Chapter 3 This is Illegal Detention!

Silence spread through the room. After a few seconds, Hazel flashed a bright smile. "Of course, no problem. Shall I help you to bed?"

She suddenly reached out to touch Lawrence. His gaze darkened instantly, his body instinctively tensing, reflexively dodging her touch.

But he forgot he was still sitting in the wheelchair.

As he dodged, the wheelchair lost its balance and toppled to the side.

Hazel hurriedly reached out to catch him, but she underestimated the weight of the wheelchair and ended up falling directly on top of him.

Their eyes met, and the atmosphere turned awkward for a moment.

Lawrence's expression was unreadable as he looked at her, lost in thought. She hastily tried to get up, but her wrist was caught.

His gaze was deep, carrying a hint of teasing and curiosity. "Mrs. Johnson, are you throwing yourself at me?"

Hazel didn't answer, just smiled and said. "I was just trying to help you. Why are you so nervous?"

"With you pressing on me like this, I can't move at all." Lawrence retorted.

Only then did Hazel realize their position was a bit too intimate. She quickly moved off him and then struggled to right the wheelchair.

Lawrence watched her busy figure, recalling how she had smiled while asking him the question earlier. Her face was radiant, features delicate, and her eyes sparkled like stars, dazzlingly bright.

"I've fixed the wheelchair, honey!" Hazel's tone was mischievous and teasing.

Lawrence was momentarily stunned by her casual use of "honey." He looked up and met Hazel's eyes, feeling a slight stir in his heart, but it quickly faded away.

He averted his gaze and moved to the bed, using his arms to shift himself onto it.

His movements were swift and efficient, the muscles under his clothes strong and defined, not at all like someone with paralyzed legs. Hazel withdrew her gaze and lay down on the other side.

She felt a bit awkward, lying on the edge of the bed, almost falling off.

Hazel carefully maintained her balance, thinking she would be up all night. But after a long, exhausting day, she fell into a deep sleep.

In the middle of the night, she turned over, catching a faint scent of medicine.

Hazel sniffed lightly, her sleepy brain unable to process it. She instinctively hugged the warm body next to her and drifted back into a deep sleep.

In the dark, Lawrence silently opened his eyes.

The next day.

When Hazel woke up, Lawrence was already gone. She yawned and got up, just finishing her morning routine when she received a call from home, demanding she return within half an hour.

Hazel didn't plan to listen to them, but remembering she had some things at home, she decided to go back.

As soon as she arrived, a shadow flew towards her.

She quickly dodged, and the glass cup shattered against the wall. Her father, Keith Anderson, shouted angrily, "You have the nerve to come back!"

Hazel found it amusing, "Didn't you tell me to come back?"

"Hazel," Cheryl, sitting on the couch, looked at Hazel disapprovingly. She wore a white dress, her face pale, bearing a slight resemblance to Hazel. "How can you talk back to Dad?"

Next to her was Randy, his face full of anger. "Hazel, you have no morals, seducing men outside and still have the nerve to laugh?"

Hazel listened to their accusations, her expression meaningful. "What, you cheat and think everyone else is like you?"

She turned to Cheryl, "You seem fine. Yesterday you were suicidal, and today you're here talking nonsense."

"Hazel, are you bullying Cheryl?" Randy immediately jumped in. "She barely survived yesterday, and you don't even care. Instead, you say such cruel things. You're really not a good person."

Keith slammed the table, "If you keep targeting Cheryl, get out of my house!"

Hazel couldn't be bothered to argue with them. She turned to leave, realizing she wouldn't get her things today. She'd come back another time.

"Stop!" At Keith's command, a few pre-arranged bodyguards appeared in front of her. "Since you shamelessly mess around outside, you don't deserve to be my daughter anymore. Hand over the formula your grandmother left, and then get out."

So, all this fuss was for the formula.

Hazel realized, then felt a wave of irony.

The Anderson family had built their fortune on fragrances, but Keith had no talent for it. Her mother, Rachel Tate, was the gifted one.

Her grandmother, Chloe Turner, had taken Rachel under her wing to learn, leaving the business to Keith.

With Rachel's help, the Anderson family created several popular fragrances. But the good times didn't last. When Hazel was six, Rachel died suddenly, leaving behind a formula she'd worked on for years.

The formula wasn't given to Keith but secretly kept by Chloe. Before she died, Chloe handed it to Hazel, but Cheryl saw it, and since then, they had coveted the formula.

Hazel's voice was calm, "You wish."

Keith's face darkened, clearly prepared for this. "Then you can stay locked up until you change your mind."

As he finished speaking, the bodyguards grabbed Hazel and locked her in a room.

"What are you doing? This is illegal detention! Let me out!" Hazel shouted, but no one responded.

She took out her phone, only to find there was no signal. Keith had prepared well to get the formula!

Unable to escape, Hazel conserved her energy, hoping that as Lawrence's wife, he would notice her absence and come looking for her.

But by seven or eight at night, no one came to rescue her, and Keith didn't even send anyone with food.

Hazel, weak from hunger, leaned against the bed and fell into a fitful sleep.