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 kDamon 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
At the Price old residence, Damon suddenly remembered that he hadn’t seen his father in a long time as he was heading out that morning, so he asked the Butler. "Uncle Hank, what exactly did Grandpa send my dad to do? It feels like he’s been gone for a long time." Butler Hank calculated the time, "Mr. Jamal has been gone for nearly a month. If I hadn't thought about it, I wouldn’t have realized it’s been this long." "But as for what Mr. Mark sent Mr. Jamal to do, I really don’t know. Young master, you should know this kind of thing. Mr. Mark never lets me in on work matters, and besides, it’s something even you don’t know about." Damon furrowed his brow but didn’t ask further. It seemed he should ask his grandfather about it. If something had happened, he should find a way to help handle things for the family. When he arrived at the company, Damon felt uneasy. Ever since he had thought about his father this morning, something felt off, and the odd feelin
Things haven’t been going well at Queen Corp these past few days. Hazel seems to live at the company, working from dawn until dusk, but many issues still haven’t been resolved. Some people are starting to lose patience and have gone to find Jonah, who, in order to avoid them, has been claiming to be sick and staying home instead of going to the office. He hadn’t expected them to still come after him. "Mr. Queen, you seemed fine during the meeting a few days ago. Why are you suddenly sick?" one of them asked. "Yeah, the company’s been facing a lot of issues lately. We’re older and don’t really have positions at the company, so all we can do is worry. You’re the vice president and at a time like this, you take leave? Hazel might not even be able to handle all the company’s problems on her own." Two older shareholders, with relatively high stakes in the company, came directly to Jonah’s home. When they saw him fine and greeting them, their faces darkened. He wa
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
When the organizers announced the postponement, there was nothing anyone could do but return to their work.Fortunately, the tickets were still valid. The organizers assured them that the same tickets would be honored for the rescheduled event.Calculating the time, it seemed like the lecture would be in two days.Hazel answered the phone, and Sheila’s loud voice immediately came through.“Hazel, are you okay?! I just heard you were injured! I was going to visit you at the hospital, but I found out you’ve been discharged. Where are you? I’ll come right over!”Hazel paused for a moment. “I’m at the villa. You don’t have to—”Before she could finish, the call was abruptly disconnected. Hazel looked at her phone, already knowing that Sheila was definitely on her way.She had wanted to tell Sheila not to come today since they would meet in two days anyway, and Sheila was so busy with work. There was no need for her to make an extra trip.
One option was to have Jamal and Agatha go abroad together, at least not returning until after they were both over sixty.The other option was to make the matter public, with Agatha offering a public apology to Hazel and promising that such a thing would never happen again.Hazel hesitated for a while before speaking, “Since sending her to the police isn’t an option, let’s combine these two choices. First, have Agatha apologize publicly, and then send her abroad to start over before she comes back.”Hazel's expression was calm, as if she were speaking about something unrelated to her.This was one of the things Omar liked most about Hazel—though she was kind, she was far from being a martyr.“I thought you’d soften after hearing what Jamal had to say, but it seems I underestimated you. This is the right approach. If those who make mistakes aren’t punished, they’ll make the same mistakes again next time.”Hazel merely smiled and didn’t respon
Elias briefly checked Hazel and said there was nothing wrong, so she could be discharged. Since he would soon be pulled by Sully to check Hazel’s health again, he had already familiarized himself with her physical condition. Aside from the minor scalp injury, she wasn’t injured anywhere else. It seemed that her consistent physical exercise had given her a better-than-average physique. Elias had never encountered someone with such good physical health. Even the wound on her head was healing much faster than normal. If anyone other than him were treating Hazel, they would probably want to research her case, because her recovery was far from typical. If it weren’t for the fact that Hazel had a special identity, Elias might have even wanted to call his mentor to report this matter. After being discharged, Elias drove them back, and during the drive, Sully started telling Hazel about what had happened to her. "Hazel, there's something I nee