Too Late for Sorry, Mr. Billionaire (Chasing my Wife Back) novel Chapter 18

AMELIA saw her daughter standing by the entrance of the hallway, leaning lazily against the wall with her arms folded across her chest. There was a sneer on Hazel’s lips, not loud or dramatic, but sharp enough to sting. Hazel wasn’t smiling because she found anything funny, no, she was smiling because she already knew the answer to the question she had asked, and she was waiting for her mother to admit it.

But Amelia said nothing.

She only sighed and turned back to her phone, her thumb hovering over the screen as though staring at it long enough might force it to come alive. Hazel already knew what was wrong, didn’t she? Of course she did. Hazel always knew.

Oh God. Charles.

Hazel scoffed softly and pushed herself off the wall. She walked over and dropped onto the couch beside her mother, close enough that Amelia could feel her presence, close enough that silence wasn’t an option anymore.

“You know,” Hazel began, her voice low and controlled, “you shouldn’t be doing this, Mommy.”

Amelia stiffened slightly.

“Doing what?” she asked, feigning ignorance as she kept her eyes on her phone.

Hazel let out a short laugh.

“That,” she said, nodding at the device in Amelia’s hand. “Waiting. Hoping. Making excuses in your head for someone who couldn’t even be bothered to show up.”

Amelia finally turned to look at her.

“Hazel—”

“No,” Hazel cut in, shaking her head. “Let’s talk about it. Let’s actually talk about it for once.”

Amelia closed her eyes briefly, then opened them.

“What do you want me to say?”

“I want you to admit that he messed up,” Hazel replied. “Badly.”

Amelia swallowed.

“I already know that.”

“Do you?” Hazel asked sharply. “Because it doesn’t look like it. You called him, Mommy. You didn’t just call him, you begged him. You told him Gabriel was hurt. You told him it was serious. You made him understand that your child needed him.”

Her voice cracked slightly on the last word.

“And what did he do?” Hazel continued. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

Amelia’s shoulders slumped.

“He probably must have gotten busy.”

Hazel’s head snapped toward her.

“Busy?” she echoed incredulously. “Busy doing what exactly that was more important than a bleeding child sitting alone at school?”

Amelia opened her mouth, then closed it again.

“He didn’t even try,” Hazel pressed on. “He didn’t rush. He didn’t send anyone. He didn’t call back. He didn’t even check if Gabriel got home safely.”

Her hands curled into fists on her lap.

“And yet here you are. Sitting and waiting, expecting his call.”

Amelia’s eyes stung.

“You don’t understand—”

“No,” Hazel interrupted quietly. “You don’t understand.”

She leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees.

“Not only did he abandon Gabriel, my brothers stayed back at school for one more hour after dismissal, Mom. One whole hour. Do you know how that looks? Do you know how that feels?”

Amelia’s throat tightened.

“I thought Charles would pick—”

“Please,” Hazel cut her off sharply, turning to face her fully now. “Please, Mommy. Cut this Charles crap off. Now. Please.”

The words hit harder than Amelia expected.

“You were supposed to pick them up from school today,” Hazel continued, her voice trembling with restrained emotion. “Not Charles. You. Knowing fully well Daddy isn’t in town. Knowing I have been staying late at school all week for extra murals. You were supposed to pick them up.”

She shook her head slowly.

“Not him.”

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