Jonah was stunned. How could it be that both Damon and Grandpa Mark were saying the same thing?
"When we divorced, I gave Hazel a sum of money, but she returned it all to me. She didn’t want it at that time. Why would she let you come here to ask for it now?" After a pause, Damon continued, "Grandpa must have told you about how he wanted to give Hazel 2% of Price Corp’s shares as a wedding gift, but she firmly rejected it. You didn’t even bother to check the details before coming to our door. Vice President Queen, don’t you feel ashamed?" Jonah’s mind felt like it had exploded. 2% of Price Corp’s shares was no small amount. Even if Hazel spent money recklessly for her entire life, it would be enough for her to squander. Yet she had refused it. Did she even understand the value of 2% of Price Corp’s shares? Jonah wished he could travel back in time and force Hazel to agree to the Price family’s offer. If she had, she wouldn’t be back now, fighting him fo“I’m a straightforward person, so don’t take offense. But honestly, this villa looks worse than shit right now. I can’t even imagine how the person who demolished the original design could have done it.”“Look here, this was clearly a beautiful bar area, but they knocked it down and expanded the dining room…”Sheila rambled on about the design, mostly complaining about the current renovations and praising the original design.As a designer, she really couldn’t understand why anyone would destroy such a beautiful setup and turn the villa into this mess.The more Sheila went on, the more relieved Hazel felt. Only someone who truly appreciated the design would take the time to restore it to its original form.“Miss Tucker, I’ll leave this villa to you. I have only one request: please don’t make any changes to the photos I’ve given you. If anything needs adjustment, let’s discuss it together.”Since returning, Hazel had been struggling with whet
Kin didn’t try to make excuses for himself when things went wrong."We had tracked down some leads from Marcus's former colleague, but when we followed that trail, we found out that this Marcus isn’t real," Kin explained."The real Marcus had sold his social media accounts to someone else a long time ago, and even had this person post fragments of his life using the account. However, no personal photos were posted, so his colleagues believed the person in the circle of friends was the real Marcus."From these events, Kin could tell that Marcus was no simple person. This tactic alone showed how prepared he was. It seemed that he had already anticipated the retaliation from the Price family and had made plans to cover his tracks long ago.Months had passed, and now that they were finally looking for him, the difficulty had only increased.Seeing how cautious Marcus had been, Kin was starting to feel more overwhelmed. His social media accounts were fa
A few days later, a rumor suddenly surfaced online, involving Jonah going to the Price family to demand a dowry for Hazel. A marketing account shared the news, making it sound as though the person had witnessed it firsthand, and it quickly spread. Sully brought her phone over to Hazel. "A while ago, we only warned the media, but we haven't publicly addressed these marketing accounts online. What do you want to do about it?" This kind of thing couldn't be stirred up by just one marketing account; they wouldn't even report on news that wouldn't gain traction. Ultimately, someone had paid for it to be spread. "This is a good opportunity to teach them a lesson. Even if we don’t warn them in the future, they won’t dare to spread nonsense like this again." Actually, for Hazel, this sudden development might not be all bad. After all, she had just held a press conference, and now she could give these people a lesson. It would show them that when Hazel speaks, it’s n
Hazel’s parents were no longer around, and the person closest to her now was himself, but if he kept being so unreasonable, it would truly break her heart. “So, should I be thanking you instead?” Hazel laughed outright, finding Jonah’s pathetic acting utterly ridiculous. “We’re all family—why talk about gratitude? I just didn’t expect that your actions would bring such a big problem to the company,” he said, feigning regret. Sully sneered coldly and slammed a stack of A4 papers onto the conference table. “Vice President Queen, are you pretending not to know, or do you genuinely not know? I’ve traced everything. These so-called marketing accounts have all claimed they were paid by you to stir things up. Care to explain?” Over the years, Jonah had built a bit of a reputation outside the company. Using that clout to pull stunts like this wasn’t entirely unexpected. But he had underestimated Hazel’s abilities. He assumed she wouldn’t be able to trace t
At the Price Old Mansion, Grandpa Mark had been up early, supervising the house's preparations. Once everything was in order, he went to the kitchen to ensure the cook prepared all of Hazel's favorite dishes. By eleven o'clock in the morning, everything was ready. Grandpa Mark was about to call Hazel to ask when she would arrive, so he could signal the kitchen to start cooking, but was stopped by Butler Hank. "Sir, I understand you're anxious, but it's not appropriate to rush Miss Queen. She might be busy with work. The cooking is quick, and I'll have the time-consuming dishes stewed in advance. Please be patient." After thinking for a moment, Grandpa Mark agreed. Butler Hank's suggestion made sense—if he kept pushing Hazel, she might get annoyed and not want to come again. Upstairs, Delilah and Agatha had not come downstairs all morning. They overheard the servants talking about Grandpa Mark’s unusual actions and both wore expressions of disdain. "I don't k
