Afternoon, Civil Affairs Bureau.
A stunning woman in a high-slit red dress walked in. Her makeup was minimal, and her hair was styled in a low bun, leaving her elegant neck exposed. As she walked, her ankle flashed occasionally, teasingly.
Hazel Queen’s sultry allure caught Damon Price by surprise. This was a far cry from the plain, simple Hazel he remembered.
Hazel didn’t even glance at him as she walked straight to the counter.
The staff member looked around nervously. “Are you two sure about this? Once you sign, and the stamp is on, it’s over.”
Hazel flashed a smile. “Do you really want to hold on to something you don’t even want? It’s trash.”
Damon’s eyes, cold as ice, fixed on her. As if he could burn a hole right through her.
She just called him trash?
But Hazel paid him no mind. Her hand signed the papers without a second thought, her signature flowing, neat, and beautiful. To Damon, it felt like a thorn in his chest, sinking deep.
He hadn’t expected her to agree so easily. Ha! Guess she really did marry him for the money after all.
The staff member shot Damon a pointed look.
With the certificate in hand, their three-year marriage was officially over.
What Hazel didn’t expect was that Damon had brought Delilah Hasani—his mistress, who had been the one to throw Hazel out of the Price mansion just yesterday.
But here, Delilah looked every bit the fragile, innocent woman. When she saw Hazel, her eyes widened with fear, as if the woman who had kicked her out the day before was someone else entirely.
“Hazel, I’m so sorry. If it wasn’t for me, Damon wouldn’t have pushed for the divorce. I’m really sorry…”
She put on a teary-eyed performance, crying as though she were the victim.
Hazel rolled her eyes, clearly irritated. “Cut it out. Mr. Price is really generous. He gave me a seaside villa, five shops on X Road, and ten million in cash. If I didn’t sign, it would just make me look petty.”
“Hazel, I know you said that to reassure me. Please forgive me. I’ll do anything for you!” Delilah pleaded, her voice sweet, but her eyes full of bitterness, knowing Hazel had walked away with a huge payout.
Hazel smirked. “Alright, then go die.”
“What? Hazel…” Delilah gasped, her voice quivering.
“What? Didn’t you just say you’d do anything for me? If you really mean it, slap yourself twice. I’m fine with that!” Hazel scoffed, raising her hand as if she might strike Delilah herself.
“Hazel!” A furious voice interrupted the tension.
Damon, playing the knight in shining armor, stepped in front of Delilah, glaring at Hazel.
Hazel was stunned. What was going on? What had she done to make them treat her like she was poison?
“You can hate me all you want, but Delilah’s pregnant. If anything happens to her, you’ll be responsible!” Damon snapped, his voice filled with barely contained rage.
Hazel crossed her arms, standing her ground. “Am I her mother? Why would I take responsibility for her? Let’s be clear—she’s just your mistress. And you? You’re nothing but a dog who’s eaten shit. No matter how clean I get, I wouldn’t want someone like her.”
“Hazel!” Damon growled, his fists clenched.
But she gritted her teeth, holding back, biding her time for the day when she’d sit in the position of Mrs. Price, finally taking down Hazel.
“Damon, don’t be like this. Hazel didn’t mean it. It’s all my fault for making her angry!” Delilah tugged at his sleeve, playing the role of the fragile woman flawlessly.
Hazel gave her a dismissive glance, adjusted the strap on her purse, and began to walk away. As she passed Damon, she paused for a moment, leaned in close to his ear, and whispered, “By the way, you might want to get a checkup. With all those pretty things outside, who knows if they’re clean.”
Damon’s face turned an ugly shade of red with rage as he watched her walk away, his eyes burning holes into her back
This woman—when had she become like this?
As Hazel stepped outside, the sun hung low in the sky, and the clock ticked past 3 PM.
“Damon Price,” she muttered under her breath, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. The echo of his voice from their past still rang clearly in her mind: “It’s been three years. I’m tired of even wearing a pair of shoes. Hazel, you’d better be smart about this, or we won’t end up in a happy situation. It won’t be good for anyone, okay?”
