Chapter 1131

Hazel sat curled up on the soft divan in her room, her arms wrapped loosely around her knees as she gazed out the window. Beyond the carved lattice, the garden lay quiet beneath the deepening dusk, its stillness mirroring the heaviness in her heart. Her usually clear eyes were shadowed with a rare gloom. Then, her phone buzzed on the table beside her. The moment she saw the long string of numbers flash across the screen, her brows drew together ever so slightly. Still, she picked it up and answered softly, "Hello, brother." Her voice was subdued—so clearly laced with sorrow that even a stranger might have noticed. But Judson didn’t pause to ask how she was. His voice came fast, clipped with urgency. "Hazel, what happened? You were right outside the Fuller ancestral hall. Why didn’t you go in?" That faint glimmer of hope Hazel hadn’t even realized she was clinging to flickered once… then died out completely. Her voice turned hollow. The words escaped her lips before she could swallow th