Third Person's POV

Just then, Hazel’s phone buzzed. It was a message from Caroline, probably another one of her arrogant little videos showing off the latest gift Dominic had bought her.

But Hazel didn’t want to see it. She was about to close the message when another text popped up, one that made her scalp prickle and her stomach drop.

[Bitch. Since you refused to bark like a dog for me, I’ll let your mother do it instead.]

Hazel froze. Her hand trembled as she tapped the video open.

One glance and her world collapsed.

Caroline had tied her sick mother to the back of a car and was dragging her through the streets of the city.

Her mother’s cries echoed through the wind, but the car sped faster and faster.

Moments later, all that was left of her mother was a mangled, bloody mess on the road.

Watching that, Hazel broke down. She called the police and rushed to the scene as fast as she could.

But by the time she arrived, Caroline was gone. Only her mother lay there on the cold asphalt, barely breathing.

Hazel didn’t stop to think. She carried her mother to the nearest hospital, but when she handed over her mother’s ID, the doctor shook his head.

“Sorry. We can’t admit her. Miss Summers has given strict orders.”

Because of that, she tried another hospital, a total of five, but every single one turned her away.

Hopelessness clawed at her chest. With nowhere else to go, she went to the only person who could help, Dominic.

But at that very moment, Dominic was hosting Caroline’s lavish birthday party.

He’d ordered a custom cake worth over a hundred grand and filled the entire villa with gifts for her. Influential guests, celebrities, and business elites were all there to wish Caroline a happy birthday.

Hazel stumbled through the doors, her clothes torn and covered in dust. She made it to Dominic’s side, but her legs gave out, and she collapsed right at his feet.

“Dominic, please, save my mom! Caroline told the hospitals not to treat her. She’s dying!”

Dominic frowned slightly, caught off guard by her desperation. Just as he was about to speak, Caroline clung to his neck, tears brimming in her eyes.

“Darling, did you forget what she and her mother did to us?” she whimpered. “You might not remember it now, but they’re the reason we were torn apart. If it weren’t for my love for you, for fighting my way back through all that pain, I’d never be standing here today.”

As she spoke, she deliberately lifted her sleeve, revealing the scar on her arm, the one left from when Dominic had once broken it himself.

“Look at this, it still hurts to this day,” she said softly, voice trembling for sympathy.

In that instant, whatever trace of compassion Dominic had in his eyes turned cold, then he gave a chilling order to his men, “Get her out of here. Don’t let her ruin Caroline’s birthday.”

The guards quickly moved toward Hazel, but she broke free and threw herself in front of him, tears streaming down her face. “Dominic, please! I’m begging you, for my mother’s sake. She raised you when you had no one. Please save her! If she dies, I won’t live either.”

Something flickered briefly in Dominic’s eyes, but his tone remained emotionless. He tilted his chin toward the swimming pool nearby. “See that pool?”

Hazel blinked, confused.

“Jump in,” he said flatly. “Hold your breath for ten minutes, and I’ll save your mother.”

Her face went pale. For a second, she couldn’t even breathe.

He knew she was terrified of water.

When she was eight, she’d been kidnapped by one of her father’s business rivals and thrown into a well. She’d nearly drowned that night. If her father hadn’t found her in time, she wouldn’t have survived.

Since then, she could barely handle being near water. Baths were the only exception. Even so, the memory of seaweed wrapping around her ankles, dragging her down while she struggled for air, still haunted her to this day.

She swallowed hard, voice trembling. “You know I’m terrified of water, Dominic. If I stay under, I’ll die.”

But he only sneered. “Then you’d better start preparing for your mother’s funeral.”

She stared at him, searching for a hint of mercy, but found nothing. The last of her love for him disintegrated right then and there.

Slowly, she stood up. Her expression was numb, her voice quiet. “Fine. I’ll do it. But you have to keep your promise. If I last ten minutes, you’ll save her.”

Without waiting for an answer, Hazel took a deep breath and dove headfirst into the pool.

