Better Late, But Never His Again novel Chapter 30

Hazel stared back at her with absolute, freezing indifference.

From this distance, other people in the office might not be able to see the fleeting glint of triumph buried deep in Evelyn's tearful eyes, but Hazel saw it with crystal clarity.

She knew that look all too well.

Every single time Evelyn put on this fragile, pitiful act, there was always something insidious hiding beneath it—like a poisoned needle wrapped in soft cotton. If you didn't look closely, you would never spot it.

Everyone else fell for this pathetic charade. Especially Julian.

Hazel spoke in a flat, deadpan voice. "You don't need to prove anything to me."

Evelyn blinked, caught off guard by the response.

"Constantly trying to prove that you didn't push me on purpose," Hazel continued coldly, "only proves how incredibly guilty you are."

Evelyn's face tightened in panic. The tears in her eyes spilled over, and she bit her trembling lip, looking absolutely devastated.

"Hazel, it was just pure chaos yesterday. I was so terrified of him."

She looked up at Hazel, her eyes pleading with a desperate, lingering horror from the previous day's violence.

"Hazel, do you have any idea what I've been through all these years? That monster beat me and screamed at me whenever he felt like it. If he was in a good mood, we played the happy couple. If he had a bad day or one too many drinks, he used me as a punching bag. I just couldn't live like that anymore..."

Listening to her sob story, Hazel genuinely felt a flicker of sympathy.

Any woman who survived years of domestic abuse deserved compassion and protection. She wished all women trapped in that hell had the courage to fight back and walk away.

But she also knew that Evelyn Vance was a master manipulator. She would weaponize anyone and anything around her to get what she wanted, and Hazel had learned that the hard way yesterday.

She refused to let her empathy be exploited again. Looking at Evelyn calmly, she delivered her final verdict.

"You've escaped now. There is absolutely no need to parade your trauma around in front of me to justify your actions. Have some self-respect."

With that, she walked straight past Evelyn, not looking back.

Behind her, Evelyn’s tragic mask slipped for a furious second. Nearby, a few colleagues began whispering among themselves.

Several young researchers dropped their forks and sprinted out the doors, their faces glowing with absolute euphoria.

They had been waiting for this equipment for an agonizingly long time. This crumbling, underfunded institute was finally getting a massive lifeline.

Hazel paused, a rare softness touching her eyes.

Setting her own fork down, she joined the crowd pouring out of the cafeteria.

Out by the Institute’s front gates, several massive transport trucks were idling. Workers were busy unloading the cargo, carrying down pristine, state-of-the-art laboratory equipment that gleamed under the midday sun.

The entire staff gasped in awe, their voices bubbling over with disbelief.

"Oh my god, is that the newest mass spectrometer?"

"And look at that! I saw that exact model at the tech expo last year. It costs millions of dollars!"

"Team Leader Vance is a literal godsend. She's only been here for a hot minute and she already secured us top-tier resources. We don't have to scrape the bottom of the barrel anymore! Our research data is going to be flawless!"