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He felt as though Hazel was still right there beside him, her gentle, crescent–shaped eyes watching him with a tenderness that seemed to echo in the stillness.
But then, the harsh ring of his phone shattered the moment like glass
His eyes darkened as he saw the caller ID Scarlett
He hesitated for only a moment before answering
“Ambrose, sis, sis won’t be in trouble, will she? It’s all my fault..”
If this had been before, Scarlett’s tears would have made Ambrose’s heartache. He would have rushed to comfort her without a second thought.
But now, all he felt was a rush of irritation, the sound of her crying like nails on a chalkboard
An idea began to form in his mind, sharp and sudden.
He had to find Hazel.
No matter the cost, he couldn’t let her slip away.
Ambrose ended the call with Scarlett and set off, desperately combing through the house, searching for any sign of Hazel.
But she had vanished, leaving nothing behind but empty space.
The teddy bear she once hugged to sleep, the diamond bracelet she cherished like a secret, the couple rings they had worn with pride, everything that had once held meaning, all of it lay discarded.
Even the letters, childish but filled with the warmth of their youth, had been tossed aside.
It wasn’t just the things that were gone; it was the memories, too, swept away by Hazel
If anyone else had done this, it would have been a spiteful act, a way to get attention.
But Hazel wasn’t like that.
As childhood sweethearts, Ambrose knew her too well to mistake this for anything but her silent rebellion.
This was her heart turning to ashes, the only way she could say goodbye without a single word.
With numb hands, he began cleaning the room, not knowing why.
He foolishly believed that if he restored everything and made it right again, maybe, just maybe, the owner of this room would return.
It wasn’t until the wedding ring rolled under the bed that Ambrose’s world finally shattered.
At that moment, he understood with painful clarity.
Hazel was gone.
The girl who had once been his everything, the one who had only eyes for him, was lost to him forever.
G
Meanwhile, Hazel, who had battled sleepless nights for what felt like an eternity, finally drifted into a peaceful sleep on the plane.
But even in her dreams, Ambrose haunted her.
When they were seven, they used to play house, laughing as they crafted their little world.
Ambrose had told her he would be the groom and she, the most beautiful bride.
When they were eighteen, they had finally made it official, sealing their bond with the promise of forever.
Running Away from Mamage, Leaving Deception Befind
Ambrose held Hazel’s hand with a promise that echoed through the years, his voice firm with sincerity.
“Hazel, I swear, I will give you the grandest wedding, the most beautiful day of your life. I’ll make you the happiest
woman alive!”
It was this very promise that kept Hazel clinging to hope, her heart full of anticipation for a future that once
seemed so certain.
She couldn’t bear to entrust the wedding to anyone else, determined to make it perfect, just as they had dreamed when they were eighteen.
But time had a cruel way of fading youthful promises, and the love they shared had slowly turned to regret.
She and Ambrose, despite it all, had never reached the perfect ending they had once envisioned.
When Hazel finally woke, the sharp pain in her head had dulled, but her mind was heavy with unanswered questions.
She stared out the window at the endless stretch of clouds, and a thought pierced through the fog in her mind.
When had it all changed between her and Ambrose?
Had it been before Scarlett had appeared or after?
The answer escaped her, and she didn’t dare to dwell on it.
Ambrose had once filled her entire world, her past, her every waking thought. How could it have all slipped away so quietly?
No matter how much Hazel tried to convince herself, giving up on someone like him felt like her very soul was being torn apart, each thread of it ripped from her with brutal force.
Even after stepping off the plane, the weight of her decision crushed her, and she couldn’t bring herself to open her phone.
She stood there, lost in the unfamiliar streets, her heart heavy with doubt, when suddenly, through the bustling.
crowd, a voice called out
“Hazel!”
There, amidst a sea of blonde hair and blue eyes, stood her mother, waving enthusiastically, a beacon of familiarity in the foreign land.