"If I were you, I wouldn’t bring up our last meeting right now. Or are you afraid I won’t remember the things you did with Jonah?"
Omar didn’t know what had happened between them, and Hazel didn’t intend to let him know, so she didn’t elaborate further. But just that one sentence made Marco understand Hazel’s thoughts. It seemed that any hopes he had of making her his girlfriend should be put to rest. "What’s going on? You’ve met before? That’s not surprising, but why are you bringing up Jonah?" Before Marco could respond, Hazel quickly dismissed it. "It’s nothing. Their company has always worked with ours. It’s just some business matters we ran into before." She shot Marco a warning glance. Fortunately, he wasn’t foolish and quickly grasped her intent, switching the topic. "Yeah, I met Hazel once before due to work, and I have a good impression of her." Omar stepped forward, standing by Hazel’s side, smiling at the group of men. "I alwayHazel noticed Grant’s discomfort and quickly shifted the topic. "I was just joking. Don’t take it to heart. I just thought everyone was being too formal, so I wanted to lighten the mood." Hazel had expected there would be some second-generation heirs among the guests, but she didn’t expect there to be someone as innocent as Grant among them. When Grant heard her say it was just a joke, he looked up at Hazel, clearly relieved. "You were really joking?" "Of course. It's just a family matter for us Queens. It’s normal for you not to know. Even if you did, I wouldn’t be upset over something so small." Hazel was sitting on an armchair, while Adam, Marco, and Grant were seated on the long sofa in the middle. Charles sat across from her on another armchair. Vincent, on the other hand, was slouched on a lazy sofa nearby. He hadn’t said a word yet and looked like he might fall asleep any moment. "I knew Hazel was a person of great grace and magnanimity," Marco s
In the past, Charles had stolen several projects from other companies to plug the holes in his family’s business. While he used reputable methods, those whose projects he took saw him as a common enemy. Hazel didn’t know much about Charles, except for what she had heard from Sully. If it hadn’t been for Omar organizing this gathering, she probably wouldn’t have met him in the next few years. After all, Charles seemed to have issues with the Price family, especially with Damon. Since Damon had helped her so much, she had no reason to get close to his enemy. “I’ve heard a bit about your issues with the Price family, but as long as the business competition is fair and legal, there’s nothing to say. It’s all about skill,” she said casually. Losing a project to Charles wasn’t shameful, but someone like Damon, who cared about face, would definitely hold a grudge. For years, Damon’s reputation had reigned in Vernon, so it wasn’t surprising that he would have a grudge ag
After thinking for a moment, she added, “And Vincent, although he didn’t say a word, that makes him even more intriguing.” “Grant is also fine as a younger brother figure. He’s so pure. When we talked, everything seemed new and interesting to him. It was kind of fun.” “As for Adam and Marco… I don’t really feel anything for Adam, since he’s working with Jonah now. As for Marco, I didn’t like him from the start. I wasn’t fond of him when we first met.” Hazel named each person, and Omar practically wanted to grab a notebook to jot everything down. “I could tell you didn’t like Marco. I don’t like him either. If it weren’t for his family’s connections, I wouldn’t have invited him here!” Butler Benson furrowed his brows. If he remembered correctly, Marco was chosen by Omar personally. “When I invited Adam, I had my reservations too, but after thinking it over, it’s fine. If you get along with him, it’ll be easier when you deal with Jonah.” Omar was thi
Delilah was still in the hospital recovering from childbirth, yet she somehow managed to secretly take Marcus’s child away. Damon stared at the limited surveillance footage on his phone, unable to make out the features of the person who took the child. It seemed he had underestimated Delilah. “Kin, I’m giving you no more than two days. You must bring the child Delilah took back to me. Delegate all your tasks at the company to your assistant—don’t worry about anything else. Your sole focus is tracking down this child.” For Delilah to take such action, it meant she had likely figured out some of what Marcus had done. It made sense—Marcus had originally planned to run away but suddenly decided not to. Her suspicions were only natural. However, Damon still wasn’t sure if Delilah knew about Marcus’s visit to the Price Corp. He figured he’d have to stop by the hospital after work to confirm. To gain Delilah’s trust, he would need Agatha’s help. It seemed
Once Agatha caught her breath, Damon quickly tried to explain. “Mom, all the kindness you’ve shown Delilah wasn’t wasted. The reason I’m telling you this now is because only you can help me with this.” “Listen carefully. We need to use Delilah’s trust in you. You have to stay strong—we’re going to avenge Demian, and your role in this is the most crucial.” Hearing the mention of avenging Demian, Agatha finally stopped crying. She had lived a life of comfort, with no real hardships. The greatest pain she had ever experienced was losing her son—a white-haired parent burying their black-haired child. As Demian’s mother, her love for him was unparalleled and unshakable. “What do you need me to do? Pretend to comfort Delilah and coax her into revealing where the witness’ child is?” Damon quickly shook his head. “No, just continue treating her as you always have. Don’t let her suspect that we know anything.” “We rarely visit her as it is. If we sudde