Third Person's POV

The moment the icy pool water wrapped around Hazel’s body, the memory of drowning hit her like a vise tightening around her throat. Her chest burned as she fought the urge to breathe, but panic clawed at her mind until she couldn’t hold it anymore.

The second she gasped, water rushed into her mouth, flooding her lungs. She coughed, choked, and instinctively kicked upward, but she didn’t break the surface. Instead, she forced herself deeper, determined not to give up.

Her mother was still waiting. She had to last ten minutes.

Outside the pool, guests gathered at the edge, watching her desperate struggle beneath the water. Some turned away, pity and discomfort written all over their faces.

Caroline, on the other hand, stood off to the side with a faint, satisfied smile curving her lips.

Meanwhile, Dominic’s expression grew darker by the minute. His grip on the armrest tightened until his knuckles went white.

Finally, ten minutes passed.

“Get her out,” he ordered sharply.

They pulled Hazel from the water. Her body was pale and trembling, her lips nearly blue. She’d swallowed so much water that she could barely breathe, but even then, she forced herself to speak, her voice shaking. “I did it… Now please… save my mom.”

Dominic frowned, pulling out his phone to make the call. But before he could finish dialing, Caroline let out a small, startled cry.

He turned immediately, only to see a thin line of blood running down her finger.

Without a second thought, he hung up the phone and rushed to her side.

“Dominic!” Hazel gasped, clutching at his pant leg. “Help my mother first—”

But he yanked his leg free, his voice cutting cold as ice. “Do you have any idea how severe Caroline’s blood phobia is? If anything happens to her, can you take responsibility?”

And with that, he left without looking back.

“But my mom—” Hazel’s voice broke as she tried to follow, but her body gave out. The room spun, her vision blurred, and then everything went dark.

Before she lost consciousness, she vaguely heard Dominic’s distant voice giving orders. “Send her to the hospital. And make sure the best doctors treat her mother. Don’t let anyone die.”

When Hazel woke up, she was lying in a hospital bed.

She ripped out the IV line, trying to get up, but just then, her phone rang.

The voice on the other end was calm, almost apologetic. “Are you Mrs. Rhodes’s family member? I’m sorry… but she didn’t make it. She passed away due to delayed treatment.”

For a moment, Hazel couldn’t breathe.

“No… no, that’s not possible. Dominic said he sent the best doctors! My mom—she can’t be dead!”

The doctor hesitated before sighing quietly. “There was a chance to save her. But just as we were about to begin surgery, Mr. Blake called all the specialists away since Miss Summers had an allergic reaction to her medication. He ordered every available doctor to treat her instead, and your mother received no care… so…”

His words were like a thunderclap. Hazel froze, her blood running cold. The phone slipped from her hand and hit the floor with a dull thud.

She didn’t remember how she got to her mother’s room. When she pushed open the door, a doctor was just pulling the white sheet over her mother’s face.

“Mom!”

She stumbled forward, tears streaming down her face, and fell to her knees beside the bed.

“Mom, please wake up! Don’t leave me, please!”

But her mother, who always wiped her tears, lay still, forever silent.

Hazel broke down, sobbing until her body shook.

Around her, the doctors exchanged silent, pitying glances.

Outside the room, two nurses walked by, whispering to each other.

“Miss Summers just had a small cut on her finger,” one said. “It would’ve healed on its own in a few hours. But Mr. Blake pulled every senior doctor over for her treatment. Guess his love for her is the real deal.”

“You’re telling me. I even heard he made his wife hold her breath underwater just to make Caroline happy. She nearly died, and he hasn’t even visited her once. That man’s heart… it’s made of stone.”

Their voices faded down the hall, but every word sliced deeper into Hazel’s chest.

Her sobs turned into trembling rage. The veins on her hands bulged as she gripped the bed rail.

She hated them. She hated Caroline. And she hated Dominic even more.

Because of them, her mother was gone. Because of them, her life had fallen apart.

They didn’t deserve forgiveness. They deserved to pay!

