Desired By Three Alphas; Fated To One - Chapter 257
Chapter 257: Leave
Hailee’s POV
“Who do you want to choose, Hailee?”
I didn’t answer.
I couldn’t.
The word pregnant kept echoing in my head until my whole body felt numb. The wind felt cold on my face, the ground shaky beneath my feet, and my heart… my heart felt like someone had reached inside and crushed it.
I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to breathe. Trying to think.
But nothing made sense.
Nothing felt right.
Nathan’s face wouldn’t leave my mind—the way it broke, the way his eyes dimmed, the way he leaned on the wall like everything inside him had shattered in one second.
I pressed my hand over my mouth and choked on a sob.
Leo continued. “Hailee… running from the truth won’t make it easier.”
“I’m not running,” I whispered shakily. “I just… I don’t even know how to breathe right now.”
He sighed. “Nathan is hurting. Badly. And you can’t keep hurting him.”
I didn’t answer.
Because the moment I closed my eyes, all I could see was Nathan collapsing.
His blood.
His pain.
His voice when he said don’t touch me.
A fresh tear slid down my cheek.
Before I could speak again, a guard approached the garden entrance, out of breath.
“Beta Leo… Alpha Nathan is awake.”
My heart stopped.
Leo stood immediately. “Is he asking for anyone?”
The guard swallowed. “He said he wants to speak to Hailee.”
My chest tightened so hard I almost doubled over.
“Hailee,” Leo said softly, “you should go.”
I nodded weakly… even though every step toward that room felt like walking toward a cliff.
Reaching Nathan’s room, I stepped inside.
Nathan was sitting on the edge of the bed, shirtless, stitches fresh, his hair messy and damp like he’d been sweating.
His eyes were open.
But they weren’t soft.
They weren’t warm.
They were empty.
Cold.
Red at the edges as if he had been crying all day.
He didn’t look at me, rather he stared at the floor, refusing to keep eye contact with me.
“…Nathan?” I whispered.
He didn’t answer.
I tried again, softer. “Nathan, I—”
He lifted a hand.
A silent command to stop talking.
It hurt me deeper than shouting ever would have.
He finally looked up.
And the look in his eyes nearly took my legs out from under me.
Pain.
So much pain that I almost stopped breathing.
“Hailee,” he said quietly, “thank you for coming.”
My stomach twisted.
He never spoke to me like that. Never used that tone. It was polite. Formal. Forced.
“Please don’t do that,” I whispered. “Don’t talk to me like I’m a stranger.”
His jaw clenched.
“You said you didn’t mean to hurt me,” he murmured. “But you did.”
I felt tears burn the back of my throat. “Nathan… I didn’t know. I didn’t plan—”
He shook his head. “I don’t need explanations.”
“Yes, you do,” I said desperately. “You have to know how I feel—”
He cut in sharply:
“No. I don’t.”
I froze.
His voice didn’t break.
Mine did.
He stood slowly, steadying himself on the table.
His eyes locked onto mine with an emotion I couldn’t read at first… until it clicked.
He had made a decision.
A terrible one.
A final one.
“Hailee,” he said, voice so calm it shredded me, “I release you.”
My breath stopped.
Release.
A goodbye.
My heart twisted painfully. “Nathan… please, no. Don’t do this.”
“You are carrying another man’s child,” he said quietly. “You need him more than you need me.”
“That’s not true!” I cried. “Nathan, please—”
He raised his hand again, cutting me off with a firm gesture.
“Your life is in danger and so is the life of this innocent pup in your stomach.”
I wanted to speak, but he beat me to it. “I have already contacted Callum, and he should be on his way here so you two can talk and know the way forward.”
My eyes widened. “Nathan, what did you do?”
Nathan looked at me straight in the eyes, his eyes full of raw pain. “I did what was right, Hailee… Hailee I know you… You might decide to keep this pregnancy away from Callum, and I won’t let that happen… Callum deserves to know he will be a father again… He deserves to know you are carrying his pup and your life is at risk, and that is what I did… I have already told Callum everything, and soon he will be here.”
