A board member, who had been threatened by her, lost his temper and slammed the table as he stood up. "It was me! What are you going to do about it? Do you want to hit me again? Just look at the way you handle things—where’s the grace of a lady? And how could you be the president of Queen Corp? You’re not qualified to sit in this position!" "Today’s meeting is meant to remove you from office. Only Jonah can lead Queen Corp back on track. Do you have any idea how much damage Queen Corp has suffered under your leadership?" "Now with all these scandals online, if this continues, Queen Corp might as well declare bankruptcy instead of running a company!" The board member went on and on, and with every word, Hazel’s face darkened, but her smile never wavered. If Eddie were here, he would probably be trembling with fear. She’d been this angry only a handful of times in her life, and the people who had made her this angry never ended well. “David Miles, r
Hazel’s voice was firm, like a bell ringing in everyone’s heart.People would go to great lengths for money, and the others, who had originally gathered for profit, now saw that Hazel was able to maximize the benefits of their shares. Naturally, they would stand by her side.Except for those from Jonah’s circle, who hadn’t spoken up, everyone else agreed that Hazel should remain CEO.The few who stayed silent—Hazel merely cast a glance at them, and they immediately nodded in agreement.Only Jonah, his face pale, brought up the online scandals."Hazel, we have no complaints about your abilities at work, but what’s going on with those things online? It’s already seriously affecting the company’s operations."Recently, Queen Corp hadn’t had any new projects, just old ones, so the company wasn’t actually impacted by the issue.The stock market had only seen some minor fluctuations, all within
Delilah struggled to hide the frustration on her face. From how Damon treated her now, even though they were married, he still wouldn’t live with her. This meant her position in the Price family would be weakened. If she could move into the old mansion, although it wouldn’t give her complete control over Damon, she could use the baby to win favor with the elders. In that case, her status in the Price family would be secure. "Aunt, Damon and I aren’t married yet. Moving into the old mansion at this time... It doesn’t seem appropriate. Let’s not do that." Agatha patted Delilah’s hand. "Oh, you’ll be married soon enough, what’s the big deal? We’ll just have Damon pick you up from the old mansion and take you to the hotel for the ceremony. It’s settled, then." At the Price Corp building, Kin was reporting work to Damon while holding a schedule. After finishing the work report, he began discussing Hazel’s recent actions, which were tasks that Damon had assig
In the evening, Hazel was refining the company’s development plan for the next year when Damon’s call came in.She didn’t even have to guess—it was probably about Delilah. Without hesitation, she turned off her phone. Out of sight, out of mind.Less than half an hour later, there was a knock on the door. By this time, the office staff had all gone home, so Hazel assumed it was her assistant, Eddie, coming to see her. She instructed them to come in.To her surprise, it wasn’t Eddie who entered, but Damon. Since she didn’t take his call, he decided to show up in person. How interesting.“What are you doing here?” she asked.“Who else did you expect? Your boyfriend?”Damon had intended to have a calm conversation with Hazel, but her sharp words immediately provoked him. His patience was quickly worn thin.“I’m here to ask about the incident online. Don’t worry, I’m not here to make accusations, I just want to understand what happened. If
On the way home, Hazel watched the video Eddie had retrieved from the coffee shop. The footage clearly showed Delilah waiting by the window early in the morning, her every move visible even to the reporters outside.If anyone claimed this wasn’t premeditated, Hazel wouldn’t believe it. If she could get hold of the chat records between Delilah and those reporters, it would be perfect.But honestly, Delilah’s petty tricks weren’t worth such an effort. This video alone was enough to ruin her completely.As the online discussion about Hazel and Delilah reached its peak, the coffee shop video and chat records of Delilah inviting Hazel to meet were leaked.Along with that came audio recordings from their meeting, perfectly synchronized with the video.No one would have guessed that behind Delilah’s pitiful facade in the footage, her words could be so despicable.It wasn’t just about shattering people’s sense of morali
The next day, a little after 11 a.m., Eddie stood at the arrival gate holding a large, garish sign. Hazel, wearing sunglasses and a mask, stood beside him, her face completely concealed.After all, Eddie’s sign was the epitome of humiliation. It screamed, 'Welcome Home, Lord Xander and Lady Sully, Rulers of the Kingdom of Awesome!' in glittery neon pink, complete with a couple of misspelled words and stick figures holding hands under a lopsided rainbow. To top it off, Eddie had drawn a crown on Xander’s head and a tiara on Sully’s—with an unfortunate resemblance to a UFO.The sign was so colorful and childish it looked like something out of a kindergarten art project.Its visibility was unparalleled. Xander and Sully spotted it from afar as soon as they exited. They also saw Hazel, who was trying to act invisible beside it.Eddie spotted them too and excitedly dragged Hazel toward them.“Boss, hurry up! They’re here, but they’re wa
