At the mansion
Both of them remained silent for quite a while.
Then Chase finally spoke up first with an angry snort, "Grandma, what's the point of seeing her sons?"
"Oh, you stupid child. Do the math. Those two boys might be your children!"
Chase's jaw nearly dropped when hearing this. "What? No way! That's… that's impossible! I asked her, and she told me herself that they are not my sons!"
"Alas. you don't understand women at all. She hates you so much, and she might be saying that to simply make you mad!"
"To make me mad?" Chase blinked stupidly.
But then, it came to him. Indeed, he had been quite awful to her. It made sense.
"Anyhow, bring the boys over first and take a paternity test," said Nancy. "If they are not your sons, so be it However, if they are your kids, they can't wander alone out there without a father!"
"Well, I see…"
After the work of five days, Hazel had finally moved into her new apartment. She had cleaned it up. and they were able to settle down at last.
The apartment was in the city center, and it was quite large.
Apart from the four bedrooms and the sitting rooms, there were also two nannies' rooms.
The rent was 50 thousand dollars a month.
Though Hazel was the current chairwoman of the Haynes Group, she did not have too much cash. She had properties and company shares. If she required a large amount of cash, she had to sell them. And over the years, there was none left of the money that her mother left her with. However, in a city like this, where every square inch counted, it could easily cost people tens of millions to purchase a comfortable apartment.
Therefore, between a comfortable apartment and life, Hazel had to make a choice. She chose the latter.
"Hazel, have you read the news?" Tristan came over and helped Hazel clean up.
Hazel, busy with her three children's clothes, replied without looking up. "I'm too busy to think of anything else. Moving is so tiring!"
Tristan smiled slightly. "Well, have a look then. You'll be surprised."
With that, Tristan handed Hazel his cell phone.
After reading a few pages of the comments, Hazel sighed. "To be honest, I really don't want this to happen! I don't want to fall out with my dad! Yet, he left me with no other options…"
"Don't think too much," said Tristan. "You need to show your strength. The more you ignore the bad guys, the more they think you're a pushover. Only when you fight back can you really protect yourself and your children."
"You're right. Thank you, Tristan!"
"Come on. You're always so polite to me!"
"But I own you. That's the least I should say. I don't know what I could do without you," said Hazel.
Tristan stared at her beautiful eyes and asked, "Do you really want to thank me?"
"Of course I do!"
Tristan gave her a bright smile. "Then… will you marry me?"
Hazel froze, and there was a hint of fluster in her eyes.
She did not know if Tristan had meant it. What she did know was that if she had no kids and if she was still a young girl, she would not hesitate to accept his proposal.
But now? No. She was not good enough for him.
Noticing the unease on her face, Tristan smiled sheepishly as he patted her on the shoulder. "Oh, I'm just kidding!"
An awkward smile broke on Hazel's pretty face. "Tristan, don't make such jokes. You're embarrassing me!"
Tristan was looking at her gently with a warm smile, but on the inside, her hesitation cut deeply.
For him, tenderness was the thing he had never given to any woman. Any woman but Hazel.
Six years ago, on Hazel's birthday, when Tristan was going to tell her his feelings, Chase ruined the moment.
That was the regret of his life.
"I'm gonna need to take some pictures of you today!" said Tristan.
"Sure!"
"And you need to take Aiden and Arthur with you," he added.
Hazel hesitated for a few seconds. But in the end, she agreed with a smile.
Hours later, they were out in the park.
At sunset, Hazel was strolling in a white dress with her sons. With a click, Tristan recorded this. moment with his camera.
In the photo, the scene of Hazel and her sons looked quite harmonious.
Haynes' house.
It had only been days, but the public opinion had completely reversed.
Amara's dirty past just kept trending on the Internet.
It annoyed Amara badly. "Hazel, you're so shameless," she cursed.
"Mom, what's wrong?" Lyra asked tentatively.
"I just called the wife of the website's manager, and she said she couldn't do anything about it! Damn it. I'm so mad!" Amara smashed her cups into pieces and went on furiously, "Hire more people to write stories about Hazel! I'll crush her!"
The next day, several new posts came as expected.
"Hazel Haynes, A Promiscuous Woman Who Brings Shames on Her Family."
"Ten Tricks that Hazel Played while Taking Zac's Legacy."
"Hazel Haynes Seducing Her Brother–in–Law."
Posts and news like these were spread on the Internet once again.
Amara had spent a lot of money, paying off a lot of trolls to keep attacking Hazel.
"She will never make it this time!" Amara was saying to her daughter.
"But Mom." Lyra asked, "We've spent too much money. And it doesn't feel like it's working at all!"
"Oh, you know nothing." Amara replied. "Just wait, that Hazel bitch will be spat on by the whole city in no time!"
Amara smirked viciously, picturing her moment of victory.
However, things didn't go as she expected. On the next morning, before these new stories could get out, accounts of the trolls hired by Amara were blocked.
One night passed.