Chapter 249: Hazel: I was not like that at all!
Inside Councilor Macht's mansion.
Hazel, her face flushed with embarrassment, once again locked herself in her room, then leaned heavily against the Door.
She had already realized what her Mother had misunderstood just now.
This was simply outrageous!
How could I—how could I be like that!
Hazel jumped onto her bed and wrapped herself tightly from head to toe in her comforter.
I haven't—I haven't even touched a boy's hand!
Wait!
At this thought, a certain image suddenly flashed through Hazel's mind. When she was caught red-handed by that scoundrel James Scott, her hand seemed to have—indeed touched him.
"No! That doesn't count!" Hazel desperately shook her head under the covers, trying to shake off that shameful memory.
"That guy, he's not, he's just a Devil—"
"Sigh—" Hazel sighed heavily and pulled down the comforter.
"If you weren't going to find him, then why did you climb over the wall in the middle of the night?" Her Mother's suspicious rebuke just now echoed in her mind again.
I wanted to go find my teacher! Who knew I'd be discovered by the bodyguards at home..
Since her teacher had instructed her to keep everything about her strictly confidential, Hazel couldn't reveal the truth. And she couldn't think of any other reasonable excuse to cover it up, which, in her Mother Liana's eyes, just became a flimsy excuse when the evidence was clearly conclusive, yet she still stubbornly denied it?
"Hazel! Come out quickly! We're going to the hospital—"
Outside the Door, Liana's anxious knocking sounded again.
"You must not do anything foolish!"
"Mother! How could I do anything foolish! Do you not even believe your own daughter anymore?!" Hazel replied irritably.
"You're still young, if something really happened, what would you have me and your father—" Liana's anxious voice continued to echo intermittently outside the Door.
"Ah ah ah! I told you there's no such thing!" Hazel felt like she was about to collapse. She grabbed a pillow and shouted hysterically, "That Scott—that scoundrel—is just—just a normal friend!"
In the end, both Mother and daughter took a step back and reached a compromise. Hazel agreed to let her Mother invite a trusted doctor to examine her, and Liana, in turn, agreed to give her daughter a year's worth of pocket money in advance.
That evening, Councilor Macht, who had only returned home due to work and social engagements, felt the atmosphere in the house was somewhat abnormal as soon as he entered.
"What happened?" He frowned slightly and looked at the butler.
The butler lowered his head and vaguely indicated that there had been a—slight disagreement between the young lady and the madam.
Later, he went to the bedroom and saw his wife sitting at the dressing table, her face full of worry.
"What exactly happened? Why is the atmosphere so strange today?"
"Sigh—it's all because of Hazel—" Liana softly recounted everything to her husband: Scott's visit, Hazel's various unusual behaviors, and her own terrible guess, based on clues like "climbing over the wall in the middle of the night" and "young man and woman," which was the most logical according to worldly reasoning.
"What?! You mean Hazel and that young man named James Scott are together? And she secretly ran out in the middle of the night? And might even be pre—"
As an old Father, Councilor Mori Macht couldn't hold back when he heard this, and his blood pressure immediately shot up.
"No! I need to have a good talk with Hazel!" With that, he was about to get up to find his daughter.
"Wait! Our daughter is already asleep." Liana quickly stopped him. "Besides, Hazel has already agreed to let a doctor examine her, so things—shouldn't be that bad."
Upon hearing this, Councilor Macht let out a heavy sigh, and the Councilor's rationality began to return.
"Sigh—our daughter has grown up after all—but this is too much—"
"No, I must visit that James Scott another day and see what kind of person he really is!"
"Oh, right," Liana suddenly remembered something, "Hazel asked me for a year's worth of pocket money in advance."
"A year's worth? That must be over a thousand pounds! What does she need that much money for?" Councilor Macht was a little surprised.
"It seems—she wants to invest in some business. She said she would discuss it with you personally later."
"Speaking of money." When money was mentioned, Councilor Macht suddenly remembered something. "The stock market has been very good recently. Several of my friends at the bank and stock exchange recommended an investment to me, as well as several stocks—"
====
"Rue, you're back."
