Things haven’t been going well at Queen Corp these past few days. Hazel seems to live at the company, working from dawn until dusk, but many issues still haven’t been resolved.
Some people are starting to lose patience and have gone to find Jonah, who, in order to avoid them, has been claiming to be sick and staying home instead of going to the office. He hadn’t expected them to still come after him. "Mr. Queen, you seemed fine during the meeting a few days ago. Why are you suddenly sick?" one of them asked. "Yeah, the company’s been facing a lot of issues lately. We’re older and don’t really have positions at the company, so all we can do is worry. You’re the vice president and at a time like this, you take leave? Hazel might not even be able to handle all the company’s problems on her own." Two older shareholders, with relatively high stakes in the company, came directly to Jonah’s home. When they saw him fine and greeting them, their faces darkened. He wa"I’ve mostly recovered, so I rushed back to the company. If there’s anything I can help with, just let me know. Although I’m not as capable as you, I can still handle some tasks." Just as she was speaking, Sully walked in with some documents. "Oh, I thought it was someone else in the CEO’s office. Turns out it’s Vice President Queen. What a rare guest. Running away from something?" Jonah knew that only Hazel was in the office, so he wasn’t expecting Sully to return so quickly. Whenever he encountered Sully, he found it hard to have a proper conversation. Now, being in such a disadvantaged position, he knew Sully would make some sarcastic remarks. "Assistant Sully, I’m currently discussing important company matters with the CEO. You’re just an assistant, so perhaps you should step out for now and wait until I’m done with President Queen," Jonah said carefully. He knew Sully and Hazel were close, and even though he said these words, he had to be cautious.
Meanwhile, in the president’s office at the top floor of Price Corp, Damon leaned on his hands, frowning as he reviewed the information Kin had uncovered.“So, the company has been regularly transferring significant amounts of money to an overseas account for years. Were you able to find out which company this account belongs to?”Recalling his grandfather’s cryptic remarks, Damon suspected these payments were orchestrated by him. However, his curiosity only grew stronger—what exactly was this organization, and how powerful was it?The less his grandfather wanted to reveal, the more determined he was to uncover the truth, especially since his father’s situation was also deteriorating.The men Damon sent out had only managed to locate a phone at the last known location—a device his grandfather confirmed was the one his father had taken with him.“No, the payments were made under the guise of a partnership. The recipient company’s information exists,
“Cut the crap! Hand over everything valuable you have, put your hands on your head, and squat down!”Hazel sneered. It had been a long time since she’d heard such a clichéd line. These guys weren’t even trying to act convincing.If this were just a simple robbery, there was no way their attire would be so uniform—not to mention their builds were all remarkably similar.No, this was clearly organized and premeditated. They’d probably been tailing her for a long time, just waiting for the right moment to strike.Seeing that Hazel wasn’t the least bit intimidated, the group grew agitated.“I’ll say it one more time. Hand over your valuables. Boys, go search the car. She’s Hazel Queen—she’s bound to have some expensive stuff on her.”Hazel quickly assessed the situation. There were five of them in total, and none had mentioned their names while speaking“Boss, if she won’t cooperate, let me teach her a lesson. It’s been ages since I’ve to
As soon as the words were out, Hazel released her grip, and Edo collapsed to the ground like a cooked noodle, weak and limp.The leader hurried over to check his breath, and when he felt that Edo was still alive, he breathed a sigh of relief.“We’ve told you everything we know. There’s a cause for every debt. Can you give us a way out?”In the darkness, Hazel couldn’t see their expressions, but she could imagine their fear.If they had attacked an ordinary girl this time, their faces would probably be just like those of the women they had previously targeted.“I didn’t intend to harm you. I will let you go. Tomorrow, go to the police and confess. My car has a recording, and I will cooperate with you. If you turn yourselves in, you’ll likely receive a lighter sentence. Consider it the last favor I’m doing for you.”After saying this, Hazel got into her car. She wasn’t worried they wouldn&r
"However, when I say small projects, I mean ones that aren't the big projects your company handles. Queen Corp can't afford those right now." Hearing this, Omar was immediately stunned. The small projects in his eyes were exactly the kinds of projects that Hazel was referring to—projects that Queen Corp currently couldn't handle. "If you can't manage, just cooperate with Grandpa’s company. I’ll send a few capable people over to your company, and you won’t have to worry about the projects or the staff." Omar was so pleased with his own suggestion that he didn’t notice the change in Hazel’s expression. When Omar finally realized, Hazel spoke up, "Grandpa, we talked about this at the family reunion. You can’t spoil me like this." Omar waved his hand and stood up to go upstairs. "Alright, alright, I admit I was wrong. Go to sleep, I’m going to bed too." After all, at his age, what difference did it make if he took charge directly? Hazel couldn’t do anything
