LOGINHAZEL The thought made my chest ache again.No. I wasn't thinking about him. Not when I was finally free of him and his hold on me. I started walking even faster this time, trying to outrun my own thoughts and determined to finally reach the place I had been longing to be, the man I had been longing for.The farther I got away from the mansion, the better I felt. I could feel the chains that had been holding me back, releasing one after the other and it felt freeing.Suddenly, a light appeared through the trees And I froze as my entire body locked up. For one terrifying second, I thought it was them.... The Morettis. Probably Luca had played another mind game on me again Or maybe it was Axel himself. Maybe he had found out I had escaped and he had come for me. I thought someone had realised I was gone and they had come to drag me back again.The phone immediately lit up a few seconds after while I was panicking. My hands trembled as I answered."Harris?""Yes, it's me, baby."My bre
HAZEL Luca must have convinced Amanda to get me out of here somehow, or maybe he just threatened her. Maybe he was the one hurting her all along... Of course, how did I not notice? Since Luca is Axel's consigliere, he is one of the few trusted people who knows about the secret path out of the estate. Of course, he's the one who got me here so he can have me to himself, when no one knows where I am and he can exact his revenge."Oh, Go!" I whispered.I was panicking.... I felt tears about to flow when I heard movement. Something moving through the darkness, snapping branches and rustling leaves. I felt he was coming for me. Without any hint of a direction, without even knowing what the hell I was doing, I just started running.That's when the phone lit up. I looked at it and I saw an incoming call. I stopped without thinking and picked up the call, nervously wondering whose voice it was going to be on the other side..... I half expected it to be Luca's smug voice as he laughed at me
HAZELI touched every surface behind me. Every inch and every corner I could find..... Nothing.My breathing became faster, Louder. The darkness felt suffocating, like it was pressing against my skin. I swallowed hard and forced myself to stop moving. Think. Just think. Panicking wasn't going to help. I closed my eyes before realising how stupid that was because everything was already black.I laughed once. A nervous, hysterical little sound. Then I took a deep breath and another. Slowly, my heartbeat began to settle.Amanda had risked approaching me.Amanda had risked asking about Harris.Amanda had looked terrified.She hadn't looked like someone leading me into a trap. She had looked like someone trying to help. Right?The doubt remained, but it was enough. Enough to stop me from completely losing my mind. I carefully reached into my sleeve and unfolded the map again. Of course, I couldn't see it. Not in this darkness. I cursed under my breath.Then I noticed it..... A faint glow.
HAZEL Then I sat back down.... No. Too soon. If I got caught wandering around now, people would ask questions.I groaned and dropped back against the headboard. What about my human shadow? Would Nico still be standing outside my room after everything that had happened today? No way.I slid off the bed and crept toward the door. Slowly, carefully, I pressed my ear against it. Nothing. No footsteps, movement or voices. Just silence. Patience. I needed to wait until everyone was asleep and the house was quiet to move. Then I could find out whether this map was the answer I had been waiting for Or whether it was just another trap.I climbed back onto the bed, the folded paper clutched tightly in my hands. And for the first time since arriving at the Moretti estate, I found myself counting down the hours until midnight.Midnight took forever. Every time I looked at the clock, thinking an hour had passed, I would find out that barely ten minutes had passed. I tossed, turned, sat up, and l
HAZEL I stood there for a few seconds longer, staring after them as they disappeared down the staircase. The sound of Vasilisa's laughter echoed through the hallway, and it grated on my nerves. It made me so damn angry that the two of them had been making fun of me, that Cara had been listening in, and that Vasilisa had threatened me for their amusement. At first, when I met Cara, I thought she was cool, how could I have been so stupid?I was angry at myself. Angry that I kept misinterpreting people, kept misunderstanding every Moretti. Because all of them were the same, weren't they? Cut from the same cloth.I was done, I was finally done. Done with all of them. Done with Vasilisa, Done with Cara and Done with the Morettis. I was done with whatever weird game everybody seemed to be playing against me while I was the only one who didn't know the rules.I slowly went back into my room and closed the bedroom door behind me, leaning against it. The room suddenly felt too small and too s
HAZEL It was A drawing..... I stared at it, confused immediately. What is this supposed to mean?I sat up on the bed properly now, wiping my face as I looked at it more carefully. It wasn’t just a drawing. It looked like a map. Rough, Handmade and Deliberate. My heart slowed without permission. I frowned. But the question stayed stuck in my chest. Who put this here And what is this map? Where does it lead to?I turned it over again in my hands, searching it as it might suddenly explain itself. But it didn’t, it just stayed there, silent and waiting. Without thinking twice, but knowing very well I wasn’t going to get answers tonight, I folded it carefully and neatly, like it mattered, because it probably did.Then I looked around the room. Where to hide it? I had to put it somewhere safe. Somewhere no maid would find and Somewhere Angela wouldn’t think to touch. Somewhere even this house wouldn’t be able to reach it. With the paper still in my hand, I stood there wondering where I co
HAZEL“Enough.” Natasha's voice snaps. “You don’t get to talk back. Not now.”"Fine. I am not here to talk back at you, but you have to see things on my end too...""Are you here to apologise or make me understand your selfish side of the events?"I clamp my mouth shut immediately. Little mouse. L
HAZEL“Maybe you didn’t,” Axel replied coolly, “but you live under my roof. You follow my rules.”“And whose decision was that?” I shot back. “Did I want to live here? Did I want to follow your rules?”I stepped forward without realising it.“I haven’t followed a single one of your rules,” I said.
HAZELI stop chopping and listen.... Silence.I wipe my hands on a towel and walk to the kitchen door. I try the handle. It doesn’t open. My smile fades. I go to the front door. I pull Harder. It doesn’t open. I rush to the back door, the one that leads outside.... Locked.That’s when the thoughts
HAZELStill nothing. Axel still doesn't say a word.I push myself back against the bed, using it to steady myself, and look at him properly now. His face isn’t twisted with rage. There’s no cruelty written there, no madness. He looks composed. Controlled. Unaffected....That scares me more than ang







