It was outright humiliating for Hazel to inherit a cat when all of them got all the valuable things that grandfather left for the family along with some thoughtful letters that told them how much love that he had for them.
But then, came the irony; Hazel was not part of the family. She wasn't related to them by blood. Though only a few people knew about this, even when grandfather was still alive, it was clear to see how much hatred that he had toward Hazel and despite not knowing what the real reason for her mistreatment was, they followed the example.
Hazel laughed along with them when they made fun of the cat and her, which left them baffled and they soon stopped.
And yet, Hazel didn't stop laughing. In the end, it was only her, who was laughing in this room, until her mother nudged her shoulder and Gaia made a snarky remark.
"Have you gone crazy because grandfather left only a cat to you?" Gaia hugged Stefan's arm, as if she was afraid there was someone else in this room who would snatch him away.
"No, of course not." Hazel wiped away her tears when she heard that. "I think grandpa's sense of humor is so shallow even after he died." This was a harmless comment, but anyone could feel that Hazel was being rude to the late patriarch by making such a statement.
"Hazel!" Elma, their grandmother, who was still grieving over the loss of her husband, snapped at Hazel and shot her a dagger look, which made Hazel instantly shut up.
While on the other hand, Ella tried to make her daughter apologize to the rest of the family for being rude.
"I am sorry," Hazel said casually because she didn't see how she would be benefited from prolonging this stupid argumentation.
How ironic. When they laughed at her, they didn't feel it was rude, but when she tried to stand up for herself, her mother called her out and snapped at her.
Mindlessly, Hazel opened the cage, while the fat cat only regarded her with a lazy glance before she fell back asleep.
She didn't need to worry that this cat would run around the room because to see her walk alone seemed already a great thing to happen, knowing how lazy this cat was.
Hazel was minding her own business, thinking what name would suit this lazy creature, as the people around her were talking about a few things at the same time, sharing their memories with grandfather.
Hazel didn't think this was a topic that she could contribute to, since she had no sweet moments with him during her nineteen years of life.
However, as she thought about a few things, her phone vibrated, which was a notification for a message.
Curiously, Hazel fished out her phone and found a message from an unknown number and when she opened it, her gasp was so loud that the few people around her stopped talking and looked at her curiously.
Yet, they had zero care for her and minded their own business again.
On the other hand, Hazel had to control herself from screaming out loud and looked around her to find this strange man.
Because she was very sure this text came from him, since it said; 'Don't worry, the cat is just a normal animal, it's not a shifter. Snoozy is a cute name for a cat.'
Why? How? How did he know what exactly she was thinking right now? Was distance really not a problem? And he could do this no matter how far the distance between them was?
Hazel shivered involuntarily to think about this. This was another level of stalking, which was impossible to be sued, since they would question your sanity.
Little did Hazel know, she told him about this in another moment of her life and now Micah was determined to remember every small piece of what he had before.
"Sister, because you don't have a car, you will come with me, okay?" Gaia said cheerfully, as she looked at Hazel, who was clueless about what was going on around her, since the text message from this strange man had blown her mind away.
Hazel raised her head when her mother nudged her because she didn't pay attention to what Gaia said.
"What?" Hazel asked, her tone a little bit harsh because Gaia was on the bottom list of people that she wanted to talk to. Well, the rest of this family was in the same position as her too.
"I say, Stefan and I will drive you to the restaurant, since you are the only person here, who doesn't own a car," Gaia explained it to her patiently, making Hazel wonder where all of the anger that she directed at her earlier had gone to.
It seemed whatever Stefan said, had pleased her.
"Go with your sister," Greg said, as he stood up and helped his mother before guiding her gently toward the door.
Apparently, the family had reserved a table in a nice restaurant to dine in after this hearing to continue their conversation on the memories of grandfather.
"Can I skip this?" Hazel looked at her mother. "I am not part of the family," she reminded her the same way Ella would always remind her whenever she thought she was mistreated.
"No, you have to go," Ella replied firmly. She stood up and left the room. It almost sounded like she was telling her daughter to suck it up and stop complaining.
"Let's go sister," Gaia said, as she walked past Hazel, while hugging Stefan proudly. It was clear that she wanted to rub it in her face.
Meanwhile, Stefan stole a glance at Hazel for a brief second.
"Right, suck it up," Hazel grumbled. She wished she could show off Archer Ashdown to rub it in her face too.
And since that was what she really wished, of course that was what she would get, because right outside of the gate, the same car from earlier had been waiting for her.