Damon had indeed been busy lately. Hazel had informed him in advance about the potential contract termination, so he had been evaluating which corporations might collaborate with Price Corp on this project.“It’s lunchtime, after all. Grandpa mentioned earlier that we’d have guests, so I came home a bit earlier. Anyway, I’d have to eat at the company, so it doesn’t waste much time,” Damon explained, trying to downplay his return.Just moments ago, he had been boasting that Hazel had personally told him. Now, he shifted the narrative, saying it was the old man who had informed him in advance.Fortunately, the old man understood Damon was worried about Delilah’s emotional well-being and chose not to press the matter.Agatha, however, had overheard everything. She was stunned by Damon’s sudden change of story and stood there, at a loss for words.It was Delilah who approached Damon, her gaze soft and kind. “Do you know who today’s gues
As soon as Hazel entered, Delilah approached with a wide smile, linking arms with Damon. She spoke sweetly, "Hazel, I couldn’t greet you at the door because of my condition. I hope you don’t mind. But I sent Damon to welcome you instead."Damon took a deep breath, holding back his annoyance, resisting the urge to shake off Delilah’s hand.Noticing Hazel’s expression, Grandpa Mark worried she might feel uncomfortable and was about to ask Agatha to escort Delilah upstairs. But Hazel spoke up with a polite yet sharp tone."Miss Hasani, why say such things? We’re not particularly close to begin with. You not coming to greet me is perfectly normal. If you had rushed out to welcome me, that would have startled me."The words hit like a sharp blade, and Delilah’s smile froze immediately. She hadn’t expected Hazel to speak so bluntly, especially in front of everyone.Initially, Delilah thought they’d all maintain a facade of politeness given the p
Within the hour, news had spread: ‘Hazel had gone to the Price residence to apologize, only to be coldly received.’The next day, Queen Corporation held a board meeting. Hazel calmly explained her visit to the Price family and announced that their collaboration on the joint project was officially terminated.The room erupted into chaos, with the directors unable to sit still—especially Jonah, whose face turned ashen at the unexpected announcement."It’s impossible. Mr. Mark Price likes you so much. Even if I’ve made some mistakes, he wouldn't want to destroy Queen Corp or ruin you because of that," someone in the room said, trying to calm the situation.The others clearly shared this sentiment, and their gazes all turned toward Hazel."Have you all not seen the videos and photos online? Or do you still think I have the ability to casually convince Grandpa Mark?" Hazel replied, her voice steady.
Hazel had also considered this possibility, but since Damon kept telling her that he had deceived Harold with his acting, she didn’t think too much about it. Now, after Omar’s reminder, she started to reconsider the matter. Before she could figure it out, Omar added, "Unless his real purpose was to tell you these things, but for some reason, he couldn’t tell you directly and had to do it this way instead." When Omar said this, it felt like a sudden revelation to Hazel. After all these years of planning, Harold couldn’t have trusted anyone so quickly, even someone with the same goal. So the only possibility seemed to be what Omar had just mentioned. "Then what’s his purpose in telling me this? Grandpa, do you think my parents' accident has anything to do with him?" Hazel was confused. She had thought she had everything figured out, but now she realized she hadn’t seen the whole picture. It felt like there was a huge net above her, trapping her in t
Hazel focused her gaze on Sully, pausing for a moment before speaking. "Maybe. I feel like I don’t dislike him as much now." "To be more precise, after he told me the truth about everything, I stopped disliking him. He has his reasons, and everything he did was for his late brother. If I were in his shoes, I’m not sure I could have done much better." At first, Hazel had felt uneasy, thinking that if everything had been clarified from the beginning, many misunderstandings could have been avoided. But now, after experiencing the aftermath of her parents' accident, she understood some of Damon's helplessness. Until she had clarified some matters, she didn’t want to share them with too many people, not even Sully or Xander. To Hazel, these two were some of the most important people in her life right now. "I still think there shouldn't be too many secrets in a relationship," Sully pressed. "Can you accept that, after you're with him, he’ll hide things
Hazel was almost ready to directly reject him, but after thinking it over, she decided to be more tactful. Maybe Damon had been so busy with work and studies his whole life that he didn’t know how to like someone properly. Perhaps he had seen someone confess like this before and just copied it. Maybe it was something he’d learned from an idol drama from a few years ago—those kinds of scenes really existed in those shows. "I’ll have the security take care of all this. You should head back to the office. I heard Price Corp is expecting a big client today. Aren’t you going to meet them?" she said, offering him an out. The idea of a big client was just a way for Hazel to give Damon an excuse to leave. How would she know if Price Corp had a big client coming today? But Damon seemed completely confused by her words. He asked, "I’ve pushed all my work to tomorrow. And our company isn’t expecting any big clients today. Did you hear wrong from someone?" He