My breath seized as the realization of what Nathan had just done sank in, but before I could speak, he continued.
“I’m releasing you to be with the father of your unborn child,” he said. “Go to Callum.”
His voice cracked on the last word—
Just barely.
But I heard it.
And it destroyed me.
“I don’t want to see you grow weaker because of me,” he whispered. “I won’t stand in the way of what your child needs.”
“Nathan—”
“This is what’s best,” he said, looking at the floor again. “For you. For the baby.”
A tear slid down his cheek.
He didn’t wipe it.
And that was what broke me the most.
“Leave, Hailee.”
My legs shook.
My chest hurt.
“Please Nathan… we can find a way….”
“There is no other way.” He cut me off… “No other way, Hailee… I love you so much to hold you back when I know your life is in danger… I won’t do that.”
My vision blurred.
“Please leave, Hailee… I need to rest.”
My lips parted, and I wanted to speak, but I couldn’t find my voice… I didn’t know what to say that would make sense; in fact, the words were failing me already.
But I forced myself to breathe and began to walk out of the room, expecting Nathan to stop me, but he didn’t.
He just… let me go.
The tears I had been holding back finally slid down my cheeks. I tried to wipe them quickly, tried to breathe, tried to keep walking—but my body felt hollow, like something inside me had cracked open and spilled everything out.
Halfway down the hall, I almost ran straight into someone.
A tall figure.
Broad shoulders.
A stern, familiar face.
Sir Dominic.
Nathan’s father.
He stepped out from the corner quietly, blocking my path. His eyes—usually calm and unreadable—looked darker than usual. Heavy. Almost disappointed.
“Hailee,” he said slowly, “I heard everything.”
My heart dropped.
Of course he did.
Everyone probably did.
I lowered my gaze, swallowing hard. “Sir Dominic… I—”
“Stop.”
His voice was firm, cutting through my words before they formed.
I froze.
He stepped closer—not threatening, but not gentle either. His presence alone felt heavy enough to crush the breath out of me.
“I heard my son collapse today,” he said quietly. “I heard he bleed from the same wound he almost died from… because of heartbreak.”
My throat tightened.
Tears blurred my vision again.
“I didn’t mean—”
“I’m not finished,” he said sharply.
I stopped breathing.
He studied me for a long moment—too long—his eyes scanning my face like he was searching for something. Maybe guilt. Maybe intention. Maybe a reason not to be angry.
He didn’t find it.
“You have hurt him before,” Sir Dominic said. “We all saw how much he suffered when you left the first time.”
A sharp ache shot through my chest.
I lowered my eyes again.
“And now,” he continued, “you carry another man’s child while standing in my son’s home, in his arms, in his life…”
My shoulders shook.
I wanted to speak.
To explain.
To beg.
But nothing came out.
Not a single word.
“Do you know what it does to him?” he asked, voice softer—but not kinder. “To love someone with everything in him, only to watch her break him again?”
A tear slid down my cheek.
Then another.
Because he was right.
He was right about all of it.
Sir Dominic slowly exhaled through his nose. “Hailee… I am not a cruel man. I understand fate is complicated. I understand emotions are messy. And I know my son chose you with a full heart.”
He paused.
“But please… if you love Nathan at all—if you care even a little—leave him.”
My chest caved in.
“I…” My voice cracked painfully. “I didn’t want to hurt him.”
“But you did.” His tone stayed calm, unyielding. “And you will hurt him again. Not because you want to—but because your very presence right now is tearing him apart.”
I covered my mouth with both hands as a sob escaped.
Sir Dominic took one final step closer, lowering his voice to a quiet, brutal whisper:
“Get out of his life.
Let my son heal.”
I shook my head weakly. “Please… don’t say that…”
“It is the truth,” he said. “The only truth left. Nathan cannot survive loving you like this.”
My knees nearly buckled.
“I’m begging you,” Sir Dominic finished softly. “Leave him before you destroy him completely.”
My chest split open.
I couldn’t speak.
I couldn’t breathe.
I could only stare at him—heartbroken, lost—because deep down, even though it killed me…
I knew he wasn’t wrong.