Better Late, But Never His Again novel Chapter 57

Hazel walked with Grandma Hayes around the tranquil garden for a few more minutes. Just as they turned to head back inside, a sharp voice echoed from the patio.

"Hazel, since you're already here, you can handle cooking dinner tonight. I want your baked fish and seafood chowder."

Eleanor had apparently followed them out. She stood arrogantly under the veranda, her chin tilted up as she shot Hazel a cold, dictatorial glare.

She issued the command with absolute entitlement, speaking as if she were giving orders to a hired maid. After tossing the demand over her shoulder, she sneered and turned to walk back inside.

"Excuse me," Hazel's voice rang out, steady and completely devoid of her usual submissive warmth. "I won't be cooking tonight. It's not convenient for me."

Eleanor froze mid-step. She whipped around, her eyes narrowing in sheer disbelief as if she were suddenly looking at a total stranger. "What did you just say?"

In the past, every time Hazel visited the estate, she was painfully aware that, aside from Grandma Hayes, the entire family despised her.

Because of that, she used to bend over backward—rushing to cook elaborate meals, scrubbing every dish, and serving tea with a smile, desperately trying to win Eleanor's approval.

All she ever got in return was escalating humiliation. She had convinced herself that this was simply her duty as a wife because she loved Julian enough to endure the abuse.

But now, there was absolutely no reason to play the martyr.

"I said, it's not convenient," Hazel repeated, her voice just a fraction louder, ensuring every syllable registered perfectly in Eleanor's ears.

Eleanor's face darkened menacingly. Since when did Hazel ever dare speak to her with such blatant disrespect?

He reached over to gently tug at Hazel's sleeve, dropping his voice to a persuasive murmur. "Besides, cooking is basically your favorite thing to do. It's really not that big of an ask. You used to love jumping into the kitchen the second we walked through the door."

Hazel stared at him, watching him effortlessly try to smooth over his mother's blatant abuse. Her heart plummeted, and she was hit with the sickening realization of just how blind she had been for years.

Every single time she and Eleanor had a conflict, he pulled this exact same stunt. He never once defended her. He just played the charming peacemaker and demanded that she swallow her pride to keep his mother happy.

She used to genuinely feel bad for him, thinking it was so difficult for a man to be caught between his wife and his mother. She used to blame herself for being too difficult and upsetting Eleanor.

But now that the blinding fog of love was gone, she saw the situation for the absolute joke it was. He had never, not even once, actually stood up for her.

"That is quite enough." Grandma Hayes's sharp voice sliced through the tension. She marched over, wrapped her arm around Hazel, and fixed Eleanor with a glacial stare. "Are you ever going to stop? Hazel finally comes to visit, and your first instinct is to treat her like the hired help? What kind of mother-in-law acts like this?"