Feeling the warmth of his hand, Agatha’s restless heart calmed a little. She had spent so much time around Delilah that there was no reason to be overly nervous. All she needed to do was act as she always did. At this stage, it was only natural for her to prioritize the child over Delilah. Any slip-ups on her part would be understandable under the circumstances. “Don’t worry, for Demian’s sake, I’ll handle this perfectly.” When they arrived at the hospital, the act began the moment they got out of the car. Agatha dragged a reluctant Damon into the hospital room, where Delilah was having her afternoon meal. Seeing Damon, Delilah seemed less overjoyed than usual. Instead, a hint of doubt appeared in her eyes. “Damon? Why are you here? Didn’t Mom say you’ve been really busy lately?” Before Damon could answer, Agatha interjected, “I insisted he come. After all the pain you went through to give birth, how could he just ignore you?” She pushed Damon
Hazel had just secured a piece of land from Omar, and now many people were eyeing the plot, hoping to collaborate with Queen Corp. "Hazel, Xander just sent over some brand logos. Take a look and see which one fits best."Sully walked over to Hazel with a tablet, showing the logos designed by Xander’s team for their collaboration.Hazel glanced through the designs but wasn’t satisfied."Are these the only ones? The first few are too focused on HX Corp’s logo, making it hard to see Queen Corp’s presence. The latter ones overemphasize our characteristics, which doesn’t work either.""Tell Xander to have his designers work overtime. We need a logo that reflects the harmonious blend of our brands. These won’t do."After saying that, Hazel returned to her work. This was a crucial time for Queen Corp’s rise, and after all the effort she had put in, she couldn’t afford to stumble now.Sully glanced at the tablet and then back at Hazel’s
Hazel realized that she had only mentioned being hungry to Sully while at the company, so it must have been Sully who told Xander. Thinking back to how Sully had acted when she left earlier, Hazel suddenly understood what they were up to. The call was from Eddie, so it was likely that Eddie had learned about Xander’s intentions to confess. "Hazel? What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" Hazel furrowed her brows, looking as if she was in discomfort. She suddenly bent forward, clutching her stomach. "I’m feeling a little unwell. Can you take me to the hospital near my place?" She then slid back into the car, her face pale. Though it wasn’t right to lie, this might be the best outcome for them. She knew that there was no possibility between her and Xander, and she didn’t want to lose him as a friend. After the car had driven a little ways, Hazel’s condition seemed to improve, her face regaining some colo
Although he didn’t want to admit it, Damon found himself once again intimidated by Chrissy’s confident demeanor. He raised his head slightly and looked at Chrissy, a trace of foolishness in his eyes. After a pause, he asked, "So, Hazel actually has feelings for me?" Chrissy nodded vigorously. "Of course! Didn’t you hear everything I just said?" "So, what should I do now? Hazel is out having dinner with Charles. Whether it’s for work or not, I can’t just do nothing, right?" Under Chrissy's influence, Damon had already begun to trust her unconditionally. He didn’t even realize it, but all his hopes were now riding on her. Chrissy stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, tapping her chin thoughtfully. After a while, when Damon wasn’t paying attention, she pulled out a small notebook from her bag and glanced through it. "Chase her! Go all in and pursue her passionately! That’s the most important thing you should be doing right now!" "How do I chase
"You're saying that Charles only came to me with a business deal because he's trying to get close to me?" Hazel stared at Xander, her gaze unblinking.Xander wasn’t sure how to respond—he didn’t want to make things awkward, but it was hard to avoid the implication.He could tell Hazel wasn’t quite seeing things the way he did. It wasn’t just business, he thought; there was something else behind it."Honestly, I used to think the same thing," she continued. "But then I realized, he never actually said anything like ‘if we work together, you have to marry me.’ So, why not agree to the deal? I’m just giving him the chance to be around me. Whether or not he can make something out of that, that’s not my concern."Hazel had known all along that what Charles really wanted was a chance, not her hand in marriage.Xander finally nodded. "I get it now. I was worried about you not seeing through him. Looks like I was wrong."He had watched Hazel grow in
This was the best solution Chrissy had come up with after spending an entire night binge-watching idol dramas. The situation between Damon and Hazel right now was simply because there was no opportunity to push their relationship forward.Chrissy decided to get involved herself and serve as the bait this time."When I went to find Hazel just now, she looked so shocked, like she hadn’t expected it at all. And after I left, probably she and her best friend are already talking about you," Chrissy said confidently.She analyzed the situation with such precision that if the security guards from Queen's company hadn’t arrived so quickly, she would have stayed longer and delivered a whole monologue.Thinking about this, Chrissy felt a little disappointed. She had prepared a whole speech for this, but barely got two lines out before being kicked out.Seeing Chrissy so sure of herself, Damon couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.The way
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