Three years. She had given everything—her heart, her soul—to a man who had never truly loved her. It had all started when she saved the old man of the Price family in a chance encounter. Out of gratitude, and trusting her, he had arranged for his grandson, Damon Price, to marry her.
She had never questioned the marriage, believing that love would come in time. But three years later, the love she had given had withered, unreciprocated. All that remained was the fading memory of someone who had never returned her feelings. She had loved him completely, and now, standing on the edge of divorce, she realized she had loved nothing but an illusion.
That evening, the storm hit. A bombshell exploded across Vernon’s trending news.
[Breaking: Price Family’s Eldest Son Caught with STDs, Ex-Wife Furious—Three-Year Marriage Finally Ends!]
“Wait, is this for real? My idol’s fallen from grace!”
“Sympathy for the ex-wife, a hundred times over. Ladies, be careful who you choose!”
“OMG, when did he get married? And when did they divorce? I’ll pay a thousand for someone to tell me what happened!”
***
At Price Corp. Damon stared at the trending topics, his temples throbbing with anger as the notifications kept coming in. With a loud crash, he smashed his tablet to pieces. His eyes were blazing with fury, his expression terrifying. “Get Hazel here, now!” How dare she spread rumors about him online? Who did she think she was? Hours later, a report came in: “Mr. Price, Miss Queen… she’s disappeared!” Meanwhile… In a flashy sports car, Hazel pulled off her sunglasses and mask, her body sinking into the leather seat with a deep sigh. “I’m free!” “Yeah! Congratulations, boss! You finally came to your senses and turned things around. And that humorless Damon Price—always walking around with that poker face, looking like everyone owes him money. Seriously, does anything about him even match up to you?” It was rare for Eddie to get the chance to roast Damon, and he wasted no time, his words coming out in rapid fire. “Now that you’ve split, you can start fresh, boss. Take us with yo
At that moment, Delilah had taken on the role of the female head of the Price household.All the servants were scrambling to please her."Mr. Price, we've searched every possible place that Miss Queen could be, but there's no sign of her!"Hearing his subordinate's report, Damon's brows furrowed in a cold scowl. His grip on the coffee cup tightened.‘That damn woman! She's good at hiding; even I can't find her.’"By the way, we just received a package from Miss Queen. It's something for you!" The subordinate nervously handed over an envelope.Inside was a bank card, along with a note.[Ten million, for the trouble you've had fulfilling my needs over the past three years. Honestly, considering your skills, I really overpaid you!]Crack!The bank card snapped in half in his palm, and a storm brewed in his eyes."Find her. Turn Vernon upside down if you have to. Get her here!"His subordinate immediately took the order.Before marrying him, he had thoroughly investigated her background.
Later that night, the Queen Mansion was brightly lit, luxurious and grand.Adele Boyle was lying on a chaise lounge, enjoying a face mask while a servant knelt beside her, attending to her.She popped a plump, sweet red grape into her mouth, savoring its juicy tenderness. Life was truly perfect."Madam, it’s not good..." A servant rushed in in panic.The servant, who was kneeling and doing Adele's nails, trembled in shock, causing the nail polish to go crooked.Adele kicked her over, shouting angrily, "Idiot! You can’t even handle something this small? What good are you to me? Get out!"She then raised her head and began scolding the newly arrived servant, "What are you doing shouting like a fool?"The servant, trembling, pointed at the door. "Madam, she... she...""Tsk tsk! It’s been three years, and the servants are becoming more and more disrespectful. Is this how my aunt trained you?" Hazel’s lips curled up disdainfully as she looked at the scene before her.Adele’s face turned pa
Mr. and Mrs. Price had arrived at Damon’s place.Mrs. Price, Agatha, kept glancing at Delilah’s belly with a bright, happy expression."That’s wonderful, thank God! Our son is going to be a father so soon. Although Demian is gone, God has brought a new life to the Price family. If not for this, I really wouldn’t know how to go on!"Agatha said, her eyes teary. Demian was her second son, who had tragically passed away in an accident."Don’t worry, Aunt. I’ll take good care of you and the child from now on," Delilah said obediently, displaying her cultured demeanor.Agatha wiped her tears. "How many months along are you?""Two months!""Not bad. From now on, you shouldn’t go anywhere. Stay here at the mansion and take good care of yourself!" Agatha patted Delilah’s hand, then turned to her son. "Damon, since Delilah is carrying your child, you mustn’t treat her poorly. Pick a time and get the wedding arranged as soon as possible!""No!" The one who opposed was Damon’s father, Jamal Pric
