That question haunted me endlessly—from the day she vanished, from the moment we saw that horrifying photo of her bloodied, lifeless body. No one had located it. No one admitted to sending it. But still, they pointed fingers at me.
How could anyone hurt such a pure, joyful soul?
I couldn’t breathe in that suffocating room a moment longer.
As I walked through the halls, whispers trailed after me like ghosts. Murderer. Monster.
I kept my eyes low, my vision warping until I collided with a table and a vase toppled. It crashed to the floor, scattering in jagged shards. I knelt quickly to clean it, my head spinning. My left eye gave me nothing but a hazy blur. I blinked, trying to focus—
"You!"
That voice froze the blood in my veins.
My father.
"How dare you show yourself!" he bellowed, advancing on me. "You murderer!"
He seized my arm violently, pain shooting through it like fire. His grip felt like it would shatter bone. Then he shoved me away with loathing.
"I didn’t mean to—" I tried to explain, but my words were faint.
My stomach twisted with dread.
The vase I’d broken… it wasn’t ordinary.
It had held Kian’s ashes.
His urn.
"I—No—I didn’t know—"
The slap landed so quickly I didn’t even see it coming.
The sound echoed. My ears rang.
"You destroyed him! Just like you destroyed Chelsea!" he thundered.
I reached for my cheek, already feeling the sting of blood from where his ring had split my skin. My hand trembled.
I stared at him—the man who once held me as a child.
And for the first time, it became devastatingly clear.
I was no longer his daughter.
Not now.
Maybe not ever again.
Louise's POV
"Don't ever come back here again! I warned you, didn't I? How could you not understand? You carry the blood of evil! You are no daughter of mine!"
My father's voice echoed like thunder in the room, filled with nothing but loathing. There was no affection in his eyes. No care. Just revulsion.
Why had I come back?
What was the purpose of this pain?
My eyes blurred with tears. "I'm sorry… I never intended for things to end up like this."
"Get her out of my sight! Take her to her quarters!" he shouted.
Without a shred of kindness, two guards seized me, their grip harsh and unforgiving, treating me like some criminal off the street. Not like the Alpha’s daughter. Not even like a person.