"Mia has just woken up!"
"Okay, Mommy's going to check on her first, alright?"
Hazel changed her clothes, washed her face and hands, disinfected herself, and then finally went to her daughter's room.
"Mia, Mommy's home!"
"Mommy!"
Mia Haynes was lying in bed, a big, bright smile on her skinny little face.
The little girl had been hurt by a congenital heart defect and hemolytic anemia ever since she was born. The hemamebas in her body were poorly hematopoietic. So she would need to be transplanted with new hematopoietic stem cells after some time.
For more than three years, poor Mia had been lying in bed, unable even to stand up once. Her skin was covered with needle marks and scars.
The hospital bills and the cost of follow-up treatments were a heavy burden, and they also pushed Hazel to go forward.
Hazel's biggest wish was that her daughter could recover one day, and she could see Mia standing up.
"Mia, does it still hurt?" Hazel was holding her daughter's thin hand, and her heart was twitching with pain.
Whenever Hazel saw her daughter, she would have to try so hard to prevent the tears from welling up in her eyes.
Mia shook her head slightly. "Not anymore."
Hazel was chewing her upper lips to fight the great sadness inside. Her daughter had just had a major operation. The kid must pretend to be fine.
"Mommy, can I have some ice cream s?" Mia begged weakly.
The little girl's mouth was filled with bitterness that was brought by the medicine during the operation. And she would like to eat something sweet.
"Oh, Mia, you know you just had your pills. How about this? When you get better, Mommy will buy you a whole pack of ice cream !"
Mia's eyes glittered with expectation when hearing this. She nodded obediently. "But is it okay if I have a look at the ice cream , then? I won't eat it."
"Yes, of course, you can."
Hazel put a piece of ice cream in her little girl's hand.
"I won't eat it, Mommy, not until I'm better."
It broke Hazel's heart to hear this. Tears finally overcame her and rolled down her cheeks.
She knew that her daughter was not lying to her because the little girl was simply too sick to eat anything on her own.
"Yeah, isn't my Mia the sweetest!" said Hazel in tears and hurried to stand up. "Nova, please, take good care of Mia!" With that, Hazel could not bear to stay with her daughter any longer. She was at
the edge of a breakdown.
Nova, one of the nannies, looked at Hazel sadly. "I'll take care of Mia! But you need to take care of yourself, too, Hazel."
"I will. Thank you."
Hazel got out of the daughter's room, stood at the door, and took a deep breath! Then she caught sight of her two sons sneaking around the laptop..
"What are you doing?"
"Huh? Nothing!"
Arthur and Aiden turned off the laptop at once when hearing their mother's voice.
Her sons loved the internet and had spent too much of their time on it. However, Hazel had always been too occupied by her work to watch over these two.
"Don't stare at the screen for too long. It's bad for your eyes."
"Yes, Mummy!"
"Alright, you smart pants, go wash your hands and get ready for dinner!"
"Right away!" The boys slipped down the chairs and snickered as they ran to the bathroom.
"Oh, my, it's such a nice surprise for that bad guy. I couldn't help imagining his face tomorrow when he sees it"
"Shh, keep your voice down. We don't want Mommy to know any of this."
"You're right. Humph, that bad guy. How dare he bully Mommy? We'll show him what we got…"
After dinner, Hazel put the kids back in their beds and read them bedtime stories until they were asleep. Then, at last, she could go back to her work.
She closed her laptop at three o'clock in the morning, and finally, she was ready to have some sleep.
Hazel had only slept four hours a day for years! And this kind of lifestyle had made it impossible for her to think of anything else.
Morning came soon.
Buzz, buzz, buzz…
Before Hazel could get up, Tristan blew up her phone.
"Tristan? What are you calling me for at this hour?"
On the other end of the line, Tristan's worried voice replied, "Hazel, have you seen the news?"
"What news?" Hazel rubbed her eyes, confused.
"Check on your cell phone and read the entertainment news."
Hazel's heart skipped a beat when she heard this. She had a very bad feeling about this.
She remembered how badly she had been roasted Nine years ago. Back then, she was still that innocent girl and even thought about jumping off the roof to end her life! Hazel prayed that it wouldn't happen to her ever again.
Hazel shivered and unlocked her phone.
In an instant, more than five notifications popped up, and they were all about her.
"After hooking up with her brother-in-law and getting kicked out, Hazel Haynes has moved on to her next victim."
"The former lady of the city fell out with her family for inheritance! Her father was kicked out of the board, and she seized the family business."
"Hazel Haynes unwed yet pregnant. The father unknown…"
Over the night, news about Hazel was all over the internet.
Hazel clicked one of them open with a trembling finger. And as she feared, the comments below were unbearable.
It was like what had happened Nine years ago took place once again! The only difference was that this time, it appeared to be even more fierce.
"Hello? Hazel? Are you still there?"
Hazel stared blankly at the comments, feeling happiness and joy sucked out of her all at once. People even brought up her fake news Nine years ago.
She didn't dare to scroll down anymore.
"Hazel, you wait there! I'm coming to you."
"Tristan…"
"Listen to me, Hazel, pull yourself together. Don't be afraid. Wait for me!" Tristan said, grabbing his car keys and heading downstairs.