Hazel's POV
"What do you mean?" I stared at Sebastian, my appetite suddenly diminished despite my earlier hunger.
Sebastian's dark eyes held mine. "Your father's company isn't just evading taxes, Hazel. It's a front for something much bigger."
I set down my chopsticks with a soft click against the porcelain. "Tell me."
He leaned forward. "Not yet. First, I need to understand what you know. This trap your father set—it wasn't random."
I took a deep breath, realizing I needed to open up completely. The wall I'd built around my family's ugly truth was crumbling anyway.
"My father has always been..." I searched for the right word, "calculating. Everything he does serves a purpose."
Sebastian nodded, encouraging me to continue.
"It started when I was sixteen," I began, my voice steadier than I expected. "My father cheated on my mother with Tanya, my stepmother now. When my mother found out, he didn't even try to hide it."
Sebastian's jaw tightened, but he remained silent.
