Angry?
Then let her be angry.
Hazel Sinclair was good-natured. As long as you coaxed her for a while, she was bound to cool down, wasn’t she?
This thought prompted a nod from Ethan Sinclair. ’She should just be locked up at home.’
"Actually, Hazel isn’t angry anymore. This is all Serena Sinclair’s fault," Caleb Sinclair said seriously, looking at the three of them.
"What does this have to do with Serena?" Mr. Sinclair asked, confused. This was their family’s business. What did it have to do with his niece?
"She relayed the wrong message. Hazel wanted to come back for the New Year last year, but she was afraid you two were still angry, so she tried to feel you out through Serena Sinclair."
"Serena was the one who told her you were still angry and didn’t want to see her. That’s why Hazel refused to come back."
"And because of that, she thought you really meant what you said that day, which made her even more reluctant to return."
After this was all laid out, everyone’s expression darkened. Mr. Sinclair turned to Simon Sinclair beside him and said, "Simon, call Serena Sinclair over."
Simon Sinclair immediately took out her phone and called her. The person on the other end picked up quickly.
The call connected, and Serena Sinclair’s voice came through the earpiece. "Simon, what’s up?"
"We haven’t seen each other in a while. Want to come over to my place and hang out?" Simon Sinclair asked slowly.
Then, she sweetened the deal. "Didn’t you tell me before that you wanted a Hermès Kelly bag? I happen to have one I’m not using. Do you want it?"
Serena Sinclair had recently been worrying about how to buy a bag that would give her some prestige when she went out. Although this bag was a little on the cheaper side, it was still presentable.
"Of course! Wait for me, cousin."
The call ended. They all looked at Simon Sinclair. Her older brother frowned slightly and asked, "You’re having her come all the way here, and you’re giving her your bag on top of that?"
Simon Sinclair put her phone away and shrugged. "Yeah. I only recently realized that she’s only friendly with me because she sees me as a sucker."
After coming back from her place that day, Serena Sinclair had immediately started hinting, both openly and subtly, that she wanted that Chanel perfume.
From that day on, Simon Sinclair deliberately thought back to all the times they had hung out, and she realized it had always been this way.
When a hopeful Serena Sinclair stepped into the Sinclair Villa and entered the living room, she saw her uncle, her aunt, her two male cousins, and her female cousin were all there.
The entire family was present, which made Serena Sinclair a little confused.
She walked over, greeting everyone sweetly, then looked at Simon Sinclair and asked, "Cousin, why did you ask me to come over?"
"During the New Year last year, the message we asked you to pass on to Hazel—did you relay it properly?" Caleb Sinclair questioned from the sofa, his legs crossed.
Hearing this, Serena Sinclair’s heart leaped into her throat.
’It’s been so long. Why are they suddenly asking about this now?’
’Did they find something out?’
’Impossible. There’s no way Hazel Sinclair would have talked to them, and there’s no way they would have brought this up with her.’
"I relayed it properly. That Hazel... honestly. It’s been so long, and she’s still angry at you."
"She has no consideration for all the hard work you put in as parents."
Hearing this, the family members exchanged a look, and then Simon Sinclair followed up, "Is that so? Then let me see the chat history."
The words Serena Sinclair had been about to say to belittle Hazel Sinclair got stuck in her throat. They wanted to see the chat history?
"Heh... Eldest Cousin, it’s been so long. Those chat logs were deleted ages ago," Serena Sinclair said, scrambling for an excuse.
"Is that so?" Simon Sinclair spoke up. "No problem. I know a little about tech. Give me your phone, I can recover it for you."
Her excuse was blocked. A chill ran down Serena Sinclair’s spine, especially as her uncle’s gaze on her grew colder and colder.
Ethan Sinclair stood up and walked in front of her. Extending a hand, he looked at her coldly and said, "Unlock it and give it to me."
Under their pressure, Serena Sinclair had no choice but to unlock her phone and hand it over.
She was nervous and scared, wondering what punishment she would face once everything was exposed.
Ethan Sinclair took the phone, opened WhatsApp, and directly searched for Hazel Sinclair’s name. Nothing came up.
He then searched for the nickname they usually called her, but still nothing. He lifted his eyes, shot her a look, and asked coldly, "What did you save her contact name as?"
Serena Sinclair thought of the contact name. She opened her mouth, but for a moment, she couldn’t say it.
After all, the name was filled with pure malice. They would definitely be furious if they heard it.
At the same time, a familiar jealousy toward Hazel Sinclair began to stir within her. ’She wasn’t even a real Sinclair, but because she had been raised by my uncle’s family for over twenty years, she’d gone from a sparrow to a phoenix overnight.’
’Hazel Sinclair’s life was just too good. She enjoyed a life of luxury since she was a child. Even after finding out she wasn’t their biological daughter, the Sinclair Family never thought of kicking her out.’
’Even the biological daughter they found in the countryside didn’t want her to leave the Sinclair Family—not even after that disgusting affair was exposed and brought negative publicity to the company.’
’They just got angry for a bit, but never thought of making Hazel Sinclair leave.’
’Luckily, that woman is a fool. With just a few words, I convinced her to remove herself from the Sinclair Family’s household registration.’
’I thought her reputation would be ruined and she’d end up living a miserable life in Veridia. I never imagined that Leon Sterling, the one who was supposed to marry *me*, would turn around and marry her instead.’
Ethan Sinclair searched all over but couldn’t find Hazel Sinclair’s WhatsApp.
Just then, Simon Sinclair walked over, snatched the phone, and typed in a particularly insulting name.
[Bitch]
As soon as she typed the name, Hazel Sinclair’s WhatsApp profile immediately popped up.
Ethan Sinclair, standing beside her, looked at the single word on the screen, then at Serena in disbelief.
"What the hell do you mean by saving Hazel’s contact name as that!"
She was calling Hazel a bitch!
Serena Sinclair kept her head down, not saying a word.
Simon Sinclair scrolled through their chat history. Starting from early last year, Hazel Sinclair had begun asking if their parents were still angry.
’But the answer she got was always yes, they were still angry. No wonder that fool Hazel got upset the moment she saw us.’
Simon Sinclair handed the phone to the others behind her so they could see for themselves.
Seeing the "bitch" contact name, Mrs. Sinclair immediately shot to her feet, pointed at Serena Sinclair, and yelled, "My Hazel was so good to you! She always thought of you whenever she had anything nice, whether it was things or food! And you treat her like this just because she stole Leon Sterling from you?"
Even now, Mrs. Sinclair still thought Serena Sinclair hated Hazel because of the whole marriage-stealing incident.
But Mrs. Sinclair had forgotten one thing. The day after that incident, they had prepared a generous gift to compensate her.
The condo she was living in now was a gift from the Sinclair Family as compensation. And it wasn’t just the Sinclairs; Leon Sterling had compensated her as well.
At the time, Serena Sinclair had said she wouldn’t hold a grudge against Hazel Sinclair and that the matter was behind them.
"So why exactly did you do all this?!" Ethan Sinclair demanded, staring at her.
Beside him, Simon Sinclair looked at her and asked, "Is it because of jealousy?"
[Host, the Sinclairs are confronting Serena Sinclair.] The System quickly relayed what was happening in the living room on the first floor to Hazel Sinclair.
In the walk-in closet, Hazel Sinclair was trying on a bag when she heard this. She immediately dropped it, ran out the door, and rushed downstairs.
’How could something like this happen without me being there?’