TRADING MY CHEATING HUSBAND FOR THE LYCAN KING novel Chapter 135

CHAPTER 90: SHUT UP, DEVIKA–2

“Now wait just a minute” my mother starts.

“Shut up, Devika.” The words come out hard and sharp, and for once in her life, she does what she’s told.” You don’t get to defend yourself. You don’t get to make excuses. You sold your own daughter and you knew – you knew – that she would suffer, and you did it anyway because you cared more about money than you ever cared about me.”

I turn to my father, who looks like he’s about to be sick.

“And you. You were supposed to protect me. You were my father. I used to think you hung the moon, did you know that? I used to wait by the window for you to come home, hoping that today would be different, hoping that today you’d be sober enough to remember my name.” My voice cracks, but I push through.” But you chose the bottle over me. Every single time, you chose the bottle. And when Harrison came to take me away, you were too drunk to even notice. You traded your daughter for a year’s supply of cheap fucking whiskey and you didn’t even have the decency to be sober for the transaction.”

My father’s face crumples, tears streaming down his cheeks, but I can’t stop now. I can’t.

“And you.” I turn to Harrison, who watches me with something that might be amusement or respect or some twisted combination of both. “You knew exactly what you were buying. You knew your son was uninterested in women. You knew he would hurt me. And you handed him a seventeen–year–old girl and told yourself it was discipline, it was necessary, it was just the natural order of things.” I’m standing now,

though I don’t remember getting to my feet. “You manufactured a monster and then you gave him a victim

and you watched him tear her apart for eight years. You are not innocent in this. None of you are innocent

in this!”

“Ember, sit down,” my mother hisses. “You’re making a scene-”

“A scene?” I laugh, and it sounds wild even to my own ears. “You think this is a scene? You haven’t seen

anything yet.”

“You worthless little-”

“What did you just call me?”

୮

Devika stands, her chair scraping against the floor, her face twisted with the same contempt she’s been aiming at me since the day I was born.

“I called you worthless,” she spits. “Worthless, ungrateful bitch! I gave you everything. I sacrificed everything for you. Do you have any idea what I went through to raise you? Do you understand what that pregnancy did to me? The opportunities I missed? The life I could have had if I hadn’t been saddled with a whiny, needy, pathetic excuse for a daughter?”

“Saddled with me?” I move around the table toward her, something dark and dangerous building in my chest. “You speak as if I asked to be born. As if I chose to be your daughter. Which, by the way, I would

C CHAPTER OR SHUT UP DEVIKA 2

never wish on anyone! You made that choice. Devika. You spread your legs for a man you barely knew

because you thought he was rich, and when you found out he wasn’t, you decided to punish me for it every day for the rest of my life.”

“How dare you-”

“How dare I?” I’m right in front of her now, close enough to see the fear flickering behind her fury. “How dare you. How dare you call yourself a mother when you never once acted like one. How dare you blame me for your failures when you’re the one who failed me. How dare you stand there in your stolen jewelry and your knockoff dress and pretend you’re better than me when you are nothing but a selfish, bitter, hateful woman who never deserved to have a child.”

She slaps me.

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