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 nHazel’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.
Both Hazel and Sully were stunned. They had thought he could hold out for a day or two, but here he was, calling so soon after the meeting had ended. They had really overestimated him. This man wasn’t fit to be in a vice president position at all. Hazel turned the phone over in her hand, making no move to answer it. "You think, if Jonah asks me to demote him, what position would be appropriate for him?" Sully propped her chin and thought for a moment. She initially considered suggesting the janitor's position, but then thought better of it—if word got out, it would make Hazel seem unreasonable. "How about making him a logistics supervisor? It sounds reasonable in terms of reputation, and it's still a position of authority, just in logistics. There wouldn’t be much financial interaction either. If he’s greedy, he wouldn’t have much to take anyway—just buying supplies or something." Hazel nodded in agreement, feeling this was a fitting position for Jonah.
Following Sheila's suggestion, Hazel added some of her own designs to the latest design drawings Sheila had created based on the images. They had agreed to start construction two days later. The day before construction was set to begin, Hazel took Sully to the villa again. The secret room issue still hadn’t been resolved, and Hazel couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. The study was just as it had been before, except it was now covered in a layer of dust from being neglected for a long time. "Hazel, I had some time to think it over later, and I realized that when I fell, I accidentally opened the secret room. We might have focused too much on the wall. The mechanism might not necessarily be on the wall after all." Sully briefly recapped the situation when she had fallen, explaining that she had stumbled and first hit the wall before sliding down to the floor. It was this sequence of events that made her think she had triggered something on the w
Once inside the villa, Hazel led Sheila straight to the secret room. Sheila’s eyes widened when she saw the unexpected room. She couldn’t believe she had missed it during her earlier house inspection. The design of the secret room was incredibly clever.If she had been in charge of the design herself, she might have noticed it, but since she was only working from photos, she had overlooked this data issue.The strange thing was that, based on the measurements she personally took, the room seemed to have only a minor discrepancy, not enough to account for such a large hidden space.Hazel’s mother was truly no ordinary person!"This definitely needs a remeasurement of the data," Sheila said as she measured with her ruler, running back and forth, not forgetting to discuss the room’s potential use with Hazel.To be honest, having such a hidden, private space in a villa wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for the homeowners. Villas typically housed larger fa
If the other employees in the company saw these two CEOs arguing like elementary school kids in the office, they’d probably have a field day making fun of them. In the end, the two of them walked away in frustration, neither willing to back down. Xander had often visited the company to meet with Hazel and Sully before, so he was familiar with some of the senior executives. After the fallout between the two, the senior executives quickly began siding with Xander. It couldn’t be helped. The brand that Queen Corp was collaborating with HX was a huge deal for Queen Corp. No matter what, Xander’s suggestions wouldn’t harm the company since the two companies were in a partnership. But Damon was another story. On the surface, his relationship with Hazel seemed okay, but it wasn’t as strong as the one with Xander. He was just pursuing Hazel, and when it came to managing Queen Corp, if he always tried to stand out in front of Hazel, that wouldn’t be a good
Damon and Chrissy had grown up together. Although Damon had never been particularly kind to Chrissy, he had never done anything to hurt her, either.Spending so much time with him, Chrissy knew Damon well. He was the type who acted tough but had a soft heart.Every time she had a problem, Damon would help her like an older brother, always solving things for her.Unlike the brothers at home, who only lectured her—she’d heard enough of that to last a lifetime."Yeah, after she learned about your identity, she really admired you. If you go and comfort her, try to be friends, she’d be so happy."After hearing this from both the old man and Damon, Hazel didn’t think much of it. She followed Damon upstairs to find Chrissy’s room.Damon knocked on the door first. "Chrissy, Hazel’s here to see you. She wants to take you shopping. Are you going?"There was a brief silence in the air, then some sounds came from inside. Less than half a minute l
Next to her, Sheila couldn’t stop marveling at the exquisite design sketches, her eyes glowing with admiration.When the last sketch came out, Hazel finally widened her eyes. On the video displayed on stage, it was the original design sketch for her mother’s villa.And the notes written on it were also in her mother’s handwriting.Just moments ago, Mr. Sullivan had said that these sketches were all approved by the designer themselves, but how did he manage to get her mother’s permission to expose the sketches to so many people?After the lecture, Hazel and Sheila squeezed their way backstage, pushing past the bodyguards to barge in.Seeing that Mr. Sullivan was about to leave with the bodyguards escorting him, Hazel quickly shouted.“Mr. Sullivan, I’m Novaria’s daughter. I came today to ask you how you got my mother’s permission to release her design!”Not only had everyone attending the lecture seen Novaria’s sketch, but everyone fol