"How about this? The branch we’ve established still doesn’t have many projects. We can temporarily lend some of our people to your company." Hazel immediately rejected, "Let’s not talk about whether your employees agree, just the idea alone is enough for me to get criticized at the shareholders' meeting." She would have to borrow employees from another company to handle her own company’s issues? If those old men who didn’t understand the situation found out, they would surely lecture Hazel. Moreover, the HX branch had just been established and was in need of people. Hazel couldn’t pass all these troubles onto Xander. He had already done enough for her as a friend. "Last night, Grandpa asked me if I needed employees. If it’s necessary, I can borrow a few from him. His company is already well-established, so it shouldn’t be a big problem." At first, Hazel intended to handle these matters herself, but it seemed she would have to use her connection with Omar aft
Back in the office, after sending those two off, Bailey walked in. Hazel was busy handling the project sent by Omar and didn’t have time for her. “If you have any work-related matters, just directly report to Sully. Remember, she’s your superior now, and you’re reporting to the wrong person.” “I’m not here to report work. My parents want you to come to dinner at our house this afternoon. You should know, it’s not me who wants you to come.” Bailey put on an arrogant posture, her nose upturned, as if she didn’t want Hazel to come to her house. But Hazel could see through her act. The more she acted this way, the more it seemed like she wanted Hazel to visit. Using such a childish tactic, it was hard to believe that Jonah had entrusted her with this task. “If that’s the case, I’ll do you a favor. I’m really busy with work, though, so I don’t have time.” With that, Hazel lowered her head and started working again. Bailey grew anxious and slapped her ha
Hazel paused for a moment, wondering why she was thinking of Damon at this time.“Don’t be so formal at home, just call her Hazel, we’re all friends here,” Jonah patted the man on the shoulder, waving his hand dismissively, without considering Hazel’s feelings at all.Being called ‘Hazel’ so familiarly wasn’t something a man meeting her for the first time should be doing.“By the way, Hazel, this is Marco Lennon, the only son of the Lennon family and the heir to L Corp. You two are about the same age, you can get to know each other. I heard the company is having some difficulties, maybe Marco can help out.”The expression on Jonah’s face, along with his words, almost made it clear that today’s visit was a setup for matchmaking.Sully couldn’t help but laugh, “Well, I knew there had to be some reason for calling you here today. Once I saw it was a matchmaking setup, I was relieved.”At least it wasn’t something more malicious, and she didn’t
Damon didn’t believe this was a simple accident; it had to be related to Harold. Originally, he had planned to investigate the matter involving his granduncle later, but now, the urgency of finding answers had increased.Damon sat in the ambulance with Hazel, heading to the hospital while Kin stayed behind to handle things at the scene.Once everyone was rescued, the police took their statements, and the area was quickly cleared. The bloodstains were washed away with water, and aside from a few spots that hadn’t dried, the horrific scene seemed as though it had never happened.Before the results of Hazel and Omar’s surgeries were available, Damon couldn’t bring himself to inform the old master.Ever since the events with Agatha and Jamal, the old master’s health had been deteriorating. The doctors had insisted he needed to rest.The old master had already worried himself sick over the situation with Hazel’s paren
“You have one too? Where did you get it?” Mark was utterly stunned. For a moment, he thought Hazel might have some connection to his estranged brother.“There’s a secret room in my parents’ study,” Hazel explained. “When I went in once, I found it there. I was worried it might be tied to something dangerous, so I didn’t dare mention it.”As she spoke, Hazel felt a pang of guilt. These people cared so deeply about her family matters, sharing everything they knew, yet she had withheld this crucial piece of information.“I’m sorry,” she said earnestly. “I didn’t mean to keep it from you. I was just afraid that knowing about this might put people in danger.”Her parents’ tragic fate still weighed heavily on her, making her cautious about involving anyone else. These people were family to her now, and she couldn’t bear the thought of putting them at risk.“This is your family matter,” Mark said gently. “It’s perfectly normal if there are things you don’
Damon, who read quickly, skimmed through the entire file before passing the laptop to his grandfather."So, it turns out everything Harold told me last time was true. I thought he might have planted some false information to mislead me into passing it along to you.""What exactly is Harold's objective? If he wanted to take the Shadow Vial X from you, he should have worked to gain your trust. Why would he reveal the entire truth to you through me?"Now that the truth was out, it was impossible to hide that Harold had a hand in harming Hazel's parents.If Harold thought he could convince Hazel to hand over the artifact now, he was clearly deluding himself."I don't understand it either," Hazel admitted. "Maybe he has a plan that we just don’t know about yet. That puts us at a disadvantage."The thought unsettled her. This constant feeling of being in the dark while the enemy operated from the shadows left her deeply uneasy.Esp
