Chapter 9 The aftermath

Hazel tossed and turned in bed. She was woken up by the sound of the tap running and the faint scent of Damiete's perfume that was coming from the walk in closet.

Her heart jumped before she told herself-there was nothing to feel nervous about it scared about. Last night had been a little too much. There had been much heat, too much whiskey, and too much temptation until she finally came back to senses and stopped him before he crossed the line.

The way he'd looked frustrated had given her immense pleasure. It felt good to see him suffer. But at the same time, a part of her wasn't too pleased about what she'd done.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. When he came out, he was already dressed. He was wearing a suit, with his hair well combed and a frown on his face. She quickly looked away when he caught her looking at him.

"I have a meeting this morning," he said without looking at her for too long. His voice was low, he picked up his briefcase and phone on the table.

She nodded from where she sat in bed, the duvet tucked under her arms. "Good luck with that."

He paused for a second, as though he wanted say more, but then the door closed behind him.

Hazel exhaled, shoulders falling. She didn't realize how much she'd hated the fact that she had to face him after last night's drama. Watching him leave felt like a reprieve-a moment to collect herself, to remember why she was here in the first place.

Her phone buzzed on the nightstand. Still abit sleepy,, she reached for it and tapped the screen. A notification lit up her social feed, and her breath caught.

The pictures from their sensual magazine photoshoot had gone live. It had been released. Maybe The director had emailed her beforehand to tell her. Truly she had but due to the fact that she barely checked her emails, she didn't see it.

Image after image filled her screen-Damiete's hands wrapped around her waist, his mouth close to her ear, their eyes locked like they were the only two people in the room. The comments were flooding in.

"These two are fire."

"Couple goals right here!" Another said with a heart emoji next to the comment.

"Hazel and Damiete... I'm obsessed!"

"I'd kill to have a man like Mr Torres in my bed."

A slow, satisfied smile tugged at her lips. This was perfect-exactly the kind of public image she'd wanted to cement. Every compliment was a jab to Vanessa.

On the internet, trolls were always lurking around to snatch your happiness. She saw them. The hate comments.

"Try-hard gold digger." She read out the first comment.

"She'll never be good enough for him."

"We all know he's still in love with his ex." There was a laughing emoji next to it.

Hazel's smile faded into something sharper. She clicked on the profile picture of the most persistent troll, and her blood boiled when she saw the username.

Vanessa. How shameless could she bed?

Not even trying to hide at all.

Hazel's fingers hovered over the keyboard for only a second before she started typing, her reply smooth and lethal just enough to get her pound of flesh.

"Vanessa, darling, you seem to be paying a lot of attention for someone who has supposedly moved on from you. Don't worry-I'll take good care of him. You, however, might want to take good care of your own business before you keep embarrassing yourself in public."

She hit send, picturing the exact shade of red Vanessa's face would turn. That thought alone made her morning.

Vanessa kept on with the hate comments. Hazel didn't need to do much, her new fans did the work, giving Vanessa the replies she deserved. This was just another victory in the bag.