Chapter 24 THE REAL HAZEL
And that was it. The silence filled the room again. From the corner, Drexton stood, his lips curled up into a dark smirk.
This was what he wanted. Now let the real game begin.
“Hello!” Hazel called but got no response.
“I answered all your questions, so give me my money."
Still no response.
“Hello!” she frowned.
And then, the lights came on. Hazel gasped at seeing Ixora in front of her.
“Hazel,” Ixora muttered.
They both stood face-to-face. Ixora’s eyes were wide open while Hazel stared at her like she wasn’t the one who had revealed a big secret just now. She knew it was going to come out, but she didn’t expect Ixora to find out when her plan hadn’t even worked yet.
“Tell me what you just said was only my illusions, and I promise I will forget about it,” Ixora whispered in a trembling voice.
Hazel darted her gaze around. Nobody was in the house except for her and Ixora. Her eyes met with Ixora’s own before her lips curled into a snarl.
“It’s the truth...my truth,” Hazel smirked.
Ixora’s world crumbled to pieces as she staggered without being pushed. Her eyes haven’t left Hazel’s. She opened her mouth to talk, but it felt like a big lump got stuck in her throat, preventing her from speaking.
“Come on, Xora, you are so dumb. The writings were so clear, but you were blinded by your love for me, not to see it. I mean, I called you one day and said we were in the hospital. My mum had leukemia, and you couldn’t even figure it out. Tsk tsk tsk,” she clicked her tongue together.
“A-Aunt was part of the plan?” Ixora asked, her jaw slackening from shock.
Hazel’s smirk deepened. “Yes.”
Tears brimmed at the corners of her eyes. Aunt Maria was like a mother to her...in fact, she considered Aunt Maria her mother. She couldn’t believe it. Aunt Maria had always treated her like a daughter. She couldn’t just turn her back on her. It was so impossible.
“It’s a lie, Aunt Maria loves me. She sees me as her daughter!” Ixora said, battling hard with the truth in front of her.
Hazel furrowed her brow. “That is where you are wrong. The love, the care, everything was just to gain your trust, you know why?” Hazel said, walking to stand behind her.
“W-why?” she stuttered.
“Because of money. You heard right. Why do you have to be the one to have everything—the money—the parents—the luxurious life, and even the beauty?” Hazel said, tracing her gaze down Ixora’s body. “We deserve some parts of your world, too.”
“You are not Hazel,” Ixora mumbled. “You are not her!” she yelled, tears pouring like rain.
Hazel laughed scornfully. “Right. I am not the Hazel you befriended, I am the real Hazel.”
“You are very selfish.”
“And you think you are the righteous one!” Hazel yelled. “You are not far from selfish either. You have all the things you wanted, yet you had eyes on the one thing that could have kept me going,” Hazel yelled, using her hand to demonstrate her anger.
Ixora’s eyes met hers.
“Drexton,” Hazel muttered. “You stole the man I fell in love with. You are the selfish one. Do you know why I always follow you to stalk Drexton despite finding it annoying...it’s because I fell for him first!”
“On the day of our freshers’ party, I was the one who showed Drexton to you. Remember that?” Hazel asked.
Ixora’s mind reeled back to their freshers’ party.
\[FLASHBACK, 4 YEARS AGO\]
“How do I look?” Ixora asked, checking out her dress in the mirror.
Hazel blew her a kiss. “Perfect. I’m sure guys won’t be able to take their eyes off you. Look at those hips.”
Ixora giggled softly. “Come on, we are both beautiful.”
“Yeah, yeah, let’s get going, else we’re going to be late,” Hazel said, and they left the house together.
As the driver drove them to school, Hazel and Ixora discussed their excitement about being in college until the driver pulled in front of their school.
They stepped out of the car.
“Xora,” Hazel muttered, staring in a particular direction.
“Huh,” Ixora replied.
Seeing Hazel so lost at staring in a particular direction, she traced her gaze but saw nothing.
“What are you looking at?” she nudged her.
“Drexton Blackthorn,” Hazel muttered, still staring.
Ixora finally looked again, and that was when she saw him. He looked so breathtaking that Ixora’s breath caught for a minute.
He looked in their direction, and their eyes met before he disappeared into the crowd.
“He’s gone, let’s go in,” Hazel said, but saw Ixora’s gaze fixed on the floor.
She poked her cheek.
“Right, party...” Ixora trailed.
\[REALITY\]
“If I hadn’t shown him to you, you wouldn’t have met him,” Hazel muttered spitefully.
“How was I to know? You never said anything about it. And if you want him, you should go to him. Why try to extort money from me?” Ixora asked.
“Transformation. I wanted to use the money and transform myself, my class, but that anonymous texts had to ruin everything!”
Ixora suddenly wiped her tears, her lips curling into a smile. “You are right, I have everything, the money, the beauty, and even fell for the same man whom you had a crush on, and you know what... I deserve all of them because I am not a world-class betrayer, nor am I a low-life bitch.”
Hazel’s eyes turned dark when the words escaped Ixora’s lips.
“How dare you?” she muttered and grabbed Ixora’s hair, using it to pull her down to her knees.
Due to the harsh force, Ixora’s knees scratched against the ground as blood escaped from them.
“You are proud of your beauty, right? Watch how I destroy it,” Hazel muttered.
Still gripping the hair, she wanted to slam Ixora’s face on the ground, but Ixora was fast enough to place both her palms on the floor, resisting greatly.
“Release those hands, you damn bitch,” Hazel yelled, forcing Ixora’s head to bend.
Ixora, in that position, did a turnaround, and Hazel fell to the other side.
She stood up, marched to Hazel and landed her palm on her cheek.
Hazel’s eyes widened as she touched her busted lips.
“Ixora,” she called, eyes wide in shock as she looked at Ixora.
Ixora raised her foot and kicked her on the left side of her cheek. Hazel fell completely to the ground as Ixora knelt beside her.
Ixora grabbed her head and slammed it back on the floor.
“All because of you,” her voice was venomous, eyes darker than the devil as she slapped Hazel again.
Hazel tried pleading, but it seemed like Ixora was far gone. The devil himself had dominated her, and the only thing she could think of was destroying Hazel.
She wasn’t seeing her as Hazel again, but as her destroyer—Drexton. Her hatred towards Drexton had consumed her so much that she began strangling Hazel, who had long passed out.
Each time she remembered the burning keytar—how he had torn her clothes—her mother’s event—the police event, and how he had tormented even her sleep, her hold got tightened, until...
“Hatred. Anger. Revenge. These three feelings mask the you...of your soul, until even your tears taste like blood.