Protected behind Xander, Hazel remained untouchable. But with the media pressing in and the crowd growing larger, it became clear they couldn’t reach the banquet hall at this rate. Realizing this, Hazel pulled Xander’s hand down, stepping forward into full view of the reporters. They hesitated momentarily under her piercing gaze but continued pressing with questions. “Ms. Queen, did you attend Mr. Price and Miss Hasani’s wedding because Miss Hasani invited you personally?” Although the Price family had spent a fortune to suppress the earlier scandal, it had spread widely among the elite. The reporter’s question caught the attention of nearby guests, their curiosity piqued. Realizing their slip-up, the reporter quickly shut their mouth, retreating slightly. Mentioning such a scandal at Damon’s wedding was a sure way to court disaster. “Were you taught to ask these pointless questions, or are you just naturally curious about trivial matters? I’m a single woman
Damon hesitated, glancing between the retreating Hazel and Delilah, who looked frail and pitiful beside him. In the end, he relented and supported Delilah as they turned back toward the banquet hall. “Damon, was that Hazel at the door just now?” Mark’s eyesight no longer sharp, had caught a glimpse of Hazel from afar but wasn’t entirely certain. Upon seeing Damon nod in confirmation, the old man frowned deeply. “If Hazel was here, why didn’t you invite her in?” Delilah, seated beside the patriarch, kept her head down, clutching her belly as if shielding herself. She dared not look up, knowing full well that Grandpa’s fondness for Hazel far surpassed his regard for anyone else in the family. “There weren’t enough seats prepared since we didn’t know she’d bring someone with her.” In truth, seating arrangements had been handled by Agatha, but the suggestion to reserve a seat for Hazel had come from Delilah. No one had expected Hazel to show up at Damon’s w
The wound wasn’t very large; it was just a scraped area with a deeper cut in the middle. But when the doctor was treating it, Damon still looked visibly shaken.Looking at the wound, he had no idea how to handle the issue with his mother.Mark was right. The approach Hazel had mentioned earlier was already the best result for Agatha.Not just Hazel, even Damon, an outsider, could see that this was already a considerate way to handle the situation, one that saved face for the Price family. Based on Hazel’s usual style, she probably would’ve wanted to make Agatha suffer even more.After the doctor finished bandaging the wound on her head, the three of them sat down again. Damon poured a glass of water for Hazel.“Hazel, now tell me your thoughts on how to handle this. Are you planning to hand Agatha over to the police and provide evidence?”Earlier, Hazel had only given a general idea. Mark now wanted to ask more specifically about her plans.
Hazel was not like Agatha—she would never fabricate stories or create such a huge scene for no reason. “Hazel, this matter is our family’s fault. No matter what you decide to do, we will cooperate with you,” said Mark, seeing that the situation had reached this point. As the head of the Price family, it would no longer be appropriate for him to stay silent. Although Hazel had already expected that the old master would support her, hearing these words from his mouth still made her heart tremble. “To ensure fairness, I will not handle this personally. I will leave it to the police, and the two matters will be dealt with together.” If it were someone else, Hazel would definitely find a way to take revenge before involving the police. But since the Price family had given her such a huge concession, she felt that she should return the favor to them. However, Agatha didn’t think so. She charged at Hazel, throwing her body into her. Damon quickly p
Mark had originally intended to take Agatha to apologize to Hazel, but after thinking it over, he decided against it. He was getting older, and Jamal had already reached middle age. This sort of matter should be handled by Jamal himself. Had he known that Jamal wouldn’t be able to handle Agatha’s actions, he would have dealt with it himself. He had tolerated Agatha for far too long. “I remember telling you not to associate with your family too much,” Mark said, his voice tinged with frustration as he looked at Agatha. Jamal, with his face twisted in anger, couldn’t hide the disappointment in his eyes. Mark stood behind Jamal, silent, not saying a word. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, but he wanted to see how Jamal and Damon would handle it. After all, Agatha was someone close to them. One was Agatha’s son, and the other was her husband. If they could resolve this matter, it shouldn’t have to fall on Mark to intervene. However, if they failed to giv
