She sent the message, and a reply came back almost immediately.
[Liam Lancaster: Sure. Where do you live? I’ll head over now.]
Hazel Sinclair sent him her address, then quickly followed up with another message.
[Hazel Sinclair: Can you come a little faster?]
Liam Lancaster’s brow furrowed slightly when he saw the message, but since it was Hazel Sinclair asking, he would agree.
[Liam Lancaster: Okay.]
He drove, getting to Hazel Sinclair’s home as fast as he could.
Arriving on the 16th floor, Liam Lancaster raised his hand to knock, waiting for the person inside to open the door.
After a short wait, Hazel Sinclair opened the door from the inside. When she saw Liam Lancaster, she spoke, her voice choked with emotion, "You’re here."
When Liam Lancaster saw her tear-reddened eyes, he froze on the spot. He reached out, grabbed Hazel Sinclair’s wrist, and asked with a dark expression, "Did he bully you?"
Hazel Sinclair didn’t shake her head. Instead, she turned and pointed at the delivery box, her voice trembling. "A snake... a dead snake..."
"You... you have to get rid of it for me."
Liam Lancaster strode inside and froze when he saw the dead venomous snake in the cardboard box. Then he froze again when he saw the words written on the box.
"What happened?" Liam Lancaster closed the box, his expression turning even fouler. His voice became icy. "Who sent this to you?"
Hazel Sinclair cowered in a corner, not daring to go anywhere near the box.
"I don’t know..." Hazel Sinclair shook her head.
Seeing her trembling in fear, Liam Lancaster found a rope in the entryway and tied up the box.
"You wait here. I’ll take care of this." With that, Liam Lancaster picked up the box and left the apartment.
With the snake gone, Hazel Sinclair let out a huge sigh of relief and collapsed onto the floor.
Liam Lancaster left and returned quickly. He pushed the door open and saw Hazel Sinclair sitting on the floor. He walked over and crouched in front of her.
"What happened?"
"Can you tell me?"
Liam Lancaster raised a hand, wanting to pat her head to comfort her, but he silently withdrew it when he remembered the nature of their relationship.
Hazel Sinclair looked at him, pursed her lips, and said slowly, "I’m being cyberbullied..."
"I don’t know who it is, but they have a powerful background. Even calling the police was useless."
"I don’t even know who I provoked." As Hazel Sinclair spoke, tears started falling again.
She cried so easily, as if she were made of water, and her tears fell like pearls.
After hearing her story, Liam Lancaster asked Hazel Sinclair, "Have you told him about this?"
"No." Hazel Sinclair shook her head. "I’m afraid of implicating him."
Hearing this, Liam Lancaster let out a cold, angry laugh and said sarcastically, "He’s your husband. Something like this happens, and instead of telling him, you’re afraid of implicating him."
"Hazel Sinclair, are you that blinded by love?"
"You’re afraid of implicating him, but you’re not afraid of implicating me?"
"Hazel Sinclair, are you an idiot?!"
Liam Lancaster was furious. Thinking about what Hazel Sinclair was going through made him want to kill that bastard Leon Sterling.
’Is this how he treats Hazel Sinclair?’
"What about the Sinclair Family?"
"You have the Sinclair Family backing you. Why not go to them?" Liam Lancaster pressed, his tone rushed and harsh.
"I’m afraid of implicating the Sinclair Family," Hazel Sinclair said tearfully, hugging her knees.
Liam Lancaster was so angry he laughed. ’So she came to me instead? Isn’t she afraid of implicating me? But on second thought... for something like this to happen, and for her to only come to me... doesn’t that prove I hold some sort of place in her heart?’
"Fine. What do you want me to do?"
"Can you help me find out who’s behind all this?" Hazel Sinclair looked at him, her swollen, red-rimmed eyes suddenly brightening. "I just want to know who did it."
"That’s it?" Liam Lancaster asked, frowning slightly at her request.
"Mhm, that’s all I’m thinking about for now," Hazel Sinclair said, nodding with a smile.
Watching the young woman flash a radiant smile, in that instant, Liam Lancaster felt as if the entire living room had lit up.
"There’s a cruise ship banquet in eight days. Do you want to go with me?" Liam Lancaster asked, handing her a few tissues.
"Sure," Hazel Sinclair agreed without a second thought.
Seeing how quickly she agreed, Liam Lancaster raised an eyebrow. "You agreed so fast. Are you planning on falling for someone else?"
"If you plan to divorce him, can I pursue you?"
"I have no plans to divorce him right now, so you can forget about that idea," Hazel Sinclair said, glaring at him as she wiped her tears.
Liam Lancaster sighed. "Alright. But when you do get divorced, you have to consider me."
Seeing how badly swollen her eyes were, Liam Lancaster stood up. "Let me go boil a couple of eggs for you."
"You can put them on your eyes."
"Okay," Hazel Sinclair replied. ’Leon Sterling has spoiled me rotten. I don’t even want to go into the kitchen anymore; my cooking skills have probably gotten a lot worse.’
’Men are my downfall. At least I still have my work skills, or I wouldn’t be able to support myself in the future.’
Liam Lancaster boiled two eggs and handed them to her. They sat on the sofa with an empty space between them.
Liam Lancaster looked at her and said, "I feel like you had another reason for calling me over today."
’She agreed to the banquet invitation too quickly. She must be plotting something.’
"No," Hazel Sinclair denied immediately. "I just want to see the ocean and clear my head."
’After I clear my head, it will be the perfect time to fake my death and leave a troublesome place like Veridia.’
"Alright, then. But you have to tell me if anything comes up," Liam Lancaster said with a nod.
After pressing the eggs to her eyes, Hazel Sinclair held one out to him. "Do you want to eat this?"
"This... is it edible?" Liam Lancaster stared at the egg, stunned for a moment.
"It’s a hard-boiled egg. Why wouldn’t it be?" Hazel Sinclair pushed the egg into his hand, then tapped her own on a surface and began to peel the shell.
’Are you supposed to just throw them away after using them on your eyes? That’s so wasteful.’
The pure white of the egg was exposed, and Hazel Sinclair lowered her head to take a bite.
Seeing her eat it, Liam Lancaster pursed his lips, tapped his egg, peeled it, and started to eat as well.
After they finished the eggs, Hazel Sinclair wanted him to leave soon, since Leon Sterling would be back any minute.
But before she could say anything, the door clicked open, and Leon Sterling walked in from outside.
He was about to speak, but he froze the moment he saw Liam Lancaster.
At the same time, his handsome face darkened instantly. ’Hazel Sinclair actually invited this man into our home.’
Seeing him return, Hazel Sinclair felt a surge of panic.
"You... why are you back so early today?"
Leon Sterling looked at the two of them on the sofa and said sarcastically, "If I hadn’t come back early, I never would have known you were this close with Liam Lancaster."
Liam Lancaster, no longer in a hurry to leave, sat on the sofa, crossed his legs, and greeted him with a grin. "Hello there, Mr. Sterling."
"What are you doing in my house?" Leon Sterling demanded, his eyes fixed on him.
"Hazel asked me to come, of course," Liam Lancaster said with a cheerful grin.