Once Hazel returned, she immediately buried herself in company matters, dealing with the clothing brand. After this ‘hunger marketing’ campaign, imitation products had started flooding the market. But this was all within Hazel's expectations. At first, some people might buy these counterfeit products, but once time passes and they can master the quality, those imitations will start to look fake. Then, people will flock to the genuine products with real quality. Sully walked into Hazel's office, holding a document that Agent Amber had sent over. It contained some dirt on Bailey, but it wasn't enough to bring her down from her current position. "Hazel, look, these are all from Agent Amber, you know, Bailey's agent." Hazel and Agent Amber hadn't had much interaction, and what she knew best was Agent Amber's work capabilities and her relationship with Bailey. Hazel skimmed through the documents and when she saw the first part, she thought she’d read it wron
Compared to Bailey, whom she managed, Agent Amber naturally admired Ariana more, as she was someone who genuinely pursued her craft. Ariana lacked the calculated ambition that many others had, making her more pleasant and relatable, with a better connection to the audience. As Agent Amber continued talking, her gaze shifted back to Bailey, and she sighed, "If only Bailey had half of Ariana’s dedication, she wouldn't have ended up as the second female lead." The artists Amber had previously managed might not have started with leading roles, but after transitioning through a few supporting roles, they had consistently remained at the forefront of the screen. Even if they weren’t the female lead, they were often standout supporting characters, sometimes even outshining the female lead. Unlike Bailey, who had participated in numerous variety shows and even self-funded her own micro-drama where she played the female lead, it was only thanks to Agent Amber's personal e
“Mom, I’ve already told you, I’m only marrying Hazel in this life. If you really care about me and don’t want me to live out my days alone, then you’d better treat Hazel well,”After saying this, Damon turned and went straight back to his room.Agatha’s face darkened, her eyes following Damon’s retreating figure, her expression turning malicious.Not only did she not want to see Damon live a lonely life, but she also wanted to hold her grandson as soon as possible. The thought of Delilah’s child saddened her deeply.Since her son and Hazel’s relationship was developing so quickly, it seemed like it was time to check if Hazel could have children.If she truly couldn’t bear children, then Agatha would never allow her to enter the family, no matter what.The recent events involving Hazel hadn’t escaped the notice of Jonah’s family, either....Adele had been k
"I've been so worried these past couple of days! Ever since Xander told me, I've been anxious and couldn't sleep well. I even sent you messages, but you didn’t reply! Thankfully, you're finally back!" Sully was so emotional that she nearly burst into tears. She had originally planned to go on a business trip today, but after hearing from Xander that Hazel was returning, she canceled everything and rushed over. Hazel gently patted Sully on the back. "Alright, alright, nothing happened in the end. But the matter’s still not resolved, and we’ll need your help." After comforting Sully, the group sat down together and began discussing the recent investigations and what Harold really wanted. Omar brought out everything he had recently gathered, which was all information about Harold. Mark also took out a stack of documents, all related to the organization and the past history of Hazel’s parents. Once they had gone through both sets of documents, everything st
Once Damon finally wins Hazel over, he plans to find a similar estate where they can live together, just the two of them. “I didn’t realize it. So, these past few days, you’ve been observing all of this? I thought you were just bored,” he remarked. “However, we haven’t seen Harold these last couple of days. It seems like he left the day after he parted ways with Xander. If it weren’t for Xander constantly sending me messages, I would’ve thought he went after Xander,” Hazel replied. Since Xander returned to the country, he had been sending them messages, but Hazel and Damon were worried that their phones might be monitored, so they hadn’t responded to him. “Someone in his position should have a lot of things to do, right? Even though we don’t know what he’s busy with, we can use this time to test the estate’s security. It’d be great if we can escape, but if not, it’s no big deal,” Damon said, realizing something. “True, after all, he still needs somethin
After saying that, Hazel quickly rushed out of the room without daring to look back at Damon’s expression. Damon, still standing in the room, froze for a moment. After realizing that Hazel had been shy, he immediately got excited and jumped onto the bed. If someone like Hazel, with her personality, was shy in front of him, that meant he had a chance! So, it seemed that Hazel liked this kind of interaction. He figured that he’d have to create more opportunities for physical contact in the future. With this thought in mind, Damon began to plan his next move for creating physical contact with Hazel. Xander arrived at the airport, expecting that Harold would have someone follow him. To his surprise, he boarded the plane without any trouble. Of course, he wasn’t so arrogant as to think Harold wouldn’t foresee this, but he simply believed that Harold didn’t see him as a threat. Once back in the country, Xander immediately contacted the Price and C