"I love seafood?" Hazel leaned her back against the backrest of her chair, as she looked at Gaia sharply. "I really do try to see the best in you, but you are making it so damn fucking hard."
She loved seafood? What nonsense was she sputtering out of her mouth? She would have trouble breathing whenever she ate seafood.
Hazel thought almost everyone in the family knew about this because there was a time she accidentally ate a fish and she had to be taken to the hospital in the middle of a family member's birthday party.
"Hazel! Watch your language!" Greg snapped at her because she used 'a beautiful' word, but didn't say anything about his daughter, who had changed Hazel's order. "You can eat it or leave it. Stop causing trouble."
Hazel felt her eyes stung. She thought she had numbed her feelings, but to be scolded in front of all the members of the direct family and being treated unfairly again, made her feel upset, especially when her mother chose to put her undivided interest on her meal in front of her, instead of her daughter.
However, Hazel had been trained to control her emotions during her stay with them, so it only needed one long breath for her to regain her composure and look her father in the eyes, while smiling softly at him.
"Sure, father. I am sorry," Hazel said softly and then pushed away her plate. "I want this to be changed to my original order, is it possible?" Hazel asked the server, who was still there.
"You can't change it, but we can take another order from you," the server replied politely. She looked at Hazel with pity, which made her feel uncomfortable.
She often received such gazes when she was little.
"Okay, I would like to make another order…"
Yet, before Hazel could place another order, Grandma Elma stopped her. "No, didn't you hear what your father said? Eat it or leave it, we are not wasting money here."
Wasting money? All of them had gotten their hands on big chunks of money that the late patriarch left, which could be used to buy various dishes for months. But what did grandmother just say? Wasting money?
She had wasted her money on Gaia, who didn't even finish her college because she wanted to be a stay at home mom like mother and didn't see a need to pursue a higher education career. It was weird hearing these from her mouth, the golden daughter of their family.
"Okay, I will listen to father," Hazel said simply, as she leaned her back against her chair, playing with her phone. She was not going to eat that. She hated this life, but she was not ready to leave it yet.
The server felt awkward, but when no one else made a move to order, she left the room.
On the other hand, Greg hated it when she called him 'father'. He was sure that Hazel knew that and purposely mentioned it more than once. Moreover, Hazel's attitude. Nowadays, she had been very arrogant and always had something to talk back to or irritate him.
"Eat. Eat until you are satisfied, grandfather must want his family to be happy and not to mourn him for a long time," Grandmother Elma said wisely, as she waved her hand for all of them to start eating.
Hazel bit her lips to hold back her tears. She could feel the bitterness rising in her throat when she watched how all of them ate and chatted happily with each other, as they pretended that she did not even exist because no one would go against Elma's words.
It was only Stefan, who occasionally stole a glance or two at her and looked like he was about to do or say something, but Gaia would always distract him.
However, five minutes later, someone knocked on the door and a server came in bringing some dishes on a trolley. Usually, it was the signature dish that would be served this way.
"All of our orders are completed," Greg said, as he narrowed his eyes at the dishes on the trolley. Around four servers entered this room.
"Oh, but this dish is specifically to be served for someone inside this room," the young and beautiful server said politely, the sweet smile never leaving her lips.
"What is that?" One of the cousins eyed the dishes, but he couldn't figure out what the dish was except that it must be expensive. "Did you order this?" he asked Stefan, because he was the only one who would be able to afford such a thing here, if it was not Greg or their grandma.
"No, I did not." Stefan was confused too, while Gaia's eyes dimmed because she hoped he would say 'yes'.
"This is our restaurant's signature dish. It is rib steak, Vintage Côte de Boeuf," the server said with a beaming smile. It was not everyday people would order this kind of dish, that was why, it took some time to make it.
"What?!" All of the people at the table raised their brows. "You must be mistaken."
"No, this dish is specifically ordered for Hazel Webster." The young server looked around and found Hazel, staring at her. "You must be Ms. Hazel Webster."
"How do you know?" Hazel was surprised she could guess it right.
"Because the man who ordered this, described you in detail, that you have beautiful gray eyes." It was true, among all the people at the table, she was the only one with gray eyes.
And after finding Hazel, the other three servers put down the plate in front of Hazel and opened the cloche, which prompted the smell of the most expensive meat in this restaurant to waft toward all the people there, turning their mouths watery while their foods looked shabby.
Not only that, a moment later, someone brought a bottle of wine for her.
In the middle of the day? She was still underage!
"And I need to read this for you." The server took out a small note from her pocket and read it out loud. "Enjoy your meal, my love."