"Nice to see you again," Hazel greeted Laurel when she saw her as she and Ranon entered the dining room.
"Don’t smile at ; I can see your fangs." Laurel looked like she was in a very bad mood.
Hazel raised her brows; she was taken aback, but not wanting to give Laurel the reaction that she wanted, Hazel rely shrugged it off, her thoughts drifting elsewhere.
Dinner happened, and it was silent and formal, with Daniel and Eilon joining in.
The oldest son of the Leighton family welcod Hazel with a warm greeting, inquiring about her honeymoon with genuine interest. It was their first real conversation.
And Ema would try to insert herself in the conversation, talking about the places that she had visited.
"Our honeymoon lasted for a month; we visited so many places," Ema said, seemingly unaware of how inappropriate that was when Hazel was talking to Daniel about her honeymoon.
anwhile, little Eilon, a timid five-year-old, clung to his mother’s side. He stole a glance at Hazel every now and then before he found the courage to complint her curls.
"You look like a doll," he said with his innocent voice. "I like your curls."
"Thank you; I like them too," Hazel replied, her smile brightening as she welcod the pure complint. "Your brother likes them too."
Actually, Hazel didn’t an to throw a jab at Ema, since she knew how she felt about her marriage with Ranon, but it was pretty fun to see the look of murder on her face when she heard Hazel’s last statent.
As the evening continued, Denzel’s voice rose above the dinner chatter as he subtly changed the topic and discussed natural childbirth.
"We have done talking about this matter, Father." Ranon was still trying to be polite as he shut down his attempt to bring back the topic with an assertive tone.
From the way Hazel looked at it, it was not about how she gave birth to her baby, but it was about how he wanted to control so parts of Ranon’s life.
She learned one thing about Denzel: he liked to control every aspect of his life, and knowing Ranon, he was a challenge in Denzel’s eyes.
And because Denzel couldn’t control him, he shifted his attention to Hazel.
Actually, it was pretty amusing to see the pattern. Denzel, who shifted his control trait towards Hazel, and Laurel, who liked to shift the bla on soone else.
Hazel loved to observe people around her, and she was good at it.
"Ranon, you need to let Hazel experience this. It will make the experience of motherhood beco even more morable," Ema chid in; she was in the sa boat as her husband.
But her advice ca from the place where she wanted to inflict the pain on Hazel so she would feel the sa pain like she did.
"Drop it, Ema," Ranon said firmly. "One word about this and we are leaving."
This was why Denzel disliked Ranon, even though he had done wonderfully to save this family.
On the other hand, Laurel didn’t say anything. She had a fertility issue; thus, bringing up this topic was rather insensitive of them.
anwhile, Hazel was sitting there, eating her food happily and letting her man defend her, watching the drama unfold. Well, it was nice to have soone back you up and fight your battle.
"Eilon, I heard you won a competition," Daniel said; he changed the topic once he felt this would get out of hand.
"What competition?" Hazel smoothed the transition, putting her attention on the five-year-old kid, which upset Ema even more because before, Hazel didn’t even make a peep.
"Drawing competition!" Eilon’s eyes lit up when this topic was brought up. "Do you want to see my drawing?"
"I would love to," Hazel said warmly.
Just then, Alfred ca into the dining room and inford Laurel that Jas was there.
"Mr. Starling demanded to see you, Miss," Alfred said.
The announcent left tension hanging in the air like a heavy coat, and Laurel was tensed up upon hearing her husband’s na.
Oblivious to Laurel’s struggles, neither Hazel nor Ranon was aware of what was going on with her marriage.
"You need to see him and sort things out," Denzel told Laurel, shrugging off her visible discomfort. "You can’t run away like this forever." He was still dissatisfied with her choice to divorce, as he felt the problems in her marriage could have been resolved.
"I am divorcing him; there is nothing to sort out," Laurel replied, anger rising in her voice.
"You will get up from that seat and see him. Act your age and face your problem." Denzel was still upset because his authority was challenged by Ranon; he wouldn’t let his daughter do the sa too.
