Chương 14: A HARSH SLAP

Hazel walked to her family house and was greeted by Stefan, who was staring at her. He looked like someone, who was going to reprimand her like he usually did, but then hesitated about what he was going to say.

This man must have seen Hazel get out of a luxurious car, which was something impossible for her, since she didn't have a wealthy friend, let alone being able to afford one.

His gaze pestered her until she was right in front of him. He thought she would say something, since they were yet to have a proper discussion as to how their relationship came to an end.

Once Hazel learned that Stefan got together with Gaia, she stopped responding to any of his messages and calls and eventually, her number went inactive. She changed her number, blocked him on all social media accounts, basically cutting all possible forms of communication between them and went silent.

"You shouldn't waste money," he said softly just as Hazel walked past him. "You shouldn't have rented a luxurious car just because you want to show off that you are doing all right."

Hazel really wanted to laugh out loud when she heard that. If only he knew who was in that car, even if he joined his wealth with her family's, they wouldn't be able to afford hiring Archer Ashdown as their driver.

Yet, it would sound too ridiculous if Hazel told them the truth. They would call her delusional.

Moreover, she was not in the mood to talk to scum today, since she would hear more gibberish later on, thus she wanted to save her energy for later.

In that case, the only way to do it was to ignore this scumbag.

"I am talking to you, we need to talk," Stefan said in a low voice, as if he didn't want anyone to hear him talking to Hazel right now and this made her shake her head inwardly.

Stefan grabbed her hand and turned her around, but Hazel couldn't wait to deal him a blow. Because once she faced him, she delivered a harsh slap to his left cheek.

The sound of it was very satisfying, as it was so loud and crisp, echoing through this silent family room. Not to mention the look on Stefan's face when he was too shocked to speak, since he didn't see it coming.

Oh, of course, he didn't see it coming, since he had only seen Hazel's good side. This was a part of hers that Hazel had never shown to anyone, except those, who annoyed her.

However, there was another sound that followed. It was a high pitched, shrill scream that came from top of the stairs, as Gaia rushed toward Stefan and fussed over him.

Damn.

Hazel cursed under her breath. She was caught in a bad light. There would be more drama than this if Gaia started to make a scene out of this.

"Hazel!" Gaia snapped at Hazel. She was two years older than her and dressed sophisticatedly with her long black hair that was tied into a bun above her head. She was the apple of their parents' eyes and promised to get a fair share in the company.

The same reason why Stefan chose her, since Gaia was the heir and would be more suitable for his family.

"What do you think you are doing?!" Gaia was livid, especially when Hazel didn't care and ignored her. The girl actually turned around and was about to leave. "Where do you think you are going?!"

Out of anger, Gaia marched toward Hazel and without thinking twice, she extended her hand to grab her hair, yet Hazel stepped aside in time and shoved her away.

Fortunately, Stefan was there to catch her, or else, she would have fallen to the floor.

"You can't do something like that to your sister," Stefan scolded her. He looked at Hazel with a deep frown, but he was not really angry at her, only puzzled.

"I just did that." Hazel shrugged her shoulders and then continued to the second floor, where they would hear their grandfather's will.

After saying that, Hazel walked away from that couple, as they argued between themselves, while Gaia was still not satisfied because she couldn't take her revenge and Stefan asked her to tone down her voice.

Whatever it was, Hazel just wanted this day to end quickly, so she could go back to her house and sleep through a full day.

However, when she thought the only thing that she had to face right now was the hearing and a few hours of entertaining the rest of the family, she met with her mother in the corridor.

Hazel's first instinct was to smile politely at her and then go to the study room, where all the family members were supposed to be gathering.

"Hazel, I think we need to talk first," Ella spoke to her daughter in a quiet tone, which reminded Hazel of Stefan's odd behavior from earlier.

Why were these two people so scared of being caught while they were talking to her? Was she that bad? In that case, they shouldn't come talking to her in the first place.

"What is it, mom?" Hazel stopped walking and stood in front of her mother. The woman looked so young, even though she was in her late forties.

Ella looked nervous, but because she knew that she didn't have much time, she spoke straight to the point.

"I don't think you can stay in that house any longer." It was hard for her to tell her daughter this, but she didn't have much choice. A classic excuse for her mistreatment toward Hazel. "Your father knew about it and he is not happy."

Hazel stared at her mother for a little while before she responded. "He is not my father, you know that. You cheated on him and had me."

"Hazel…" Ella looked at her daughter grimly for bringing that up. "You should be grateful."

"What should I be grateful for? You have never treated me right," Hazel said in a matter of fact tone.