124 A Grotesque Proposal
Hazel’s POV 1
The memorial hall was suffocatingly quiet as I stood before the arrangement of wreaths. Each one I’d sent was more magnificent than the last-a silent statement to everyone present. I could feel dozens of eyes tracking my every move.
My aunt Helen squeezed my hand once more before drifting away, leaving me alone in the spotlight. I kept my chin high, refusing to shrink under the weight of their stares.
Tanya was the first to break the silence. She rose from her seat in the front row, her face contorted with grief and rage.
“How dare you show your face here?” she snarled, voice echoing through the hall.
I remained still, allowing her to approach. Her eyes were bloodshot, her makeup streaked with tear tracks. For a fleeting moment, I felt a pang of sympathy-she had lost her daughter, after all.
That sympathy vanished when she reached the largest wreath and violently kicked it
over.
“You didn’t come to mourn,” she spat. “You came to gloat!”
The crowd gasped. My father stood up but made no move to intervene. Typical.
“I came to pay my respects,” I replied evenly. “Whether you believe that or not is your
choice.”
Tanya laughed bitterly. “Respect? You hated Ivy! You’ve been seething with jealousy ever since she took Alistair from you!”
I bit back a sharp retort. This was neither the time nor place for that particular truth.
“Stop this, Tanya,” Alistair stepped forward, inserting himself between us. “Hazel has every right to be here.”
His defense of me only enraged Tanya further.
“How can you defend her? My daughter isn’t even cold in her grave, and you’re already running back to this-this vulture!” Tanya’s finger jabbed the air inches from my face.
I stepped back, unwilling to give her the satisfaction of a reaction.
*If you truly respected Ivy’s memory,” Tanya continued, turning to Alistair, “you would slap this bitch across her smug face right now!”
Gasps rippled through the crowd. Even my father looked uncomfortable now.
“Tanya, that’s enough, he muttered, finally intervening
I couldn’t help myself. “Interesting suggestion, considering your daughter stole my
husband first.”
The words hung in the air like poison. Tanya lunged toward me, but Alistair caught her
arm.
“This is inappropriate,” he said firmly. “We’re here to remember Ivy.”
Tanya wrenched away from his grasp. “Don’t touch me! You’re just as bad as she is!”
I’d had enough of this spectacle. “I’ll go. I’ve paid my respects.”
As I turned to leave, Alistair called out, “Hazel, wait.”
I paused, wishing I hadn’t. The room went deadly quiet again.
*I have something to say,” Alistair announced, addressing the entire gathering. “Something everyone needs to hear.”
My stomach knotted. Whatever he was about to do, I knew I wouldn’t like it.
“I married Ivy because she was dying,” he declared boldly. “It was her final wish, and I granted it out of pity. Nothing more.”
The collective intake of breath was audible. Tanya’s face drained of color.
“How dare you,” she whispered.
Alistair continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “I’ve fulfilled my obligation to her. My duty is done.” He turned to face me directly. “But my heart has always belonged to one
woman.”
Horror dawned on me as I realized what was happening. “Alistair, don’t—”
Too late. He was already reaching into his pocket, producing a small velvet box. The same diamond ring I’d once worn glinted inside.
“Hazel Shaw,” he said, dropping to one knee in front of everyone, “will you marry me? Will you take back what was always meant to be yours?”
The funeral guests erupted in shocked murmurs. Tanya swayed on her feet, looking as if she might faint.
I stared down at Alistair, utterly disgusted. Was this what he thought I wanted? A recycled proposal at his dead wife’s funeral? My stepsister’s funeral?
“Have you completely lost your mind?” I hissed.
“I’m making things right,” he insisted, still holding the ring toward me. “I never stopped loving you, Hazel. Every day with Ivy was torture.”
“You’re proposing to me at her funeral,” I said slowly, making sure everyone could hear. “Do you have any idea how deranged that is?”
He frowned, clearly not expecting this reaction. “I thought you’d be pleased. This is what you wanted-for us to be together again.”
My father was now standing beside Tanya, his arm around her shoulders. For once, he was looking at me without his usual contempt-there was something almost like approval in his eyes. He thought I’d orchestrated this somehow.
“Answer him, Hazel,” my father said coldly. “After all, isn’t this the moment you’ve been waiting for?”
I looked from my father to Alistair, then to the portrait of Ivy surrounded by my expensive wreaths. The entire situation was grotesque-a mockery of both grief and love.
Alistair rose to his feet, stepping closer. “Say yes, Hazel. Let me make up for my
mistake. We can start over.”
He reached for my hand, and I recoiled. The look of hurt that crossed his face was almost comical.
“You think this is romantic?” I asked. “You think declaring your love for another woman at your wife’s funeral makes you look like anything but a monster?”
“I’m being honest,” he insisted. “Isn’t honesty what you always wanted from me?”
“Not like this,” I whispered. “Never like this.”
The ring box remained open in his hand, the diamond catching the light. The same ring he’d given to me years ago, then reclaimed to give to Ivy. Now he wanted to place it on my finger again, as if it weren’t tainted by betrayal and death.
“Hazel,” he pleaded, his voice dropping to that tender tone I once found irresistible. “Don’t throw away our second chance at happiness. Say yes.”
