Chapter 15: This Is My Wife, Hazel
Half-asleep, Hazel stirred in the middle of the night. When she opened her eyes, she saw Sebastian sitting beside the bed.
He was resting his chin on one hand, his handsome face etched with fatigue, dark circles under his eyes.
His head kept nodding forward, fighting off sleep, eyelids heavy but refusing to close completely.
Hazel stared at his face in a daze. It felt like it had been a long time since she had really looked at him closely,
He used to care for her this way, too.
There was a time when he’d finished back to back surgeries, hadn’t slept for three days, and then came home to find her burning up with a fever. He stayed up the entire night watching over her.
She had talked in her sleep all night, begging for ice cream from Maddy’s.
When she woke up, he’d placed the exact one she wanted in front of her. His bloodshot eyes had clearly gone several nights without rest.
She had been truly touched back then.
But now, that feeling was gone. In its place was a deep, dull ache that seeped into her bones.
That beautiful flower called love had once bloomed-but now, it had withered away.
“Hazel…” Sebastian murmured her name unconsciously.
Hazel pretended not to hear and closed her eyes again.
In the morning, Sebastian was gone.
Hazel walked into the bathroom and stared at her reflection.
Pale. Thin. Lifeless.
She could feel the illness gnawing away at her, slowly draining her. Someday, her body would give out, and she’d end up a cold corpse in the morgue.
Just hold on a little longer,” she whispered, reaching up to touch the mirror, as if touching herself.
She didn’t want to die.
As long as she was still breathing, there was hope.
She splashed her face with cold water, snapped herself awake, then opened the door-and saw Sebastian standing there holding breakfast.
“Babe, I got your favorite soy milk from that little place down the alley,” he said with a smile.
Hazel glanced down at it indifferently, then reached out to take it. Seeing he wasn’t leaving, she frowned slightly. “Is there something else?”
Sebastian’s smile faltered, his brow tensing. “Hazel, can we talk?”
They stepped out onto the balcony.
The early morning breeze brushed against her face with a hint of chill.
Sebastian took off his jacket and draped it over her frail shoulders. His hand pressed down gently, only to feel sharp bones beneath.
“You’ve gotten thinner,” he muttered, finally noticing how much weight she’d lost. Her chin was sharper than before, and her already delicate frame now looked like it could be swept away by the wind.
Hazel looked away from his concerned gaze. This kind of concern-shared with others-meant nothing to her.
“What do you want to talk about?” she asked calmly.
Sebastian spoke slowly, deliberately. “Ever since you started working at that lab, you’ve been different. Moody, distant.”
“Starting today, stop going. I’ll take you to a wellness center to recover. It’s been three years and we still don’t have a child. You know how much pressure I’ve been under from my family.”
“Let’s do IVF.”
Hazel froze.
Her ears buzzed. She couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.
He was the one who’d said they could wait-no rush to have kids until she was ready.
Now he was blaming her for their childlessness?
All her recent issues were because of the lab, and not him?
She had never seen anyone so hypocritical-blaming everything on her like it was all her fault. Her whole body shook with rage. She fought to stay composed. “Sebastian, what gives you the right to control my life? Are you saying you’ve done nothing wrong?”
Sebastian noticed her anger and immediately shifted tactics. “What did I do wrong? Are you misunderstanding something?”
Hazel let out a cold laugh. Misunderstanding?
Catching him with her sister, in her own bed-and that was a misunderstanding?
“You tell me, Sebastian. What have you done to betray me?” Her gaze was sharp and piercing, like she was staring straight into his soul.
Sebastian looked shocked, like a man falsely accused. “Babe, I’d never betray you. I swear, if I ever did anything like that, I—”
He raised his hand dramatically, but stopped mid-sentence.
He expected Hazel to panic and stop him like she always had-but this time, she didn’t.
Her expression was ice cold. “You’d what?”
Swallowing hard, Sebastian continued weakly, “If I ever betrayed you, I’d die a horrible death.”
Hazel smiled.
So this was who Sebastian really was.
Shameless to the core.
She wasn’t even angry anymore.
If he wanted to keep lying to himself so be it. By the time he figured it out, their marriage would already be over.
Seeing her smile, Sebastian thought she’d forgiven him. He pulled her into his arms. “We have to go home tonight. Mom called and said she really
misses us.”
Hazel scoffed silently.
Constance Cole didn’t miss her-she only cared about her precious son.
Still, going back might be useful.
She had agreed to the divorce, and Constance had promised ten billion-but that was just a verbal promise. She needed a signed contract.
She was running out of time-and money. Without enough funds later on, she might not live to see the next two years.
At the Cole residence.
As soon as Hazel and Sebastian stepped inside, Constance rushed out at the sound of the door.
Her face stiffened the moment she saw Hazel. “You came too?”
Sebastian frowned. “Mom.”
Constance grumbled, “I told you to come alone.”
Hazel was used to being unwelcome here. She stepped into the living room and immediately noticed a glamorous woman sitting on the couch.
She wore a black silk dress with a deep V-neck, a teardrop pendant resting between her breasts-an image of mature seduction.
Constance beamed at Sebastian. “Sebastian, this is Danni. She just got back from abroad. You two used to play together as kids-remember?”
Sebastian stayed stone-faced and nodded politely. “Not really.”
Danni, however, was enthusiastic. She shot him flirtatious glances, completely ignoring Hazel’s presence. “Sebastian, I thought about you the whole time I was away.”
Without missing a beat, Sebastian lifted his arm and wrapped it around Hazel’s shoulders, pulling her close.
Calmly, he said, “This is my wife-Hazel.”
