Chapter 192 061
HAZEL safely got home.
The minute she stepped into the living room, Gabriel and Gaddiel— who had been sitting cross-legged on the couch watching a cartoon— snapped their heads toward the door.
“Hazel!” Gaddiel cried out first, jumping to his feet.
They both ran to her at once.
“Where have you been?” Gabriel asked, grabbing her hand. “Mommy has been looking everywhere for you.”
“Yes!” Gaddiel added quickly. “She was shouting. She is worried. Where did you go?”
Hazel dropped her bag by the door and pulled both boys into a tight hug. She squeezed them harder than usual, her chin resting briefly on Gabriel’s head. She inhaled deeply, her chest rising and falling.
But she said nothing.
The boys pulled back slightly, studying her face.
“Why are your eyes red?” Gabriel asked.
Hazel hissed softly under her breath and began walking past them into the living room.
“Why is she worried about my whereabouts when she has decided to send me away?” she muttered bitterly.
The twins froze mid-step and looked at each other.
“Send you away?” they chorused in confusion.
Hazel let out another long hiss and was just about to sink into the couch when a firm voice cut through the air.
“And where do you think you are coming from, young lady?”
Hazel straightened immediately.
Amelia stood by the hallway entrance, leaning against the doorframe. Her arms were folded tightly across her chest, her face composed but far from calm.
Hazel turned to face her mother.
She said nothing.
“Am I not talking to a human being?” Amelia asked sharply.
Hazel lifted her chin slightly.
“It is none of your business, Mom.”
The twins gasped in unison, eyes widening as they looked from sister to mother.
Amelia’s jaw tightened.
“Hazel, do not get on my nerves this evening. I have had enough already. Where the hell are you coming from?”
Hazel rolled her eyes in open defiance.
“I went out for a walk.”
Amelia gave a short, humorless laugh.
“You and I both know you are not telling the truth.”
Silence.
“You have been to your dad’s, haven’t you?” Amelia pressed.
Hazel hesitated just briefly before shrugging.
“So now you know. Can you let me be now?”
Amelia pushed off the doorframe and walked further into the living room.
“You left this house without informing me.”
“And you make decisions about my life without informing me,” Hazel shot back instantly.
The twins shifted uncomfortably, slowly stepping backward toward the couch.
“Lower your voice,” Amelia warned.
“Why?” Hazel challenged. “So you can pretend everything is fine?”
“Everything would be fine if you stopped behaving like this.”
“Oh, I’m the problem now?”
“You are making things difficult.”
“For you or for Charles?” Hazel fired.
Amelia’s eyes flashed.
“This has nothing to do with Charles.”
“Everything has to do with him!” Hazel’s voice cracked despite her effort to stay composed. “Ever since he came, everything changed.”
“That is not true, Hazel.”
“It is! You are sending me away because you think I’m in the way.”
Amelia exhaled slowly, forcing control into her tone.
“You are not in the way.”
“Then why am I the only one being moved?” Hazel demanded. “Why not the twins? Why just me?”
“Because you are older.”
“That is not an answer!”
“It is the answer,” Amelia said firmly. “You need structure. Discipline. A different environment.”
Hazel laughed bitterly.
“So I’m being punished.”
“You are not being punished.”
“It feels like it!”
The twins exchanged another look. Gabriel grabbed Gaddiel’s hand quietly.
Amelia’s voice lowered slightly.
“Hazel, I am your mother. I make decisions based on what I believe is best for you.”
“No,” Hazel whispered, shaking her head. “You make decisions based on what is best for your new life.”
“That is enough,” Amelia snapped.
Hazel’s eyes filled, but she blinked rapidly, refusing to cry in front of her.
“I can’t believe you,” Hazel said softly. “I thought at least you would choose me.”
Amelia stiffened.
“Do not twist this.”
“I’m not twisting anything,” Hazel replied. “I see it clearly.”
“You are too young to understand.”
“And you are too blinded to see!”
The words hung heavy in the air.
Amelia took a step forward.
“You will not speak to me that way.”
Hazel stared at her for a long second, then grabbed her bag again.
“Fine,” she muttered. “Do whatever you want. You always do.”
She turned toward the hallway.
“Where are you going?” Amelia demanded.
“Anywhere but here.”
“Hazel!”
But Hazel didn’t stop.
She disappeared down the corridor, the sound of her bedroom door slamming echoing through the house.
Silence fell over the living room.
Amelia stood still, her chest rising and falling slowly.
Gabriel looked up at her cautiously.
“Mom?” he asked softly.
Amelia blinked, pulling herself together.
“Mom,” Gabriel repeated, stepping closer. “Are you sending Hazel away?”
The question caught her off guard that she froze. For a split second, her expression faltered.
How did they know? How much had they understood?
She forced a smile onto her face and crouched slightly to their level.
“Of course not, my love,” she said gently.
“But she said—”
“Hazel is just upset,” Amelia interrupted lightly. “She says things when she is angry.”
The twins looked uncertain.
“You are not sending her away?” Gaddiel asked again.
Amelia’s smile remained in place, though it didn’t reach her eyes.
“No. Go finish your show.”
She straightened and walked away before they could ask anything else.
As she stepped into the hallway, her composure slipped slightly, but she kept walking.
Back in the living room, the twins stared after her.
