The receptionist at Hartley Wellness Center opened the door before Hazel could knock.
"Dr. Reeve said to bring you straight in," she whispered, her eyes soft with concern as she took in Hazel's swollen eyes and the hoodie she had thrown over her pajamas.
Hazel nodded without speaking.
Inside, Reeve stood by the window with his hands in the pockets of his dark trousers. His white shirt was rolled to his elbows and his expression was calm and unreadable, but his gaze behind his rimmer glasses fixed on her the moment she entered.
"You came," he said quietly.
"I didn't know where else to go," Hazel admitted, her voice hoarse from crying.
He gestured toward the familiar gray sofa where she had spent so many hours over the past two years.
"Sit down."
Hazel sank onto the sofa and clutched her phone in both hands. The screen lit up again. It was Roman Woods.
She stared at the name until it stopped ringing.
"You haven't been sleeping," Reeve observed, sitting across from her with his notebook closed on his lap.
"I haven't slept since midnight," Hazel replied, her eyes filling with tears despite every effort to remain composed. "Mandy posted those photographs and by morning every person I know had seen them. The venue called, the florist called, my clients started canceling. I canceled the wedding, Dr. Reeve. I canceled everything."
Reeve observed her closely thoughtfully, his expressions remained neutral. Hazel’s phone rang again with Roman’s call.
Reeve glanced at it but said nothing.
"Do you want to answer it?" he asked.
"No," Hazel said quickly, her hands trembling as she turned the phone face down. "I can't. He keeps saying he was framed, that Mandy got him drunk after the charity gala and he blacked out. He says he doesn't remember anything. But he has no proof. He has nothing except his word."
"And his word is no longer enough for you?" Reeve asked carefully.
"It should be enough," Hazel whispered, her chest burning with every breath she took. "He never gave me a reason to doubt him before yesterday. Three years, and I never questioned his loyalty once. Now the whole city is calling me the wedding planner whose own wedding collapsed overnight. I feel like everyone is laughing at me."
Reeve heaved a sigh,"You survived humiliation before, Hazel," Reeve said gently. "This is not the first time the world has felt cruel."
"I know," Hazel admitted, her voice cracking. "That's what scares me. After my last relationship, it took me two years to feel normal again. I had panic attacks, I couldn't work, I couldn't leave my apartment. You saw me then. I can't go back to that darkness. I can't survive another failed relationship after everything I endured in the past."
Her phone vibrated against the wooden table. Hazel flinched and pushed it further away.
"He's not going to stop calling, is he?" Reeve asked.
"He says he loves me," Hazel replied, tears slipping down her cheeks. "He says none of this changes that. But how can he love me when he let this happen the night before our wedding?"
Reeve leaned forward slightly, his elbows resting on his knees. His voice remained even and patient, the same tone he had used when she was at her lowest two years ago.
"Roman has become another wound you cannot afford to keep reopening," he said quietly. "Every time you answer that phone, every time you listen to an explanation without proof, you are tearing it open again."
Hazel looked up at him, her eyes red and pleading.
"So what should I do?"
"You should end the relationship completely," Reeve advised, his gaze steady on hers. "Clinging to someone who has already broken your trust will only drag you back into the darkness you escaped years ago. You worked too hard to get out of it, Hazel. Don't let anyone pull you back in."
The words settled heavy in her heart because part of her knew he was right.
Her phone lit up again. She stared at it until it went dark.
"I don't know if I have the strength to tell him," she whispered, shaking her head.
"You do," Reeve urged her. "You ended the wedding. That was the hardest part. The rest is just making it clear."
Hazel closed her eyes for a moment and pressed her palms against her knees to stop them from shaking.
"Okay," she whispered. "Okay, I'll tell him tonight."
At evening, the sky over Seattle had turned a dull gray when Hazel returned to her apartment building. Reporters had finally left, but a black Range Rover she knew too well was parked by the entrance.
Roman stood beside it.
His suit was wrinkled and his hair was disheveled, as though he had not stopped running since morning. The confident CEO she knew was gone. He looked exhausted and desperate.
"Hazel," he said when he saw her, his voice strained with panic. "Please, just five minutes. Don't do this without hearing me out."
"You shouldn't be here," Hazel replied, her voice seething now. She clutched her bag tighter against her chest.
"I know where you went," Roman insisted, taking a step closer. "Olivia told me you went for therapy session. But he doesn't know what happened, Hazel. He wasn't there. I've already told you Mandy got me drunk after the gala, she poured me another drink when I said no, and I blacked out. When I woke up, she was gone and those pictures were already on her phone. She framed me please trust me!" He almost begged.
"Then where is your proof?" Hazel asked quietly, tears gathering in her eyes again. "You said this morning you would find proof. Do you have it now?"
Roman's jaw tightened and his shoulders dropped slightly.
"Not yet," he confessed. "But I will. The hotel staff is refusing to talk, but I will find her, Hazel. I swear I will."
Hazel shook her head slowly, although it broke her heart to do it.
"That's what you said this morning," she replied, struggling to keep her voice steady. "I waited all day, Roman. I wanted you to have proof. I wanted to believe you. But you came here with the same story and nothing to show for it."
"It's not a story, it's the truth," Roman pleaded, his eyes searching hers desperately. "I never cheated on you. I never touched her. Please, Hazel, don't end us over a lie."
"We already ended," Hazel whispered, her voice cracking. "The moment those photographs went viral, we ended. I can't marry someone the whole world believes cheated on me the night before our wedding. I can't build a life with someone I have to defend to my own clients. It's over, Roman. Officially."
The silence that followed felt heavier than the whole situation.
Roman stared at her as though he could not process the words, his chest rising and falling unevenly.
"Don't say that," he said finally, his voice low and rough. "Don't say it's over like you mean it."
"I mean it," Hazel said, although tears streamed down her face as she said it.
Roman took one last step forward but did not touch her. His eyes were dark with determination that made her take a step back.
"Then hear this," he said quietly, his nostrils flared. "I will never stop fighting for you. I know you still belong with me, Hazel. And I will prove that you are only mine. And I will keep coming after you, whether you like it or not."
He turned and walked back to his car without looking back, and Hazel stood frozen on the sidewalk until his taillights disappeared.
Terrified by the determination in his voice, she pulled out her phone with shaking fingers and typed a message before she could change her mind.
“I finally ended it with Roman. He came to my apartment. He said he will never stop coming after me Dr. Reeve. He frightened me.”
She pressed send to Reeve.
Alone in his office, Reeve read the message on his desk. The city lights reflected against the glasses he wore as he stared at the screen for a long moment.
Then a small, almost faint smirk appeared on his face, he held up the phone and kissed the screen.