At first, Chrissy hadn’t noticed, but now she realized just how skilled Gavin was at coming up with excuses.Even after all this, he was still trying to make excuses for himself. Did he really think she was a fool? That she would believe anything he said?"Or is it that you can’t even take it out? You’ve been with me just for my money and body, haven’t you? Now that you’ve had your fun, why are you still struggling? During our relationship, you haven’t lost out."She was right—if Chrissy didn’t reclaim the money from their relationship, Gavin had already made a fortune.If he hadn’t squandered the money and wasn’t so vain, those funds could have sustained him for the rest of his life.“Damon, let those ladies in.”Gavin's mind tightened, an ominous premonition rushing to his head. He wanted to stop it, but he could only stand there and watch the door, hoping the people coming in weren’t the ones he dreaded seeing.But as expected, he
Parents who dote on their children will always support them as long as they don't make a major mistake. Chrissy had been blinded by Gavin, and now she couldn’t even see such a simple truth. “I brought them back to confront Gavin face to face, but I was worried you couldn’t handle it, so I thought we’d talk first. Since you’re so strong, let’s go upstairs and confront Gavin together.” Chrissy looked up at Damon, a hint of resistance in her eyes. She wasn’t strong at all, and she wasn’t ready to accept this so easily. It was all forced. She nodded and followed Damon upstairs with the three women. Chrissy was a relatively traditional girl, so in the Price family, her room was far away from Gavin’s. One was at the far end of the second floor corridor, and the other was at the opposite end. Gavin’s room was close to the stairs, and as soon as Damon reached the second floor, he could faintly hear some sounds coming from inside Gavin’s room.
Damon had already discussed this matter with Grandpa Mark, so Grandpa Mark was not surprised by his actions now. However, the thought that he had just resolved one issue with Agatha and now had to deal with Gavin left him feeling uneasy."Chrissy, you and Damon go to the tea room downstairs. He has something to tell you. Whatever he says, you’re an adult now, so you must stay calm."Damon, who wasn’t sure how to begin, was relieved that Grandpa Mark had taken care of the arrangement for him.Chrissy’s bad feeling only grew stronger, but she still did as Grandpa Mark had said.Damon instructed the housekeeper to take the three women to a more secluded spot before leading Chrissy to Grandpa Mark's tea room."Damon, what’s going on? Why is it so mysterious? Just tell me, otherwise, I’ll never feel at ease," Chrissy started questioning as soon as they entered the tea room. Damon took a deep breath before finally speaking."Chri
The private room wasn’t small, but the table was relatively small, likely a special arrangement by the restaurant. After all, since the restaurant prioritized confidentiality, it needed to ensure that guests felt safe while dining there. The small table set up this way was designed so that guests wouldn’t feel like their private conversations could be overheard. "Hazel, I’ve already ordered the dishes in advance, all of them are your and Grandpa Omar’s favorites, and I’ve included some snacks that’s suitable for breakfast. I’ll have the server bring it in right away." After saying that, Damon pressed the button in front of him. Within a few seconds, the door opened, and a server entered, respectfully looking at Damon. "Mr. Price, may I serve the dishes?" Damon nodded slightly, and the server bowed and left the room. Soon, a series of dishes were brought into the room by a line of servers. The dishes were abundant, and they looked as good as th
No matter how you look at it, Hazel was the one who suffered the most from this incident, both mentally and physically.By the time Damon arrived at Hazel’s house, it was already past eight in the evening. Hazel had taken her medicine and was ready to rest, but when she heard that Damon had come to visit, she still went downstairs to greet him."Hazel, thank you. I know it must have been you who called Grandpa Omar and changed his mind. I need to sincerely apologize to you for the things my mother did.""Since it’s already so late, I’ve rescheduled the dinner to tomorrow morning. After my mom apologizes to you, she’ll head straight to the airport for a flight at 2 p.m."The press conference that was supposed to take place tomorrow morning had been canceled, saving them a lot of trouble."You don’t need to thank me. I just didn’t want my private matters to be exposed to the public. It has nothing to do with your family. Also, if your mother’s apolog
"Mark, I need to make it clear. If her attitude improves, she can return after ten years. But if she remains the same, she’ll stay abroad indefinitely."Before coming to the Price family, Omar had first gone to the company to have an agreement drafted, detailing how this matter would be handled.He took out two identical copies of the agreement and handed one to Mark."Look, we’re not getting any younger. Who knows when we’ll be gone?"“To ensure Hazel doesn’t get into trouble, I’ve drafted this agreement in advance. Both of us will sign it on behalf of the Price Corp and Omar Corp.”Even if Omar didn’t bring it up, Mark was already preparing this agreement.Agatha living abroad with Jamal might not be a bad thing for the Price family.Seeing Jamal’s attitude toward Agatha, it was impossible to expel her from the Price family. For the sake of the family’s future, it was necessary for Agatha to reform.During her time abroad, it