Chapter 149 018
AMELIA saw her daughter standing by the entrance of the hallway, leaning lazily against the wall with her arms folded across her chest. There was a sneer on Hazel’s lips, not loud or dramatic, but sharp enough to sting. Hazel wasn’t smiling because she found anything funny, no, she was smiling because she already knew the answer to the question she had asked, and she was waiting for her mother to admit it.
But Amelia said nothing.
She only sighed and turned back to her phone, her thumb hovering over the screen as though staring at it long enough might force it to come alive. Hazel already knew what was wrong, didn’t she? Of course she did. Hazel always knew.
Oh God. Charles.
Hazel scoffed softly and pushed herself off the wall. She walked over and dropped onto the couch beside her mother, close enough that Amelia could feel her presence, close enough that silence wasn’t an option anymore.
“You know,” Hazel began, her voice low and controlled, “you shouldn’t be doing this, Mommy.”
Amelia stiffened slightly.
“Doing what?” she asked, feigning ignorance as she kept her eyes on her phone.
Hazel let out a short laugh.
“That,” she said, nodding at the device in Amelia’s hand. “Waiting. Hoping. Making excuses in your head for someone who couldn’t even be bothered to show up.”
Amelia finally turned to look at her.
“Hazel—”
“No,” Hazel cut in, shaking her head. “Let’s talk about it. Let’s actually talk about it for once.”
Amelia closed her eyes briefly, then opened them.
“What do you want me to say?”
“I want you to admit that he messed up,” Hazel replied. “Badly.”
Amelia swallowed.
“I already know that.”
“Do you?” Hazel asked sharply. “Because it doesn’t look like it. You called him, Mommy. You didn’t just call him, you begged him. You told him Gabriel was hurt. You told him it was serious. You made him understand that your child needed him.”
Her voice cracked slightly on the last word.
“And what did he do?” Hazel continued. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
Amelia’s shoulders slumped.
“He probably must have gotten busy.”
Hazel’s head snapped toward her.
“Busy?” she echoed incredulously. “Busy doing what exactly that was more important than a bleeding child sitting alone at school?”
Amelia opened her mouth, then closed it again.
“He didn’t even try,” Hazel pressed on. “He didn’t rush. He didn’t send anyone. He didn’t call back. He didn’t even check if Gabriel got home safely.”
Her hands curled into fists on her lap.
“And yet here you are. Sitting and waiting, expecting his call.”
Amelia’s eyes stung.
“You don’t understand—”
“No,” Hazel interrupted quietly. “You don’t understand.”
She leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees.
“Not only did he abandon Gabriel, my brothers stayed back at school for one more hour after dismissal, Mom. One whole hour. Do you know how that looks? Do you know how that feels?”
Amelia’s throat tightened.
“I thought Charles would pick—”
“Please,” Hazel cut her off sharply, turning to face her fully now. “Please, Mommy. Cut this Charles crap off. Now. Please.”
The words hit harder than Amelia expected.
“You were supposed to pick them up from school today,” Hazel continued, her voice trembling with restrained emotion. “Not Charles. You. Knowing fully well Daddy isn’t in town. Knowing I have been staying late at school all week for extra murals. You were supposed to pick them up.”
She shook her head slowly.
“Not him.”
Amelia looked down, shame washing over her face.
“I know,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, Hazel. I really am.”
Hazel exhaled slowly, the tension in her shoulders easing just a little.
“I know you didn’t mean for it to happen,” she said more softly. “But intent doesn’t change the damage.”
They sat in silence for a moment.
“You keep giving him space to disappoint you,” Hazel added quietly. “And worse, you keep letting him disappoint us.”
Amelia flinched.
“That is not fair.”
“It is,” Hazel replied. “You think I don’t see it? You think I don’t notice how he only shows up when it is convenient? How he plays house when it suits him and disappears when it doesn’t? And worse still, how he shows up only when he is in need?”
That last part hit, it really hit. But Amelia stood, rooted on her ground.
She frowned.
“Charles cares about you.”
“Caring isn’t enough,” Hazel snapped. “If he truly loved those boys the way he claims to, he wouldn’t have left Gabriel sitting alone. He wouldn’t have needed reminders. He wouldn’t have gone silent.”
She paused, then added, “And another worst part? He still hasn’t called.”
Amelia’s heart sank.
“He might still.”
Hazel turned to her slowly.
“Mommy… he won’t.”
The certainty in her voice frightened Amelia.
“If it were me,” Hazel continued, “I wouldn’t wait. I wouldn’t hope. I wouldn’t excuse it. Because silence like this? It’s an answer.”
Amelia shook her head weakly.
“You are wrong.”
Hazel sighed.
“You are defending him again.”
“I’m just saying maybe something happened—”
“Something always happens,” Hazel cut in. “And somehow it’s never his fault.”
She stood up abruptly.
“I’m tired, Mom. I’m tired of watching you shrink yourself for someone who won’t even meet you halfway.”
She turned toward the kitchen, then stopped.
“Promise me something.”
Amelia looked up. “What?”
“Promise me you won’t call him,” Hazel said firmly. “No matter what. Don’t chase him. Don’t beg. Don’t explain. Just… don’t.”
Amelia hesitated.
“Promise me,” Hazel insisted.
After a long pause, Amelia nodded reluctantly.
“I promise.”
Hazel studied her face, searching for any sign of dishonesty, then finally nodded.
“Good.”
She walked toward the kitchen without another word.
The moment she disappeared from view, Amelia’s phone vibrated violently in her hand.
She gasped, startled, eyes flying to the screen.