They Cast Me Out—Then Their Curse Began Chapter 02

They Cast Me Out—Then Their Curse Began Chapter 02

All those years, I stayed with Grandma Eleanor in Ashbourne Manor because she didn’t like going out.

So when she died, outsiders didn’t even know Blackthorn Pack had another daughter.

After Grandma passed, every guest who saw me thought I was a servant’s kid. They praised my family for being kind to the help.

I never argued.

In my parents’ eyes.

My two sisters were graceful, elegant, and smart.

My brother was clever and likable.

Compared to them, I was just a sickly shewolf, a burden to the family.

So when my siblings stole from me, my parents never said a word.

Even the mate Grandma had chosen for me was given away to Vanessa without a second thought.

To Frostmere Pack, it didn’t matter which Ashbourne daughter they married, as long as the alliance held.

Adrian Vale acted like he was just finishing a family duty. He hesitated for a second before handing the gift he’d brought me to Vanessa.

Vanessa’s bonding ceremony was huge, packed with guests, laughter, and toasts.

The whole hall buzzed with joy as everyone celebrated her biggest moment.

Before the wedding, my parents saw I was quiet and locked me away in Old North Manor, scared I’d ruin things.

They didn’t know I wasn’t upset.

The night before, I’d dropped one last drop of blood into the bloodmoon basin.

I’d renewed Blackthorn Pack’s protection and wished Vanessa a happy wedding.

It was my gift to the family and my wedding present to Vanessa.

I never left the house, so I had no money at all.

To my parents, I was always replaceable. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have told people I was a servant’s kid.

My only use was to marry into another pack.

Now that Vanessa had taken even that, I was worthless to them.

That’s why they’d left me in Old North Manor for three days before remembering I existed.

When I got home, I slept for two full days before I had the strength to go downstairs. I ran right into Vanessa bringing Adrian Vale back to the pack.

The whole family swarmed around Vanessa and her new husband. My mom looked at me with disgust.

“You ungrateful girl, didn’t you know to call us? How come you didn’t freeze to death in Old North Manor…”

“What did I do to deserve a child like you!”

My dad frowned and cut her off.

“Enough, stop talking nonsense.”

A little warmth rose in my chest.

Maybe my father still cared. He was just quiet, I thought.

But his next words shattered every hope I had.

“What are you doing down here? Don’t you know Vanessa’s bringing Vale home today? Get upstairs now and don’t bring bad luck down here!”

I laughed softly.

I hadn’t done anything.

Why did my parents, sisters, and brother hate me so much?

Carter held out a piece of paper to me.

“Sign this.”

He covered his nose like he smelled something disgusting.

“Why do you smell so bad? Fall in a ditch?”

I glanced down at the document.

Renunciation of the Ashbourne name.

I lifted my head and saw Cedric and Lydia staring at me eagerly.

This was what they wanted.

“Willow, Mom doesn’t mean anything bad. You’re gonna marry out anyway…”

Lydia was still my mom, so she spoke gently.

But my father snapped impatiently.

“Sign it and get back to your room. Stop standing there being a nuisance!”

After they brought me back to Blackthorn Pack, Grandma Eleanor had announced in front of everyone that she was leaving ten percent of the pack’s wealth to me.

The whole family had protested fiercely.

But Grandma said it was compensation for me.

The day after Grandma died, they forced me to sign away her inheritance.

I signed.

Now they didn’t just want me to give up my inheritance.

They didn’t even want me to be part of the Ashbourne family at all.

I burst out laughing.

My laugh echoed empty through the hall.

“Fine.”

“I’ll sign.”

I lifted my eyes and looked at every person in the room.