Gritting her teeth, Laurel stood up and stepped outside to confront Jas.
Hazel could see the control that Denzel had over Laurel, even though she was not a child anymore. No matter how fierce Laurel was, she couldn’t disobey her father.
"What do you want?" Laurel demanded, irritation was evident in her voice when she faced her husband.
Both of them were in the living room; Alfred told Jas to wait there.
"I want you back; we can fix this," Jas implored, his tone laced with desperation. "Think about Carl. You are being impulsive right now."
"What should I think about? The fact that he helped his parents stay together? Shouldn’t you be proud of him?" Laurel retorted, her sarcasm thickening the atmosphere.
"He is still very young; don’t put the bla on him." Jas shook his head. "You are his parent too, Laurel; we can talk about this only if you are willing to co back ho."
Laurel chuckled dismissively; Jas was still unable to see the problem here.
"Go back to Alia, Jas. I don’t want you anymore. She can have you." Laurel then quoted one of their texts. "You can finally be a family again."
"You misunderstood this."
Laurel looked tired. "Do you love her?" Now, she thought about it again; she could see how Jas would quietly defend Alia.
He didn’t even stand up for her when Carl acted out.
"Are you crazy?" Jas ran his hand through his hair, but Laurel knew it was his habit whenever he was flustered. "Now, I got it. You are jealous of her."
"Goddamn it, Jas!" Laurel was in disbelief to hear such a conclusion. He strayed too far from the main problem.
"I know you are jealous." Jas was fixated on his own conclusion.
The tension escalated; they lashed out and hurled hurtful words, a battleground of emotions laid bare.
Jas, with a mixture of anger and pleading, fought to make Laurel’s claim sound ridiculous and portrayed her as soone who envied the relationship between Carl and his mother.
This arguntation strayed too far.
"You cheat on ! That’s enough for to step out of this fucking marriage, Jas!"
"I know, and I am sorry for that! But that’s not enough reason for you to abandon and Carl! What about the years we spent together?!"
anwhile, inside the house, all of the people in the dining room could hear the shouting match between Laurel and Jas.
Laurel’s crumbling marriage was no longer a secret now.
"Eilon, why don’t you show your drawing to Aunt Hazel?" Daniel suggested it since the vile words that Laurel and Jas used were not appropriate for him.
"Can you show ?" Hazel jumped at the opportunity to leave the dining table.
"Yes." Eilon looked eager; he jumped from his seat and took Hazel’s hand with him, and together they left for his bedroom.
"Can you draw ?"
They heard Hazel’s question as they walked away, and Eilon sounded excited to do that; he talked about her curls and the baby in her stomach.
anwhile, Ranon faced his father; this ti his expression was even colder than usual.
"You are not going to dictate what my wife is going to do with this pregnancy, Father," Ranon said assertively. "One word about it, and I will not be polite."
Ranon was holding back earlier to post this threat because he didn’t want to do it in front of a child.
He knew he could be terrifying when anger took control.
***
Carl could no longer suppress the overwhelming turmoil that he felt, so he made his way to his biological mother, Alia’s, ho.
It had been several days since his stepmother, Laurel, had disappeared, and Jas remained absent. His father was distraught when he showed him the divorce paper and inford him that Laurel knew about his affair with his mother.
Left alone in the emptiness of their ho, Carl’s sense of despair only deepened.
Guilt engulfed him like a dark cloud, affecting his ability to focus on everything else around him. It was hard for Carl to sleep, eat, and do basic needs.
It was a torture for Carl, and he felt like his world crumbled.
That was why, in his desperation, Carl sought his mother; he wanted to ask for help in bringing Laurel back.
He blad himself.
Now, when he rembered how he scread at Laurel that she was not his mother, he felt ashad. He would do anything to take it back. He could see the pain in her eyes, and it haunted him.
Before long, Carl arrived at Alia’s house unannounced, caught off guard by the sight of a familiar car parked in the garage.
It was the sa vehicle he had seen the previous day. It seed this man visited his mother often.
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