Gabriel shrugged.
Gaddiel shrugged back.
Then, almost in sync, they climbed onto the couch again, grabbed the remote, and resumed their cartoon.
Within seconds, laughter from the TV filled the room once more.
But the tension lingered in the air long after Hazel’s door had stopped shaking from the slam.
Vivian had just returned from escorting Vale to his car. She closed the door gently behind her and leaned against it for a second before walking slowly to the couch. She sank into it with a tired huff, her shoulders slumping, her earlier glow replaced with something heavier.
She stared ahead.
Fiona, who had been upstairs the entire time— very intentionally giving them privacy— hurried down the stairs the moment she heard the front door close. A wide grin was plastered on her face.
“So?” she called excitedly as she descended the last step. “How was the goodbye? Was it steamy? Was it cute? Did he—”
She stopped mid-sentence.
Vivian wasn’t smiling.
She wasn’t blushing.
She wasn’t even glowing.
She looked… worried.
Fiona’s brows furrowed immediately.
“Hey… what happened?”
She glanced quickly at the door as though Vale might still be standing outside.
“Has he gone?”
Vivian nodded slowly.
“Yeah. He just left.”
Fiona walked closer and sat beside her.
“Okay… so why do you look like someone just cancelled Christmas?”
Vivian let out a weak laugh.
“You are dramatic.”
“I’m observant,” Fiona corrected.
“What is wrong?”
Vivian hesitated, chewing lightly on her lower lip.
“Nothing is wrong.”
“That is a lie.”
Vivian sighed.
“It is just… something feels off.”
Fiona turned fully toward her.
“Off how?”
Vivian tucked her legs under herself again, hugging a pillow.
“Have you noticed how much he talks about his sister?”
Fiona blinked. “His sister?”
“Yes. His elder sister, his big sister.”
“The powerful, room-commanding one?” Fiona teased lightly.
Vivian shot her a look.
“See? Even you remember.”
Fiona laughed softly.
“Okay, yes, he mentions her. So?”
“So?” Vivian echoed. “Fiona, there is no conversation we have where her name doesn’t come up.”
Fiona shrugged.
“Maybe they are just close.”
“I know siblings can be close,” Vivian said quickly. “I’m not against that. I actually think it is sweet. But this is different.”
“How?”
Vivian leaned forward slightly, frustration creeping into her voice.
“It is like… everything about him circles back to her. His decisions. His opinions. His values. Even tonight.”
“What happened tonight?” Fiona asked, now more serious.
“He said he can’t wait to show me to her,” Vivian replied quietly.
Fiona’s brows lifted.
“That is not bad though.”
“I know it is not bad,” Vivian said, rubbing her forehead. “But it’s how he says it. Like… like I need her approval. Like I’m being presented. And you know how that one sounds,” she added the last sentence as an after-thought.
Fiona studied her friend carefully.
“He admires her,” Vivian continued. “That is obvious. And I get that she raised him and all. But sometimes I feel like I’m not just dating Vale. I’m dating Vale and his sister. Like I need that sister’s approval. What if it turns out that she doesn't like me. You know what would happen next, right?”
Fiona couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped her.
“I’m serious,” Vivian insisted.
“I know you are,” Fiona said quickly, holding up her hands. “I’m not laughing at you. I just think you are overthinking.”
Vivian frowned. “Am I?”
“Yes.”
Vivian leaned back against the couch.
“He lights up when he talks about her. Like really lights up.”
“And he doesn’t light up when he talks about you?” Fiona countered.
Vivian paused.
“He does,” she admitted softly.
“Exactly.”
Fiona shifted closer.
“Listen. My fiancé talks about his mother all the time.”
Vivian raised a brow.
“That is different.”
“No, it is not,” Fiona insisted. “If you heard the way he praises that woman, you would think I’m competing with a saint.”
Vivian couldn’t help smiling slightly.
“And you know what?” Fiona continued. “It doesn’t bother me. Because admiration for family doesn’t cancel romantic love.”
Vivian thought about that.
“He chose you,” Fiona added. “Out of every girl he could have taken out after coming back from abroad, he chose you.”
Vivian’s fingers tightened slightly around the pillow.
“He talks about his sister because she is important to him. That is healthy,” Fiona said gently. “It would be more worrying if he didn’t care about family at all.”
Vivian exhaled slowly.
“And as for ‘showing you’ to her?” Fiona shrugged. “That just means he is proud. Men don’t present women they are unsure about.”
Vivian’s lips curved faintly.
“You think I’m overreacting?” she asked quietly.
“I think you are new to this level of intentionality,” Fiona replied honestly. “He is serious. And serious men involve family.”
Vivian leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling.
“I just don’t want to feel disapproved of after the whole thing,” she murmured.
“You won’t,” Fiona said firmly. “And if you ever do, then you address it. But don’t create a problem before one exists.”
Vivian nodded slowly.
“Trust the process,” Fiona added. “And trust him, until he gives you a reason not to.”
Silence settled between them for a moment.
Then Fiona nudged her shoulder playfully.
“Now wipe that worried face off. You just started dating. Glow, please.”
Vivian laughed softly.
“Okay,” she said. “Maybe I’m just tired.”
“That is my girl.”
And for now, Vivian chose to believe her friend.