Chapter 151 Harsh Reality

Words : 1330 Updated : May 20th, 2025

Hazel turned to the kid, who now looked visibly more relaxed. "See? I told you," she said, gently patting the kid's cheek. "No one can bully you, okay?" The kid nodded, a small smile appearing on his face. Hazel's work was almost done, and her phone buzzed repeatedly with calls from her mother. She was volunteering with her NGO, providing support to cancer patients. She found joy in helping those in need and bringing a bit of happiness to those who had lost hope. At heart, Hazel was a princess, believing in fairy tales and dreaming of her own happily ever after. She envisioned a prince coming to her rescue, sweeping her off her feet, and carrying her away to his kingdom. However, she never felt like she was in such trouble that she required rescuing by some man. She was a strong, determined woman with clear goals for her future, capable of solving her own problems. After saying goodbye to everyone in the oncology ward, as her shift ended, she finally answered her mother's call as soon as she exited the hospital. "Yes, Mother? What's going on?" Hazel asked, heading straight for her car in the parking lot. "Hazel, where are you? Come home soon," her mother's anxious tone made Hazel's heart race with a twinge of worry. "What happened, Mother? Are you okay?" she asked promptly. "Yes, I'm fine, but it's about the Duke's family," her mother informed her. "What happened to the Duke's family?" Hazel asked, frowning as concern crept in. "There was a violent attack on them. They're all severely injured," her mother explained. "Come home soon. We need to visit them as soon as possible." "Mother, I'm sure they have plenty of well-wishers. They probably don't need us to visit," Hazel replied, rolling her eyes. She was weary of flattering elite families just to secure marriage prospects for herself and her sisters. She knew her mother all too well; her mother did nothing without a selfish motive. Her primary goal was to marry each daughter off to the wealthiest family in the country. However, with her brothers proving useless and their father's business bankrupt, the family desperately needed to form alliances with wealthy families to secure funding, restart the business, and settle her brothers. "Shut up, you ungrateful daughter!" her mother snapped, her voice so loud that Hazel had to pull the phone away from her ear. "You need to be here on time, and that's an order," her mother insisted, and without waiting for a reply, she hung up. Hazel sighed, frustrated. She had no interest in marrying for money; she wanted to find love. Determined to refuse her mother's unreasonable demand, she got into her old, second-hand car—one she had bought with her own earnings. Her father had always splurged on his sons, buying them the best of everything, while his daughters only received expensive clothes and jewelry when they were presented at society events to attract wealthy and influential suitors. Her two elder sisters were already married off to wealthy families, and her father had extracted whatever he could from those unions. One sister was married to a much older man, almost twice her age, who had a son from his first marriage, just a couple of years younger than her. Her sister's husband was unfaithful too, boasting that his wealth allowed him to sleep with anyone he wanted. Hazel had watched her sister suffer daily, trapped in a life of misery. Her second sister had been married to a business family that went bankrupt. After their financial collapse, the family essentially sold her sister to investors, forcing her to sleep with many men to recoup their losses. Hazel's heart ached every time she saw her second sister, who lived in constant suffering. Her sister had become a living corpse, merely existing because she didn't know how to escape her predicament. Despite the money she brought in, her husband and in-laws treated her poorly, calling her derogatory names like "slut" and "whore," even though they were the ones who had forced her into such sinful work. Her husband showed no affection, refusing to touch her, claiming she was dirty, and instead maintaining another woman he claimed to be his true love. Hazel had urged her sister to leave her husband and return home, but her sister felt trapped, believing she had nowhere else to go. She knew their father would never support her or appreciate her for leaving her husband. Hazel didn't want that kind of life for herself. She was optimistic about changing this tradition and not marrying for money. As soon as she parked in the driveway of her father's mansion, the sound of shouting and yelling reached her ears. She knew immediately that her father was taking out his anger on her mother again. She hurried inside, hoping to intervene before things escalated further. "There she is!" one of her brothers announced in a frustrated tone. She had two older brothers, both of whom were utterly useless. Everyone's eyes snapped toward her, making her feel uncomfortable, and she lowered her gaze. "Where the hell have you been?" her father demanded, striding toward her with a voice full of fury. "I was volunteering at the hospital," she replied quietly, her tone laced with nervousness. "How many times have I told you to stop wandering around? You need to save yourself so I can at least get something from your marriage," her father warned, his tone dangerously low. "Marriage or sale?" she snapped instantly, anger surging as she thought of her sisters' fates. "Shut up, you ungrateful daughter! How dare you talk back?" her father screamed, slapping her hard across the face. He was about to strike her again when her mother intervened. "James! No, dear. Don't hurt her. We have to visit the Duke and his family. What will we say if she has bruises?" her mother pleaded. Her father dropped his raised hand with a loud huff. "Get ready quickly. We're going to visit the Duke's family," he ordered, his voice still seething with anger. "Why do we need to visit them? Why are you all making such a big deal out of this?" Hazel demanded in her low but defiant voice, holding her cheek, which still burned from her father's smack. "Because the Duke has agreed to marry you. Show some concern, you ignorant girl," her elder brother, Archer, scolded her. "Marry me!? And you didn't even ask me before arranging my marriage?!" she retorted, anger flaring up inside her. "In our family, daughters have no say in their marriages. You will marry where I decide, and you're going to marry the Duke. It's final," her father declared arrogantly. "But, Father...!" she started to protest. "Oh, come on, Hazel. The Duke is very rich and handsome. Every girl in the country wants to marry him, but he chose you," her second brother, Arlo, added, his tone filled with pride as he showed her the Duke's photo on his phone. Hazel's eyes widened in shock as she realized who the Duke was. The photo showed the man she had confronted at the hospital over his girlfriend. "But he already has a girlfriend," she mumbled, too stunned to fully grasp her words. "It doesn't matter how many girlfriends or mistresses he has. Only one will be his wife and the Duchess of Monaco, and you're lucky to be the one," her mother declared, looking at her daughter with pride. But in that moment, Hazel's dream of a happily ever after, of being truly loved by her husband, shattered. The harsh reality hit her like a ton of bricks—she was destined to suffer the same fate as her two sisters, trapped in a life of misery.

Chapter 151 Harsh Reality

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