back, but the sound in my head and the pain on the side of the cheek he slapped were still there.

"You didn’t just sleep with a man... but three different men!" He spat at me, actually spitting on me.

I swallowed hard and didn’t bother wiping his spit from my face.

"You are a disgrace, Hailee. I cursed the day you were conceived."

I wanted to speak back to him, to throw his words in his face, but I bit my tongue. Answering him now would be a suicide mission. His aura pressed down like fire, and I knew one wrong word could spark something far worse.

Father’s chest heaved as he pointed at me, his hand shaking, his face red with fury. "Do you have any idea what you’ve cost me? Because of you, I have lost everything I’ve been building! A land deal that would have secured our strength for decades—gone! All because of your shameful tongue and filthy choices."

Well, I didn’t regret it.

"Do you know what people are saying about me now?" Father’s voice cracked with rage, his spit flying again. "That I cannot control my own daughter. That the great King Stone is weak in his own house! Do you understand, Hailee? You have ruined my name. You have ruined us all."

My throat tightened, but I refused to let tears fall. My cheek still throbbed, the ringing in my ears still there, but my gaze stayed on him, refusing to break down in front of him.

He loomed closer, his aura suffocating me. "You are nothing but a curse. From the moment you were conceived, you have brought me nothing but loss."

The words cut deep. Deeper than the slap. Deeper than the goblet he had thrown. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

But still... I held my head high.

"I curse you, Hailee!" Father’s roar thundered through the hall, so powerful the walls seemed to shake with it. His aura spread like wildfire, suffocating, pressing down on me until I could hardly breathe.

My heart raced in terror as the weight of his words sank in. He was about to do it. He was about to strip me of the only thing that tied me to who I was—my wolf.

"Stop!" Mother cried, clutching his arm, her body trembling. Her tears poured down freely now, her voice breaking with desperation. "Please, don’t do this! She is your daughter. Our daughter! No matter what she’s done, she is still ours. Please, don’t take this from her."

But Father shoved her away as though her touch irritates him. His eyes, dark with rage, never left me.

"She is not my daughter. She is nothing. She has brought only shame and loss to this house. She has spat on our name, on everything I have built."

"Don’t say that!" Mother sobbed, falling to her knees before him. "She can change, she can still be saved—"

"There is nothing to save!" Father’s roar silenced her. His finger stabbed the air toward me like an executioner’s blade. "From the moment she drew her first breath, she was a curse. And now she proves it to the world!"

His words were like knives in my chest, each one sinking deeper, sharper. Still, I lifted my chin, refusing to let him see me break.

"You are no longer useful to me, Hailee," he spat. "Not as a daughter. Not as a bride. Not as anything. You are less than nothing."

I swallowed hard, my throat tight, but I refused to cry.

Father’s aura swelled, his voice deepened, laced with his ability. "For disgracing me before kings, for dragging my name through the dirt, for shattering all that I have built—your punishment will be greater than death."

Mother gasped, her hands clutching her chest as she shook her head wildly. "No, please! You cannot do this, not to her! She is flesh of your flesh!"

But Father’s eyes were stone, merciless. He raised his hand, his voice booming with finality.

"From this day forth, Hailee Stone, I curse you. You will be wolfless. Stripped of your strength, your birthright, your pride. For twenty years, you will walk this earth empty. No contact with this family... no wolf. That is the punishment for the shame you have brought upon me."