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
"I’ve mostly recovered, so I rushed back to the company. If there’s anything I can help with, just let me know. Although I’m not as capable as you, I can still handle some tasks." Just as she was speaking, Sully walked in with some documents. "Oh, I thought it was someone else in the CEO’s office. Turns out it’s Vice President Queen. What a rare guest. Running away from something?" Jonah knew that only Hazel was in the office, so he wasn’t expecting Sully to return so quickly. Whenever he encountered Sully, he found it hard to have a proper conversation. Now, being in such a disadvantaged position, he knew Sully would make some sarcastic remarks. "Assistant Sully, I’m currently discussing important company matters with the CEO. You’re just an assistant, so perhaps you should step out for now and wait until I’m done with President Queen," Jonah said carefully. He knew Sully and Hazel were close, and even though he said these words, he had to be cautious.
Meanwhile, in the president’s office at the top floor of Price Corp, Damon leaned on his hands, frowning as he reviewed the information Kin had uncovered.“So, the company has been regularly transferring significant amounts of money to an overseas account for years. Were you able to find out which company this account belongs to?”Recalling his grandfather’s cryptic remarks, Damon suspected these payments were orchestrated by him. However, his curiosity only grew stronger—what exactly was this organization, and how powerful was it?The less his grandfather wanted to reveal, the more determined he was to uncover the truth, especially since his father’s situation was also deteriorating.The men Damon sent out had only managed to locate a phone at the last known location—a device his grandfather confirmed was the one his father had taken with him.“No, the payments were made under the guise of a partnership. The recipient company’s information exists,
“Cut the crap! Hand over everything valuable you have, put your hands on your head, and squat down!”Hazel sneered. It had been a long time since she’d heard such a clichéd line. These guys weren’t even trying to act convincing.If this were just a simple robbery, there was no way their attire would be so uniform—not to mention their builds were all remarkably similar.No, this was clearly organized and premeditated. They’d probably been tailing her for a long time, just waiting for the right moment to strike.Seeing that Hazel wasn’t the least bit intimidated, the group grew agitated.“I’ll say it one more time. Hand over your valuables. Boys, go search the car. She’s Hazel Queen—she’s bound to have some expensive stuff on her.”Hazel quickly assessed the situation. There were five of them in total, and none had mentioned their names while speaking“Boss, if she won’t cooperate, let me teach her a lesson. It’s been ages since I’ve to
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
"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