Free Web NovelChapter 90: Chapter 90: Leave the Hawthorne Family Alone
Chapter 90: Don’t Get Involved with the Hawthornes
"Are you happy you ruined tonight?"
On the way back, Aiden Xavier asked Hazel Hawthorne, his expression unreadable. Hazel didn’t even want to speak to him. She just closed her eyes and feigned sleep, treating whatever he said as utter nonsense. She hadn’t even settled the score with him yet for dragging her to the Hawthorne family home without her consent.
"Are you mad at me?" Aiden asked coolly. "Mad that I didn’t tell you beforehand we were coming here for dinner tonight?"
"As if you didn’t know," Hazel replied coldly.
"Your father called me. He said it’s been too long since you’ve been back to see them..."
Hazel’s eyes snapped open. She scoffed, "’See them’? Who are they to me? Why should I have to see them? They’ve taken over my home and they still expect me to visit? That’s the reasoning of a bully."
A sudden thought struck her, and Hazel turned to Aiden. "What did he say to you in the study? Was he asking for money again?"
Aiden remained silent, and that was all the confirmation Hazel needed. Of course, that was it. Why else would Harrison Hawthorne have summoned them over? It was always about money, and only money. In Harrison’s eyes, what did she, his own daughter, even count for? It seemed you were only his daughter if you were useful for getting money.
’She couldn’t understand how she’d ended up with a father like that, or why her mother had ever fallen in love with such a man. Her mother’s deep love had been utterly misplaced. In the end, it was as if she had prepared a dowry for another bride. Everything the two of them had worked so hard to earn was now in someone else’s hands.’
The more Hazel thought about it, the more resentful she became. She would never let Jessica Clarke and her daughter get their hands on a single penny of what belonged to her mother. As for Harrison Hawthorne, she wanted him thrown out with nothing to his name.
"I’ve told you before, if Harrison Hawthorne asks you for money, you need to tell me. Don’t give him anything behind my back. He’s a bottomless pit. No matter how much you give him, he’ll squander it all."
"Of course, if you’re so rich you don’t know what to do with your money, then I won’t say a word." With that, Hazel folded her arms and went back to feigning sleep. She ignored whatever else Aiden said, staying silent the rest of the way home.
The moment they got home, her eyes opened. Aiden knew she’d been faking sleep the whole time simply because she didn’t want to talk to him.
Aiden followed Hazel into the house, clearly having no intention of leaving.
Aiden had been coming home much more often lately. Hazel had originally planned on trying to win him over, but after tonight’s events, she couldn’t even manage a pleasant look. She decided to put those plans on hold for now.
Once back in her room, Hazel immediately bolted the door.
Aiden couldn’t help but chuckle at her childish pique. He turned and went to the guest room. From across the adjoining balcony, he could see the light in her room was still on, so he knew she was still awake.
Aiden was just debating whether to cross over via the balcony when he saw Hazel walk over and lock the sliding glass door.
Aiden didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’Did she really need to be so defensive around me?’
Hazel shot him a pointed look, letting him figure it out for himself.
But did she really think that would be enough to stop Aiden Xavier?
She was wrong. This whole villa belonged to Aiden. If he wanted to get into Hazel’s room, he had his ways. He found the spare key for her room in a drawer, walked right over, and unlocked the door.
The moment the door swung open, Hazel’s eyes widened in utter disbelief.
"I want to talk. What are you so angry about? Is it just because I took you back there without your permission, or is it because I gave Harrison Hawthorne money behind your back?"
"Wrong. That’s not it. It’s that you interfered in my affairs without my permission."
"We’re husband and wife. Harrison couldn’t reach you, so he came to me. Isn’t that perfectly normal?" Aiden replied, deadpan.
"And why do you think he couldn’t reach me?" Hazel stood up, but she was still dwarfed by Aiden’s height. It was tiring to tilt her head up to speak, so she sat back down. "I don’t want you getting involved in the Hawthorne family’s affairs. Especially not without my permission."
"Alright. From now on, I won’t get involved in any of the Hawthorne family’s business without your permission," Aiden said in a low voice.
Hazel stared at Aiden in surprise. "Are you serious?"
"Of course. If you don’t want me involved, I won’t get involved. He’s your father, after all."
Hazel was taken aback for a moment. ’That sounded just like him.’ freёwebnovel.com
She also knew that Aiden’s reluctance to refuse Harrison had something to do with her. Realizing this, she didn’t feel it was right to say anything more. "So, can you leave now?"
Aiden turned to leave, but Hazel’s voice stopped him. "Leave the spare key to my room."
Without a second thought, Aiden placed the key on the nearby table and left without looking back.
After Aiden had gone, Hazel sank into a chair, her expression weary.
’She wasn’t stupid; she knew that in Harrison’s heart, there was only room for Jessica Clarke and Yvette Hawthorne. He had secretly been transferring the Hawthorne family assets into their names for a long time, while she was treated as if she wasn’t even his real daughter.’
’Not only had he left her nothing, he was even trying to squeeze her dry.’
’How could they expect to get away with it so easily?’ A flash of hatred appeared in Hazel’s eyes.
’What goes around, comes around. She refused to believe Harrison Hawthorne wouldn’t face retribution.’
’If she hadn’t secretly taken a strand of Harrison’s hair for a DNA test, she would genuinely doubt she was his biological daughter.’
’What kind of father in this world treats his own daughter this way?’
The more Hazel thought about it, the more detestable it all seemed.
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The next day, Hazel went to work as usual, but was surprised to find Sharon Winters’s desk empty. She sent Sharon a message but got no reply. By noon, she still hadn’t been able to get in touch with her.
It wasn’t until lunch that she learned from Nathan Miller that Sharon had been fired.
Hazel was furious. She couldn’t believe the company had actually fired Sharon. She thought she’d made her position clear to HR: they could be fired, but only with a legitimate reason. And yet, they had fired Sharon behind her back.
Chloe Lee sat down at the next table with her cronies. "I told you Sharon wouldn’t last a week here."
"Yeah, it’s her own fault for being so clueless and offending you. So what if she’s sucking up to Hazel Hawthorne? The company can fire her with a single word. What can Hazel do about it? Does she really think this is the Xavier Group or something?" fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Hazel slammed down her chopsticks, but Nathan immediately put a hand on her shoulder to hold her back. "Calm down," he urged. "Try to contact Sharon first. I’m worried she’ll take it too hard and do something rash. She worked her ass off to get into Sterling Group just so she could work for Holly Shaw. Getting fired so suddenly must be a huge blow."
"I haven’t been able to reach Sharon all morning." Hazel stared at her food, her appetite gone. "If anything happens to her because of this, I swear I’ll make the company answer for it."
"Let’s think positively. Sharon is a pretty optimistic person. She probably won’t do anything reckless."
Aaron Shaw, sitting beside Nathan, added in a low voice, "I hope so. Because looking at Hazel right now, if something really does happen to Sharon, she’s liable to tear Sterling Group apart."
Nathan looked at Hazel with concern. The expression on her face was truly terrifying.
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