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.”

Third Person's POV

That night, Hazel didn’t sleep a wink. She tore through the apartment, pulled out every gift Dominic had ever given her, and stuffed them into trash bags. If he was no longer the man she thought he was, she didn’t need reminders of him lying around.

After throwing the bags away, she went out again to pick a gravesite for her mother and buried her beside her father. By the time everything was done, it was already evening. Hazel planned to go home and try to rest, but a familiar Maybach suddenly blocked her path.

Before she could react, Dominic stepped out of the car and grabbed her wrist. “Caroline says you’re holding a grudge and that we should make peace, so she arranged a little gathering. I'm taking you there.”

Hazel pulled and fought, but he was too strong. He dragged her into a private room where his friends, who used to laugh and curry favor with her, clustered around Caroline, doting on her until she couldn’t stop smiling.

It felt like an invisible hand had seized Hazel’s chest. She could barely breathe.

Dominic shoved her toward Caroline and said in a voice that left no room for argument, “Get along with Caroline. Stop making trouble.”

Caroline’s eyes flashed with something sharp. She raised a glass and pushed it in front of Hazel.

“Hazel,” she cooed, “I’ve thought it over. I was wrong before. This one’s for you. Let’s put the past behind us, shall we?”

Hazel dug her fingers into her palm so hard the pain bit through. She would never let those crimes be forgotten. She wanted Caroline to pay with blood, if that was what it took. And she would not spare Dominic either.

Seeing Hazel refuse to play along, Caroline lifted the glass as if to drink and then, theatrically, poured the whole thing into her own lap.

“Oh, Hazel, I know you hate me, but you don’t have to treat me like this,” she said, feigning hurt. “This dress was a birthday present from Dominic. I hardly ever wear it. I put it on today just to patch things up with you.”

Before Hazel could answer, Dominic’s displeased voice cut in beside her ear. “Hazel! Didn’t I tell you on the way here to behave and not upset Caroline? Did you just ignore me?”

Hazel shot back, “I didn’t do it. Check the cameras if you don’t believe me.”

Dominic’s eyes turned cold. “Do you think being righteous clears you of suspicion?” he snapped. “Apologize to Caroline. Now!”

“I won’t. I didn’t do anything wrong. Why should I apologize?” Hazel shot back.

Dominic’s patience vanished. He sneered, “If you won’t apologize, then drink everything on that table.”

The bottles on the table were high-proof liquors that would make a non-drinker sick and could tear a stomach lining apart. Hazel was someone who never touched alcohol. A single bottle would likely make her vomit blood.

“You know I don’t drink,” she protested, certain he knew this.

But Dominic, caught in anger, didn’t notice the tremor in her voice. He barked orders, and two men held her down while another forced a bottle to her lips and poured.

“Hazel,” he warned, voice flat and merciless, “I told you my patience has a limit. Don’t push my limits.”