"Mr. Price, the company's network has returned to normal, but all the information about Miss Queen has been deleted."Kin stood before Damon, a thin layer of sweat forming on his forehead.It hadn't been long since the divorce, and now there were so many issues at the company, all tied to Miss Queen.What's more, Miss Queen had mysteriously disappeared. It seemed she wasn't as simple as she appeared.Before Damon could respond, Kin carefully glanced up and saw the fire burning in his eyes.He quickly lowered his head, pretending he hadn’t seen anything."Prepare the car. I’m going to Queen Corp!"The events unfolding before him were too obvious for him to deny. If Hazel was the eldest daughter of the Queens, everything made sense.At Queen Corp’s building, as Damon’s car pulled up outside, Hazel in the CEO's office immediately got the news.Now wasn’t the time to meet Damon face to face—she hadn’t had enough fun yet!On the way home, Eddie, puzzled, asked, "Boss, why aren't you meetin
Eddie clenched his fist and took a step forward, but Hazel stopped him.It was no surprise that Delilah had probably already told Damon about this. Now, she was clearly trying to use this opportunity to play the victim in front of him, wasn't she?Hazel wasn’t going to let Delilah get away with it."You’re already pregnant, and yet Damon doesn’t care enough to keep you at home, letting you run around like this?"Before Delilah could respond, Hazel continued, "Damon didn’t marry you because he was with me. Now that we’ve divorced, why hasn’t he married you yet?"With just two sentences, she left Delilah speechless, her face turning red as she stomped her feet in frustration.The nanny behind Delilah, worried about her belly, quickly stepped in front of her to block Hazel."Mr. Price marrying Miss Hasani is only a matter of time, but you—you're just a discarded shoe now. You've fallen so low, serving so many men. How can you still stand there acting so high and mighty?"Though the maids
Bailey was determined to make Hazel agree to let her invite friends over, even if it meant risking her life. “I don’t care! I already told my friends I’d invite them to my house for my birthday. If they can’t come, how will I ever face them again? I’ll just die!” Bailey threw herself onto Adele, pouting. Adele only had this one daughter, whom she had pampered and protected all her life—treating her as if she were fragile. Now, Bailey was making demands that Adele couldn’t refuse. Adele grabbed her daughter’s phone and started scrolling through the news about Hazel, when she suddenly came across a comment that revealed Hazel had been Damon’s ex-wife. “That's why there’s been no news about Hazel all these years. She must’ve married into the Price family.” With the Price family’s influence, it was easy to protect their daughter-in-law’s identity. “What do you mean?” Bailey snatched the phone away, noticing the comments below and was shocked to learn t
When Hazel woke up, her phone had been flooded with calls from board members and Jonah. Before she could figure out what had happened, there was a knock at the door. “Hazel, get up. There’s a situation at the company, and you need to handle it!” Seeing that she wasn’t answering her phone, Jonah had shown up in person. After quickly freshening up, Hazel followed him out. On the way, she got a rough understanding of the situation. After the Queen Corp’s recent CEO reshuffling, the company was already in turmoil. Some long-term partners had pulled out upon seeing that the new CEO was just a young woman. Currently, the Queen Corp was surviving on small projects, and even some senior employees had been poached. The company was barely holding together and was close to becoming an empty shell. At the beginning, the board members had been reluctant to let Hazel take over the company. However, they couldn’t oppose her outright since she held 20% of the shares. Now that the company was
"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
“To be honest,” Hazel began after a moment of thought, “I do have some early memories of living with him when I was little. Back then, I remember feeling happy. But now... I don’t get that feeling from him at all.”Not only was there no sense of happiness, but Hazel also found herself increasingly uneasy in Harold’s presence.Whenever his gaze lingered on her, she felt an inexplicable discomfort, like her entire body was on edge.But even with this knowledge, it was impossible to confirm whether Harold was really Hazel's grandfather."Even if he’s not my grandfather, his connection to my mother must be significant. What should we do now? Damon is still with him, and I’m not sure if he’s holding onto him to lure us back or for some other reason.""But keeping us around—what does he even gain from that?"Hazel couldn’t figure it out. She only knew that Harold wanted something from her, something her parents had left behind. But as for what it