Fors, sprawled on the sofa, eating snacks and reading a novel, heard the movement at the Door and asked lazily without lifting her head.
"Mm, it's me." Rue's voice carried a hint of surprise. "Fors, why aren't you asleep yet?"
Uh—Fors's movements stiffened slightly, a bit embarrassed.
I can't exactly say that because you weren't back, no one woke me up, so I slept until the afternoon and now I can't fall asleep, can I?
She quickly changed the subject and asked, "Rue, weren't you supposed to be back by noon? Why did you drag it out until now?"
"I was originally planning to have dinner with you."
Rue's tone seemed a bit hurried, and her gaze shifted slightly.
Hmm—suspicious—very suspicious! Fors narrowed her eyes, her Author's instinct kicking in.
"Rue~ Your tone is very hurried~" Fors flipped herself up from the sofa and looked at her with a suspicious expression.
"I—" Rue hesitated.
"Heishoo!" (A playful sound)
Fors darted in front of Rue, pressed her face against Rue's body, and sniffed gently like a puppy. "Confess! Don't forget, you're in front of 'Ms. Sisi,' an existence that can see through all lies!"
"Alright—I'll tell you then." Rue rubbed her forehead, looking at her friend's comical actions with a hint of exasperation.
"It's Mr. Scott—"
"What?"
"I—I met Mr. James Scott today."
"So—you spent the whole afternoon with him?" Fors's expression became strange.
"Mm." Rue nodded uncomfortably.
"Rue! I didn't realize you were this kind of person!" Fors immediately put her hands on her hips, striking the pose of a jilted wife, and accused with a "furious" expression, "I waited bitterly at home for you to come back for dinner, and you were out with another man."
"Heavens! What has happened to this world!"
"Uh—Fors, stop messing around." Rue's face was full of dark lines; she felt like a husband caught cheating by his wife.
"Then hurry up and tell me, what did you two do?" Fors instantly switched to a gossipy tone, her eyes sparkling. "We—we were doing serious business."
"Serious business? What serious business?"
"Sigh—it's like this—" Rue completely recounted everything that happened today to Fors, from meeting Lorne, to sending the worker to the hospital, and then to the firearms factory.
"So that's how it is." Fors nodded. "I didn't expect that James Scott to be a career-oriented man, actually owning his own firearms factory—"
"Oh, right, what is this?" Rue's gaze fell on a beautifully printed ticket on the table.
"Rosell the Great's Memorial Exhibition—"
"Fors! You actually want to go out and see an exhibition?" Rue was astonished. Fors, a typical homebody, actually wanted to go out on her own accord?
"I occasionally need to go out for inspiration, you know, to find ideas." Fors shrugged righteously.
"Besides, this ticket was sent to me by Lorne."
"Lorne? Your pen pal? He invited you to see an exhibition?" Rue asked.
"Mm." Fors nodded.
"Fors~" Hearing this, Rue immediately seized the opportunity to "retaliate," mimicking her tone from earlier and teasing, "How dare you talk about me, when you yourself are abandoning me to go see an exhibition with your pen pal!"
"It's not my fault, Lorne invited me—" Fors pouted. "What, Rue, do you want to come with me too?"
"Forget it, I don't want to intrude on your date." Rue shook her head. "Besides, I still have missions recently, and I have to go stroll around Mr. Scott's firearms factory from time to time."
"It's just a simple social activity between pen pals." Fors waved her hand.
"Sigh—" She suddenly sighed again.
"What's wrong, Fors?" Rue noticed that Fors's expression was a bit off.
"Nothing, I was just thinking about the Full Moon Whispers."
"Has Mr. Scott found a solution yet?"
"No." Rue's tone also held some regret. "I asked him before I left, and he said he doesn't have any leads for now and has already written to his friends to ask."
"Alright."
"Fors, you seem to have something else on your mind." Rue pressed again.
"Rue." Fors looked up, staring into Rue's eyes, and asked in a very serious tone, "Do you—do you think that James Scott is a bit—strange?"
"Is he?" Rue shook her head, looking bewildered.
"Never mind, pretend I didn't say anything."