Lahat ng Kabanata ng From Discarded Wife, Now the Untouchable Heiress : Kabanata 51 - Kabanata 60

~~ Hazel's POV ~~I couldn't stay away.I told myself I would rest. I told myself I would stay in that guest bedroom and wait until morning when everything would make more sense.But I couldn't.So I stripped off the emerald dress and looked at myself in the mirror.The silk nightie I found in the closet was sinfully short and impossibly sexy. “How did Kai have something like this in here? Does he bring other girls here too?” I pushed the thought away and wore the dress. It clung to every curve and left absolutely nothing to the imagination. I wrapped a silk robe around myself, knowing it wouldn't help much, and headed downstairs.The penthouse was beautiful. All floor-to-ceiling windows and modern furniture and art that probably cost more than my entire restaurant. I had never been here before. I didn't even know Kai had a place like this, a place so private, so intimate.I stepped out onto the terrace and my breath caught.Kai was in the hot tub with his eyes closed, his head tilted

~~ Hazel's POV ~~I made it back to the guest bedroom and locked the door behind me. My entire body was shaking.I pulled off the damp robe and threw it across the room like it had personally betrayed me. Which, in a way, it had. The silk nightie clung to my wet skin uncomfortably and I peeled that off too, leaving it in a heap on the floor.Now I stood in front of the mirror completely naked and tried to process and understand what had just happened.I had gone to Kai, put myself out there, offered myself to him in every way I had promised myself never to be any man again, made myself vulnerable and had been rejected.The embarrassment burned through me like fire.What had I been thinking? That I could just walk down to the terrace half-naked and seduce him? That I could make him lose control? That I could get him to take me in the heat of the moment?I wrapped myself in a towel and sat on the edge of the bed, my wet hair dripping down my back.The worst part wasn't even the rejectio

~~ Hazel's POV ~~The mansion felt different when I returned.Smaller somehow. Like the walls had closed in on me while I was gone. Or maybe I had just grown too much to fit back into the spaces I used to occupy.I unpacked my things in my room and tried not to think about the penthouse. I tried not to think about the hot tub, tried not to think about Kai's hands on my wrists or the way he had looked at me when he said no.My phone buzzed.A text from Sophia: Girl I’m coming over to the mansion so we can talk.She arrived within an hour, letting herself in through the side entrance like she had done a thousand times before. She found me in the garden, sitting on one of the stone benches overlooking the fountain."Okay, spill," she said, sitting down beside me without preamble. "What happened? You sounded all worked up on the phone and you left the penthouse in the middle of the night? That's not normal Hazel behavior.""I didn't leave in the middle of the night," I said. "I left this

The drive to the safe house was silent and tense. We were supposed to meet with him tomorrow but the threat had made us push the meeting tonight.Hazel sat in the passenger seat, her hands clasped tightly in her lap, staring out the window at the darkening landscape. I kept one hand on the steering wheel and the other near my phone, waiting for updates from Reed.The threat to Graham had changed everything.Someone knew about the meeting. Someone had enough power and resources to track Graham's location and threaten his life. Someone was desperate enough to kill to keep Elena's secrets buried.Which meant Elena had found something big."Do you think he'll still meet with us?" Hazel asked quietly, breaking the silence."Reed is handling it," I said. "Graham wants to talk. He's terrified, but he's ready. He's spent eight years in hiding. He wants this to be over.""What if something happens to him?" she asked. "What if whoever threatened him decides to act?""They won't," I said, with m

~~ Hazel's POV ~~I sat on the edge of my bed and stared at my phone.Tomorrow.Tomorrow it would all happen. Tomorrow the restaurant would open. E&H Investments would be there. Everything would change. Everything would shift. The secret I had been keeping locked away would finally come to light.And I was terrified.My hands were shaking. My heart was racing. I felt like I couldn't breathe properly. I stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the city lights stretched below me. Somewhere out there was my restaurant. Somewhere out there were people preparing for the opening. Somewhere out there was my grandmother, probably finalizing her speech.And somewhere out there was Kai, who had no idea that his world was about to be turned upside down.I sat back on the bed and called Sophia.She answered on the first ring like she knew I was going to call."Hey," she said softly. "You're freaking out, right?""I'm not freaking out," I said, even though I absolutely was. "I'm just... I