The next day, Hazel handled her mother’s funeral alone. She stood silently as the coffin was sealed and the cremation began.

The woman who once shielded her from every storm was now reduced to ashes, a small urn she held carefully in her trembling arms.

Tears streamed down her face again, uncontrollable, endless.

That night, she returned home, clutching the urn close to her chest.

But when she pushed open the door, she froze.

Dominic was sitting on the couch, rubbing his temples as if waiting for her.

When he looked up, his expression was cold, his tone even colder. “You’re back?”

Before she could answer, he tossed a document onto the table in front of her. “Caroline only went after your mother because you refused to apologize and bark like a dog. She might’ve gone too far, but did you really have to call the cops?”

His eyes narrowed and continued, “She’s still being questioned at the station because of you. Sign the statement of forgiveness, and I’ll pretend none of this ever happened.”

Third Person's POV

Hazel let out a bitter laugh.

“A bit too much?” she repeated, her voice trembling with disbelief.

Her mother was dead. And he had the nerve to call that “a bit too much”?

Locking Caroline in an interrogation room was far too lenient. That woman should’ve been rotting behind bars for the rest of her life.

Without hesitation, Hazel grabbed the agreement from the table, tore it into shreds, and threw the pieces right into Dominic’s face. “Even if you kill me, I’ll never sign it! I want Caroline to spend the rest of her life behind bars!”

Suddenly, a sharp slap cracked through the air. Hazel’s face snapped to the side, five bright red fingerprints blooming across her pale cheek.

For a brief second, guilt flickered in Dominic’s eyes. But it vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by his usual cold indifference.

“Hazel,” he said harshly, “I already sent the best doctors to treat your mother. How much longer are you going to keep making a scene?”

Her ears rang from the slap, but his words hurt even more. Hazel clenched her fists, her voice trembling with fury. “You never cared enough to find out what really happened! Your precious Caroline took all the doctors away! My mom never got treatment! She’s dead!”

But while she was saying her last words, Dominic’s phone rang, covering them.

The moment he saw Caroline's name, his expression softened, and he answered immediately.

“Dominic,” Caroline’s sweet, tearful voice came through, “didn’t you say you’d get me out? They’re being so mean to me here. I’m scared, I really am…”

The coldness in Dominic’s eyes melted away. His voice turned gentle as he replied, “Be good. Don’t be scared. I’ll get you out soon.”

When he hung up, he gave his men a cold look, the kind that needed no words.

Quickly, two bodyguards grabbed Hazel by the arms. The urn she’d been holding slipped from her grasp and crashed to the floor. Her mother’s ashes spilled across the tiles.

Dominic froze for a second, his eyes narrowing before a mocking smile tugged at his lips. “What’s this? Ashes? Hazel, are you cursing your own mother now just to frame Caroline? Impressive.”

“I’m not!” she cried, her voice hoarse. “That really is my mom’s ashes! She—”

“Enough!” Dominic cut her off sharply. “I had top doctors on your mother’s case. They could even bring a dead person back if they had to. Besides, Caroline said your mom just had a small cut, nothing serious. She couldn’t possibly have died. So, what exactly are you trying to pull here?”

He slammed another document down on the table and ordered, “Hold her down. Make her sign it.”

“No! Dominic, you can’t do this to me!” Hazel screamed, thrashing wildly.

But she was no match for the two men holding her. Her trembling hand was forced down onto the paper, dragging out a crooked signature.

Only when it was done did Dominic’s expression relax. He pocketed the signed document, turned his back on her, and walked away without a second glance.

Hazel crumpled to the floor like discarded fabric. One of the bodyguards even stepped on her mother’s ashes on the way out.

Her hands shook as she tried to gather what was left, scooping the ashes back into the urn piece by piece. But no matter how hard she tried, half of it was gone.

Tears streamed down her face, each drop burning as it hit the cold tile floor.

“Mom…” she whispered brokenly. “I’m sorry. I couldn't protect you.”