Damon had just come downstairs from his study. The Price family members were preparing to have dinner when Hazel’s sudden arrival caught everyone off guard.It was Jamal who first reacted. “Hazel, you came at just the right time. We were about to eat. Join us for dinner.”Hazel’s gaze locked directly onto Agatha. Agatha stole a glance at her but quickly averted her eyes, her guilt practically written across her face.“Uncle Jamal, I didn’t come here for dinner today. I’m here to address some matters.”Just as Jamal was about to ask what matters, Hazel gestured toward the door. Moments later, Grant emerged from the corner.The moment the Price family saw Grant, they immediately guessed what this was about and all turned their eyes to Agatha.Among the Price family, the only person with ties to Grant was Agatha.“Mom, did you instigate Grant to do something to Hazel again?”The Price family was already aware of the previous car a
The Fletcher family had always favored sons over daughters. While Grant often helped Agatha with her schemes, deep down, he looked down on her.If not for the generous amounts of money Agatha gave him each time, there was no way he would do these thankless, fruitless tasks for her.It wasn’t just Grant who thought this way; the rest of the Fletcher family also believed that if Agatha weren’t so unreliable, the Price family wouldn’t treat them as dismissively as they did now. The Price family should’ve been a powerful ally to the Fletcher family.“You’re too late. When I let you off the hook last time, you should’ve had this realization, not waited until now.”Hazel sat on a chair, pulled out her phone, and activated the audio and video recording function, pointing it at Grant.“Now, spill everything—what Agatha instructed you to do, your own plans, and every detail about what’s happened up until now.”Grant’s expression twisted as though he
“What nonsense are you spouting? Cooperate? How do you want to cooperate, take off your clothes yourself?”Grant glared at Hazel viciously, as if wishing he could tear her apart, but in reality, he didn’t dare even touch a finger of hers.Before she had recognized him, he might have had the courage. But now, he wouldn’t dare bet the entire Fletcher family on it.“Let me tell you this,” Grant said harshly, trying to hide his unease. “You’re just someone Damon fancies. Do you really think he’d abandon his own mother for you?”“There’s a saying—‘You can always remarry, but you only have one mother.’ Besides, you’re not even part of the Price family yet!”Rather than convincing Hazel, it seemed more like Grant was trying to convince himself.As long as his sister, the wife of the Price family’s eldest son, could protect him and the Fletcher family, dealing with someone like Hazel shouldn’t be a problem... right?“Grant,” Hazel said calmly
“Boss, look! She’s awake now. What should we do next?” Hazel's hands were tied tightly behind the chair. It seemed Grant had seen her skills before, so he wasn’t taking any chances. She had tried to break free, but it was useless. Grant stepped forward and yanked the cloth off her face, grinning as he looked at her. “Hazel, do you recognize me?” Feigning ignorance, Hazel studied him for a moment before speaking, “You’re not one of Harold’s men, are you?” The name Harold wasn’t a secret to those around the Price family or Hazel. At this point, Hazel didn’t want to reveal that she already knew Grant’s identity. Doing so would complicate things. After all, she was at a disadvantage. If he started seeing her as a threat, it would only make things worse for her. “I’ve already told Harold that my parents didn’t leave me anything or tell me anything important. Even if you kidnap me, I’ve got nothing to give you!” Her voice was filled wi
Hazel also thought of this issue. "It’s better not to make it too sudden. First, plant a seed of doubt in Chrissy’s mind, or maybe confess and show her the evidence in advance." Planning these things without Chrissy knowing made her worried. If Chrissy saw everything unfold unexpectedly, she might not be able to handle it. Telling her in advance only raised one concern: Chrissy might tell Gavin, and he’d be prepared. But as long as everything was in place, even if Gavin knew ahead of time, it wouldn’t change the outcome. "Had you not reminded me, I would’ve forgotten to consider if Gavin would do something trashy. It seems I have to give Chrissy a heads-up after all. Otherwise, who knows what problems might arise later," Damon said, his anger rising at the thought of what Gavin might do to Chrissy. It made him lose his appetite. Fortunately, Hazel understood. After all, they had grown up together, and they still kept in touch. Seeing her friend tangled
In the private room, the food was delivered by a conveyor system. Aside from the two of them, no restaurant staff entered the room, ensuring their conversation wouldn’t be interrupted. Anything they needed could be ordered directly from the tablet on the table, and the food would arrive in less than a minute. It was the perfect setup for a more private conversation. Damon frowned, as if there was something serious he couldn’t quite bring himself to say. Hazel didn’t interrupt him, but now she was curious—what could be troubling Damon this much? "Chrissy’s fiancé... is a scumbag. He has several girlfriends in Country Y," he finally revealed. "What?!" Hazel had just taken a sip of water and hadn’t swallowed yet when she heard this bombshell of news. "Wasn’t it just said that they were going to get married soon? Are you telling me that guy still has several other girlfriends?" If Damon had been talking about something from a long time ago, Haze