LOGINOh, Hazel... my heart is breaking for her. 💔 She’s carrying the weight of that terrifying text message all by herself just to protect Kai and prove she can stand on her own two feet. But we all know secrets in this world never stay buried for long. Did she make the right call by keeping Kai in the dark, or is this going to backfire horribly? 👇 Let me know your thoughts in the comments! And if you’re rooting for Hazel to crush Damon and Melissa, please take a second to leave a review and drop some stars! Your support keeps me writing the next chapters faster!
For a second, nobody moved. The only sound in the dimly lit room was the low, muffled bass vibrating through the walls from the club below.Then, the shock broke."What the hell is going on here, Kai?" Hazel’s voice was barely a whisper, but it cut through the red-lit silence like a blade.I snapped out of my trance. The cold fury and mindless need for control that had brought me into this room vanished, replaced by a sudden, choking panic."Hazel…"Before the girl kneeling at my feet could even react, I shoved her away. She lost her balance and fell to the plush carpet with a startled gasp, but I didn't care. I stood up so fast my chair nearly tipped over, throwing the leather crop in my hand to the floor. It landed with a dull thud near the rack of cuffs and whips.I took a step toward Hazel, my hands raised. "Hazel, wait. Let me explain.""Don't touch me!" she shrieked, flinching back. Her glassy, drunken eyes scanned me, her pupils dilated with a mix of intoxication and absolute h
Kai's POVThe silence of my private office was deafening. My laptop lay closed on the desk, the phantom echo of that investor’s smug, patronizing voice still ringing in my ears.“You’re young, Valentino. Sometimes you have to know when to let the bigger players dictate the terms.”I had walked out. I didn't negotiate with men who thought they could threaten my position. But the anger was still there—a dark, heavy pressure behind my eyes that wouldn’t fade. I had an empire to run, a legacy to protect, and a constant, suffocating war in my head."We're going to Onyx," I had muttered to Reed as we walked to the private elevator. "I need a drink. And I need to get out of this freaking office. What the hell is wrong with Mr. Vance?""Kai, are you sure that’s where you’re supposed to be going?" he asked, his eyes searching mine like he couldn’t believe what I'd just said."Excuse me? Can’t I visit my own club when I want to clear my head?" I questioned, stepping into the elevator.It had be
~~Damon's POV~~I watched Hazel's car drive out of the garage and disappear into the bright daylight. My heart was pounding fast in my chest, but it wasn't from fear.It was from pure excitement.She had stood there, looking so powerful and beautiful, telling me she would ruin my family if I failed. The old Hazel would have cried. She would have begged me to love her. But this new Hazel had so much fire in her. She was strong, she was dangerous, and it made me want her more than I ever had before."Damon, we need to talk about those clauses!" Melissa yelled, grabbing my arm and snapping me out of my thoughts. "She is trying to trap us! Six months is way too fast to build those apartments. And putting our family assets up as collateral? If we make one mistake, she can take everything!""We aren't going to make a mistake," I said coldly, pulling my arm away from her. I couldn't stand the sound of her voice right now. She was so loud, so paranoid, and so completely different from the ele
The cold, ruthless mask I had worn in the boardroom stayed firmly in place until the elevator doors closed, cutting off the suffocating presence of the Moretti Group.But as the elevator descended toward the private executive garage, my fingers curled tightly around my tablet. The adrenaline of setting the trap was fading, leaving behind a simmering, hot anger. Damon’s audacity was growing by the hour. First the roses on my desk, and then the sickeningly familiar way he had tried to look at me in front of his entire board. He actually believed his own delusion.The elevator doors chimed and slid open to the quiet, dimly lit concrete of the VIP parking level. My private driver was already waiting beside my sleek, black mercedes, the engine idling quietly.I took two steps out of the lobby—and froze.Leaning casually against the hood of a silver sports car parked just a few spaces away was Damon. He had his hands shoved in his pockets, his suit jacket open, looking exactly like the arro
~~ Hazel's POV ~~The silence in the boardroom was absolute, heavy with a tension so thick it felt physical.I sat at the head of the polished glass table, my posture straight and my hands folded neatly over my tablet. I looked at the people sitting opposite me—the people who had once held my entire world in their hands and crushed it without a second thought."Alright Ms Saint Claire," Damon began, his voice smooth, lingering on my new name with a familiarity that made my skin crawl. "I’m glad you could make it. We’ve already laid out the terms of our original fifty-fifty proposal. E&H injects fifty million dollars, and in return, you get half the profits of our new luxury apartment complex. It’s a win-win."I let the silence stretch for a long, agonizing moment, letting them sweat. I didn't look at the proposal on my screen. I just looked directly at Damon."Fifty million is a joke," I said flatly.Melissa’s smile faltered instantly. Damon blinked, his confident expression freezing.
After the raw vulnerability of last night—of confessing my lie and melting into Kai’s absolute, protective embrace—I had expected to feel lighter. Instead, the phantom weight of that late-night text from the unknown number sat like lead in my chest.How was your day, Hazel? I believe you were thinking about me all day...don't worry I can't wait to see you tomorrow as well. I hadn't shown Kai the text. Not because I wanted to keep secrets again, I had promised him I wouldn't but because he had looked so incredibly tired, and the peaceful look on his face when he slept was something I couldn’t bear to ruin. I had resolved to handle it today, l was going to deal with Damon myself today. I arrived at my office at a normal hour, my heels clicking a sharp rhythm against the polished marble floors of the E&H Investment Company executive suite. E&H was a global giant now, and today was the day I had been waiting for. The day I finally held the absolute power of life and death over the peop
I woke up late the next morning, to sunlight streaming through the windows in my room. For a moment I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, my mind replaying everything from the night before–the board with all those photos of me, Kai’s intense eyes, the way he had carried me inside like I already
I had the divorce papers ready by evening.I called my lawyer, Mr Hartley, someone who didn't ask too many questions. I told him exactly what I wanted-a clean break. No alimony. No fighting over assets. I just wanted my freedom and my dignity, what little I had left of both.He prepared the papers q
The emergency room was chaos.Doctors and nurses rushed past us in a blur of white coats and urgent voices. Melissa was already being taken deeper into the hospital, away from us, and Damon was following her, his hand on her shoulder, his expression a mixture of rage and desperation.I came through
I stood at the top of the stairs, completely frozen, unable to move, unable to process what had just happened."No," I whispered. "No, no, no. Melissa!"I hadn't pushed her.I hadn't meant for this to happen.It was an accident.But she was lying at the bottom of the stairs, not moving, and Miss Mia







