Third Person's POV
The moment the icy pool water wrapped around Hazel’s body, the memory of drowning hit her like a vise tightening around her throat. Her chest burned as she fought the urge to breathe, but panic clawed at her mind until she couldn’t hold it anymore.
The second she gasped, water rushed into her mouth, flooding her lungs. She coughed, choked, and instinctively kicked upward, but she didn’t break the surface. Instead, she forced herself deeper, determined not to give up.
Her mother was still waiting. She had to last ten minutes.
Outside the pool, guests gathered at the edge, watching her desperate struggle beneath the water. Some turned away, pity and discomfort written all over their faces.
Caroline, on the other hand, stood off to the side with a faint, satisfied smile curving her lips.
Meanwhile, Dominic’s expression grew darker by the minute. His grip on the armrest tightened until his knuckles went white.
Finally, ten minutes passed.
“Get her out,” he ordered sharply.
They pulled Hazel from the water. Her body was pale and trembling, her lips nearly blue. She’d swallowed so much water that she could barely breathe, but even then, she forced herself to speak, her voice shaking. “I did it… Now please… save my mom.”
Dominic frowned, pulling out his phone to make the call. But before he could finish dialing, Caroline let out a small, startled cry.
He turned immediately, only to see a thin line of blood running down her finger.
Without a second thought, he hung up the phone and rushed to her side.
“Dominic!” Hazel gasped, clutching at his pant leg. “Help my mother first—”
But he yanked his leg free, his voice cutting cold as ice. “Do you have any idea how severe Caroline’s blood phobia is? If anything happens to her, can you take responsibility?”
And with that, he left without looking back.
“But my mom—” Hazel’s voice broke as she tried to follow, but her body gave out. The room spun, her vision blurred, and then everything went dark.
Before she lost consciousness, she vaguely heard Dominic’s distant voice giving orders. “Send her to the hospital. And make sure the best doctors treat her mother. Don’t let anyone die.”
When Hazel woke up, she was lying in a hospital bed.
She ripped out the IV line, trying to get up, but just then, her phone rang.
The voice on the other end was calm, almost apologetic. “Are you Mrs. Rhodes’s family member? I’m sorry… but she didn’t make it. She passed away due to delayed treatment.”
For a moment, Hazel couldn’t breathe.
“No… no, that’s not possible. Dominic said he sent the best doctors! My mom—she can’t be dead!”
The doctor hesitated before sighing quietly. “There was a chance to save her. But just as we were about to begin surgery, Mr. Blake called all the specialists away since Miss Summers had an allergic reaction to her medication. He ordered every available doctor to treat her instead, and your mother received no care… so…”
His words were like a thunderclap. Hazel froze, her blood running cold. The phone slipped from her hand and hit the floor with a dull thud.
She didn’t remember how she got to her mother’s room. When she pushed open the door, a doctor was just pulling the white sheet over her mother’s face.
“Mom!”
She stumbled forward, tears streaming down her face, and fell to her knees beside the bed.
“Mom, please wake up! Don’t leave me, please!”
But her mother, who always wiped her tears, lay still, forever silent.
Hazel broke down, sobbing until her body shook.
Around her, the doctors exchanged silent, pitying glances.
Outside the room, two nurses walked by, whispering to each other.
“Miss Summers just had a small cut on her finger,” one said. “It would’ve healed on its own in a few hours. But Mr. Blake pulled every senior doctor over for her treatment. Guess his love for her is the real deal.”
“You’re telling me. I even heard he made his wife hold her breath underwater just to make Caroline happy. She nearly died, and he hasn’t even visited her once. That man’s heart… it’s made of stone.”
Their voices faded down the hall, but every word sliced deeper into Hazel’s chest.
Her sobs turned into trembling rage. The veins on her hands bulged as she gripped the bed rail.
She hated them. She hated Caroline. And she hated Dominic even more.
Because of them, her mother was gone. Because of them, her life had fallen apart.
They didn’t deserve forgiveness. They deserved to pay!
The next day, Hazel handled her mother’s funeral alone. She stood silently as the coffin was sealed and the cremation began.
The woman who once shielded her from every storm was now reduced to ashes, a small urn she held carefully in her trembling arms.
Tears streamed down her face again, uncontrollable, endless.
That night, she returned home, clutching the urn close to her chest.
But when she pushed open the door, she froze.
Dominic was sitting on the couch, rubbing his temples as if waiting for her.
When he looked up, his expression was cold, his tone even colder. “You’re back?”
Before she could answer, he tossed a document onto the table in front of her. “Caroline only went after your mother because you refused to apologize and bark like a dog. She might’ve gone too far, but did you really have to call the cops?”
His eyes narrowed and continued, “She’s still being questioned at the station because of you. Sign the statement of forgiveness, and I’ll pretend none of this ever happened.”