Harold wasn’t fooled. He had done his homework. Damon’s obsession with Hazel ran deep—he’d done far too much for her already.This offer would definitely tempt him.If not for the threat posed by Xander, Damon wouldn’t have followed Hazel all the way to Country D.Initially, Harold had planned to approach Xander for this deal. But the moment he realized Damon was here too, he shifted his focus.Compared to Xander, Damon had a more daring, all-or-nothing attitude.And when it came to business acumen, Damon was undoubtedly the better partner.“Hazel’s parents were actually researchers for an organization—key researchers, in fact,” Harold began, his tone low and deliberate. “They developed a drug capable of enhancing all human bodily functions. But here’s the catch—it requires the umbilical cord blood of a newborn as the catalyst.”“I’ve spent my entire life pursuing the key to immortality. Ever since I handed over my research to Hazel’s
Harold pressed his lips together and said, “We just met, so you might not know me that well yet. I’m a straightforward guy, not one for beating around the bush or making empty promises.” “Since I said I wanted to talk to you alone, I meant it. It’s about Hazel.” Damon’s expression turned serious. He suddenly remembered that this man was supposed to be Hazel’s grandfather. No matter how things stood between them, some respect was still due. After all, he wasn’t sure how his relationship with Hazel might develop in the future. If it turned out everything before was just a misunderstanding, there might come a time when they’d have to reconcile. If he burned bridges with Harold now, it’d just create another obstacle between him and Hazel later on. Straightening his posture, he looked Harold directly in the eye. “About Hazel? What about her?” “I know you were married to her before, and I know you hurt her. I also know you’re trying to win her bac
Hazel hadn't replied yet when Damon's message popped up first:[At a time like this, who cares about the voting meeting? You can’t even guarantee your safety, and you're still worried about work? Unbelievable.]Hazel smirked. Damon wasn’t even trying to hide his disdain for Xander.[I’ll talk to him about it first thing in the morning,] she replied. [Might as well use the opportunity to test how he feels about us leaving.][Fine. If we can leave, we’ll go; if not, I’ll just hold the meeting online.] Xander responded, clearly more focused on practicality.Damon frowned, his brows practically tied in a knot. He couldn’t fathom how these two could still discuss work while their lives were hanging by a thread.[Alright, enough. Go to bed. We need to get up early tomorrow,] he said, breaki
Hazel carefully examined the dishes on the table, and her face immediately darkened. These were not her favorite foods, but her mother Novaria's favorites, which meant that the man in front of her must have had a close relationship with her mother.Given that he knew her mother's favorite dishes so well, their relationship couldn’t just be described as ‘good’ anymore.They were either the closest of kin or each other’s greatest and most formidable enemies.Only these two kinds of people could know each other so thoroughly.From the way the man had acted toward her, Hazel guessed that his relationship with her mother was likely the former."What is your relationship with my parents? These dishes are all my mother's favorites, and you’re so familiar with her," Hazel asked, her voice cold, as if laced with poison. The thought that this man might be connected to her parents' accident made her heart feel as though it were being pricked by a thousand nee
"I think the same way. You should come too, and bring Xander Knox along with you. Don’t worry, I’m inviting you as guests because I want to learn something from you. As long as you cooperate, Hazel will be fine." "By the way, you should know the location, right? After all, you just left the estate. I’ll have someone meet you at the place you were earlier." Without waiting for Damon to respond, the person on the other end hung up. Damon held the phone for a long time without putting it down. He and Xander were close enough for Xander to hear the voice from the phone. In other words, every move they made was being monitored by this person. They were both CEOs—one of HX, the other of Price Corp—who were already regarded as elites in the eyes of ordinary people, but in this person’s eyes, they were no more significant than ants. "Well then, let’s head over. There’s really no better option right now, is there?" Xander said resignedly. Given the situati