“Don’t worry, Hazel. What trouble could your grandpa possibly be in? The only downside is that the information network I relied on is completely burned. Years of hard work, gone! But finding something this significant makes it all worthwhile.”Seeing the proud smile on Omar’s face, Hazel finally felt reassured enough to focus on the materials.The information was incredibly thorough, laying bare everything about Harold, including his entanglements with Novaria and Jacob.As it turned out, Novaria was indeed Harold’s adopted daughter and a key researcher in his laboratory.Later, Novaria fell in love with Jacob, who joined her in the lab. Together, they became the central figures driving the lab’s most critical research.A significant portion of the lab’s breakthroughs were attributed to their work, leading Harold to pin all his hopes on them.The dossier also mentioned the elusive Shadow Vial X, confirming that Harold’s claims were
Hazel had carefully laid out every path, waiting for Adam to take just one step forward and fall into place.There was no time to waste. In two months, the awards for Best Actor and Best Actress would be held. If Hazel could deliver a heavy blow to Bailey at that event, she’d laugh herself to sleep every night.After parting ways with Amber, Hazel wasted no time contacting Adam to meet.The two families had already crossed paths professionally, so there was no need for secrecy. Hazel simply chose a café for the meeting.When Adam received Hazel's call, he was a bit surprised. Hearing that she wanted to meet for coffee left him even more astonished.The surprise quickly turned into apprehension. After all, Hazel asking him out for coffee didn’t seem like it could lead to anything good.When he cautiously arrived at the café's location, he relaxed slightly upon seeing Hazel sitting by a window in the main hall. There were other patrons nearby,
"Don’t think I’m clueless about everything. Let me tell you, when I interned at home, I did really well. My brother always praised how quickly I pick up things," Chrissy said confidently."I've already discussed this with my family. They trust me being here with you. They even said it would be best if you helped me find a reliable partner, but you don’t need to worry about that. I can handle it myself."Before Damon could respond, Carlos jumped in, "No need, the way you pick your partners, you’re better off screening out the scumbags yourself.""Hey!" Chrissy shouted at Carlos, startling him.Carlos, knowing that Chrissy was a bit loud and unpredictable, quickly turned to Damon to avoid further confrontation. "I just remembered there are some work matters I haven’t finished. I need to leave now, so you can just hand over the work to me when you have a moment. Let’s call it a day."With that, he hurriedly exited, and Chriss
Hazel gave Elias a mischievous look, her meaning clear. "How long have you been dating, and already you’re trying to deceive Sully? What would happen if you'd been together longer?"Elias wasn’t a complicated person. His thoughts were simple, and he was somewhat slow when it came to relationships. If it weren't for Sully being more proactive, the two of them might not have made any progress at all. Hearing Hazel say that, Elias panicked immediately. "Sully, it’s not like that. I just thought it wasn’t a big deal, and Xander didn’t tell me what it was about, so I just…" Elias couldn’t finish his sentence, and Hazel added, "You didn’t know what it was but still chose to help Xander? Tsk, tsk, seems like your relationship with Sully isn’t that solid after all. It’s not as long as your connection with Xander." "No, that’s not it…" Elias tried to explain, but didn’t know how, feeling so flustered he could almost cry. "Alright, alright, I get what you
Elias is quite straightforward and not good at lying, especially not in front of Sully—he can’t get away with it. As soon as Sully guessed the truth, Elias’s face changed instantly. He stuttered for a long time, unable to say a single complete sentence. Sully hung up the phone and directly took Hazel to Elias’s apartment. Meanwhile, Xander thought Sully hadn’t figured it out. He lazily flipped through a book and said, “I’m still the smartest. The most dangerous place is the safest place.” It sounds good, but if he had other friends or somewhere else to go, Xander wouldn’t have come to Elias’s place and walked right into a trap. “No, I’m guessing they’re already on their way. As soon as I said one thing, Sully immediately figured it out. She really knows me too well.” Even though he hadn’t managed to do what Xander had asked, Elias still felt pleased that his new girlfriend understood him so well. Xander suddenly snapped the book shut, grabbe
Agent Amber thought back, realizing how naive she had been."So you're saying that the person who saved me back then was your mother, not Adele? She purposely made me owe her a favor just so her daughter could enter the entertainment industry?"As for whether Adele had such a long-term plan, Hazel couldn't be sure. But what was clear was that Novaria had indeed helped someone like that.Looking back now, it's uncertain whether it was really this person Novaria had helped or if it was all just coincidence."Agent Amber, don't rush. I only remember this one thing and felt it was too much of a coincidence, which is why I mentioned it. Maybe it really was a coincidence, that the same thing happened to my mother and Adele.""Good thing there are records from the hospital. We can go look for them. Anyone who went with the ambulance had to register and sign, so we can find out who signed the paperwork."If Amber hadn't already been dissatisfied wit