The Beta's Rejected Daughter (Fiona) novel Chapter 28

The Beta’s Rejected Daughter

Chapter 28

The moment the words left my mouth, the whole room froze.

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Lance’s eyes sharpened like a blade. “What did you just say?” His voice was low and fierce, trembling with fury he didn’t bother hiding.

I met his glare without fear. “You heard me.”

Lydia clutched his arm instantly, her voice soft and wounded in that fake way she’d perfected over the years as she talked to me. “Fiona… why would you say something like that? I’ve only ever tried to be your sister.”

Students murmured around us, glancing between us like they were watching a live scandal unfold. They seemed to already believe her.

Lance stepped forward in that moment, hostility radiating off him, sharp enough to cut.

“You think you can come in here and talk to Lydia like that?” he snapped. “She is the Beta’s daughter. She is everything you’re not–kind, respectful, loyal to her family.”

Jake moved in beside him, eyes filled with disgust. “And she didn’t abandon the family the way you did. You have no right to speak to her at all.”

A coldness brushed over my skin, that familiar ache from a past version of me who used to beg them to see her.

But that girl was dead.

“Abandon?” I repeated quietly. “No. I walked away. I finally walked away from all of you. I escaped the evil Lydia planned for me.”

Lance scoffed. “You think lying will save you? We all know the truth. You’re the sister who tried to kill Lydia. You should have been punished–locked up. And now you dare to stand here in front of us with your head high?”

Raina stepped forward immediately, fury burning bright. “She didn’t try to kill anyone. You know damn well-”

“Raina,” I called softly, stopping her with a touch. “Let me deal with them.”

Lydia began to sob, her face buried in her palm, and Jake pulled her into a tight hug. “She called me evil. It hurts. Why do you hate me so much?” Lydia muffled, and I could see Lance burning.

“I regret the day you were born as my sister. I hate the sight of you!” Lance snarled, his hatred

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for me running far too deep to make any sense, and in his eyes I could tell he even wished me death.

But it was the kind of hatred only a guilty person felt toward someone they had wronged. How dare I talk back to him?

How dare I not bow?

How dare I not cower and try to please them? Those were the questions burning in his eyes.

If I no longer saw myself as part of their family, why should he treat me like one?

Lydia’s heart practically glowed at his anger, and I could see it in her eyes.

It was what she wanted. For him and everyone to hate me as much as possible because that meant I would never come back and threaten the status she stole.

And yet Lydia still had to play the gentle, innocent act.

“Lance, don’t talk about Fiona like that. She’s your sister.” Her voice trembled delicately as she held his arm, talking just loud enough for the students to hear her kindness.

“I don’t have a sister like that,” Lance snapped.

His voice rang through the proprietor’s office like a whip.

“Lydia, you’re the only true daughter of our house. The only one I’ll ever acknowledge.”

My stomach tightened, not because it hurt anymore, but because of how predictable they were.

He thought his words would finally crack my expression, and he expected fear. Submission.

That timid girl who once begged them to love her – but that girl no longer existed.

I met his spiteful stare calmly; his eyes widened briefly, surprised at my lack of reaction.

I felt nothing, and that terrified him more than tears ever could.

“Don’t worry,” I said quietly. “From now on, every single one of you is a stranger to me. I want nothing from you. Nothing. So stop pretending we’re close. Don’t call my name again. If you see me, walk away.”

My voice sharpened. “Honestly, you all make me sick.”

Lance froze, just for a second, and then his rage erupted like wildfire.

“Fiona, remember what you just said!” he roared. “When you regret this and crawl back for the

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family’s protection–begging at our door for mercy–I’ll be laughing at you like the worthless trash you are!”

“Enough!” Raina snapped, her voice cracking through the room like lightning.

“Are you really Fiona’s brother?” she shouted, tears filling her eyes. “You grew up with her, and this is how you treat her? She’s been through hell because of this family!”

Lance was exactly the type of wolf Raina feared–tall, muscular, and intimidating. A beta born with a temper steeped in arrogance, but for once, she ignored all that.

I watched her stand in front of me, shaking with anger, and I could tell if Raina could redo time, she’d beg the goddess to make her parents birth me as her sister, and I would love that.

Her parents might not have wealth, but they would have given me a real family. A real home. And a place I wouldn’t have had to claw my way out of.

“Fiona doesn’t deserve kindness!” Lance barked back. “How can someone from our bloodline behave like Fiona? Rude, rebellious, petty, always threatening to cut ties. Do you think we care? Do you

think we’re scared?”

He gestured to Lydia dramatically. “Look at Lydia, then look at Fiona. The difference is embarrassing!”

“What-” Raina’s voice broke as more tears spilt out of anger. She couldn’t believe the sort of harsh words he was using on me.

“Lance, don’t say that,” Lydia whispered, pretending to wipe her own tears before turning to me. “Fiona… he didn’t mean it. Lance always had a bad temper. Don’t take it to heart. Just apologise to him. Please.”

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