Better Late, But Never His Again novel Chapter 48

Hazel frowned slightly. "Why?"

Julian sighed, his tone laced with a brazen sense of entitlement. "Since you haven't been home, Evelyn has been insisting on doing all the chores. Cooking, making soup—those are things you're good at. Her hands are meant for groundbreaking research. If this keeps up, she's going to exhaust herself."

Hazel stood rooted to the spot, listening to the words pour from his mouth as if ice water had been injected straight into her veins.

Her husband was standing right in front of her, demanding she return home not because he missed her, but to act as a maid so another woman wouldn't break a sweat.

Suddenly, a bitter laugh escaped her lips. "If I didn't know better, I'd say she was your wife."

Seeing the twisted expression on her face, the faint annoyance Julian had felt suddenly evaporated.

He thought he heard exactly what he wanted: Hazel was jealous. This was just petty female rivalry.

He chuckled softly, reached out to grab her hand, and softened his tone. "Don't overthink things, honey. Evelyn is making scientific breakthroughs for our country. By taking care of her, you're doing your part for the country too. It's a good thing."

Hazel looked down at the hand enveloping hers—the hand that used to be her only source of warmth. Now, it just made her stomach turn.

She yanked her hand free, her voice completely devoid of emotion. "Got it."

Without waiting for a response, she spun on her heel and walked straight into the Institute.

Julian watched her go, the corner of his mouth ticking up into a satisfied smirk.

He turned around, got back into his car, and drove off.

Inside the lab, Hazel sat at her workstation, booting up her computer. With her fingers resting on the keyboard, Julian's infuriating words echoed in her skull. She couldn't type a single letter; her chest felt like it was stuffed with wet cotton.

*Making scientific breakthroughs?* He didn't believe for a second that she could bring any value to the Institute, nor did he think she was capable of advancing medical research.

Whatever. She didn't need his validation anyway.

"Hazel," Evelyn's sickly sweet voice chimed from behind.

Hazel didn't bother turning around. "What?"

Evelyn walked up and stood right beside her desk, a smug smile plastered on her face. "Where exactly were you last night?"

Hazel kept her eyes glued to the screen. "Home."

Hazel couldn't care less. She simply buried herself back in her work.

Evelyn stepped out of the Institute's main entrance and glanced around the courtyard. Not seeing Julian's car, she was just about to dial his number when a massive hand clamped viciously over her mouth from behind.

"Don't make a sound," a chillingly familiar voice hissed in her ear.

Evelyn's pupils dilated in sheer terror, her heart slamming brutally against her ribs!

It was Sean Sutton!

He forcibly dragged her into the blind spot of an adjacent alley before ripping his hand away.

Evelyn stumbled back two steps, her spine crashing against the icy brick wall. She stared at the man in front of her like he was a monster, her face chalk-white, her breathing frantic. "What do you want now?"

Sean looked her up and down, his eyes dripping with predatory malice.

He casually reached out and patted her cheek—a light, utterly humiliating slap. "You've really played your cards well, haven't you, Evelyn? Wrapping these rich men around your finger and kicking me to the curb? You're dreaming! I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life!"