Chapter 3

3 I clenched my fists, wanting to kick her out of the house.

After I graduated and joined the family business, my dad had started handing over control.

I told my parents to go on vacation.

They finally agreed.

When I watched them get on the plane, a weight lifted off my chest.

Hazel had been somewhat restrained in my past life, but now she was too emotional.

Who knew what she would do?

I couldn't risk my parents' lives.

I didn't expect that my parents would still be urging me to meet with my arranged fiancée while they were abroad.

I'd refused the arrangement in my past life, so I'd never even met her.

We'd set a time to meet, but she texted me that she was too busy at work and had to reschedule.

I thought about it and decided that I should meet her as soon as possible.

With her permission, I went to pick her up from the hospital where she worked.

"I'm sorry to make you pick me up at the hospital," Gu Qingrou said, giving me an apologetic smile as she took off her white coat.

I shook my head. "It's okay."

But as soon as we walked out, we ran into Hazel, who was being all sweet and attentive to Finn.

"Honey, don't hide it from me next time you're sick. Even if it's just a cold, it'll break my heart."

Finn laughed, patting her head and gently flicking her nose. "Okay, baby."

He looked up and spotted me.

"Oh, Ace, what a surprise... Unless..."

He trailed off, glancing meaningfully at Hazel.

Her face darkened instantly.

"Ace, are you stalking me?! Are you a dog?!

Are you following me wherever I go?!

Is this your way of forcing me to marry you?!" People started whispering around us.

"Forcing her to marry him? He seems like a decent guy, but he's probably a psycho doing something like that."

"These days, you still see families arranging marriages. Maybe he's impotent, and they want to ruin a young woman's life."

I frowned, and Gu Qingrou scolded them. "Don't make assumptions if you don't know what's going on."

Her defending me warmed my heart.

But Hazel was enjoying my embarrassment.

She didn't even bother to ask if I was sick.

She stepped closer, lowering her voice. "Did you think about this when you killed Finn?!"

I pretended I didn't know what she meant, remembering how Finn had been found dead in the streets in my past life, naked and bruised.

She was still trying to get revenge for him.

She dragged me to the stairwell, her eyes filled with disgust.

"I said I would marry you. Why are you still following me?! How twisted do you have to be to want to possess me?!"

She glanced dismissively at Gu Qingrou, her voice cold and cruel.

"Don't think I'll be moved just because you hired some woman to play along."

Finn walked in, pinching her cheek. "It's okay, don't get mad at your brother because of me."

She glared at me sarcastically. "You're not as considerate as Finn."

They held hands and walked away, leaving me standing there.

I gave Gu Qingrou an apologetic smile, but she just shook her head.

That night, I came home and found them making out on the couch.

Finn smirked at me, as if to get back at me, and squeezed her waist.

Hazel moaned.

I ignored them and went straight to my study.

After a while, the door opened.

Hazel said, "Finn's having a birthday party in a few days. He needs cufflinks. Lend him the ones you got from me."

When I didn't move, she urged me, "Hurry up! It's not like you ever wear them!"

The cufflinks she was talking about were precious to me.

She'd given them to me for my birthday.

She'd paid a fortune to get a master to design them.

Now, seeing her demanding attitude, I felt a chill in my heart.

I took the cufflinks out of the display case and handed them to Finn.

They fell and shattered on the ground.

Finn's face went pale.

"Even if you didn't want to give them to me, you didn't have to break them. Hazel put her heart and soul into this!"

Hazel stepped on the shards, shoved me aside, and comforted Finn.

I stumbled and hit the display case.

Glass flew everywhere, cutting my arm.

Blood gushed out.

But she didn't even look at me.