Hazel had been blissfully happy since meeting Will again. Going on adventures like they always dreamed of. Basking in his affection. Never having to worry about money.
It all seemed too good to be true. Years passed where the two of them were able to simply enjoy each other's company and move forward together. He finished college and bought a large apartment complex with some of his lottery money. Eventually, she finished too and focused on her art.
He sponsored her first exhibition, which was extremely sweet of him. It went very well too. People were interested in her work!
Hazel was happy to sell her pieces. Now that she had Will back, she wasn't nearly as attached to them as she had been in high school when she was so lonely and they were all she really had.
Besides, she was able to keep her favorites at home. She redecorated with different paintings every so often, selling the others. She was making a decent name for herself in the art world. She would never be truly famous, but art aficionados knowing who she was still meant a lot to her.
Everything was perfect…until about two years after she graduated, when someone decided to write a book about the Bay Area Blade. She saw it at a bookstore while she was out and got so upset that she couldn't drive home. She was too busy hyperventilating in her car.
Hazel was still doing that when Will called, worried because she hadn't come home yet. She hadn't even realized how long she was gone.
"I…I can't drive," she admitted with great difficulty.
His tone was panicked. "Why? Are you hurt? What happened, Hazel?"
How was Hazel supposed to explain this? She had never told anyone about what happened to her parents. But if she didn't tell him now, he wouldn't understand why she was so upset by a stupid book.
They had been married for six years. If she was ever going to tell anyone, she should tell her husband.
"…have you ever heard of the Bay Area Blade?"
The phone went silent for several moments and Hazel wondered if the call got disconnected before Will spoke in a hard voice that she had never heard before. "Is this about that filthy book?"
She blinked in surprise. Knowing about the book wasn't nearly as surprising as how he described it. It sounded like the book made him angry too.
"You've seen it, then?"
"Unfortunately. Where are you? I'll come get you and then we'll sue John Abramson into oblivion for emotional distress."
Could you even sue someone for that? Hazel didn't know enough about the law.
"I'll send you my location," Hazel sighed. "But Will, why are you so upset about the book, when it has nothing to do with you?"
"It has to do with you. That automatically means it has to do with me too," he said firmly.
That didn't seem quite right though. Will was upset about the book without knowing her connection to the Bay Area Blade. She had never told anyone about it. The only people who knew were the staff at the mental hospital and her uncle.
Had Will looked at her file somehow during their time there? Had he known the whole time? He never said anything about it!
"I never told you about my connection to the Bay Area Blade. All I did was ask if you knew who he was. Did you read my file somehow? Because there's no other way you should know that."
He cursed, the way he only did when he was truly upset. "Yes, I read your file. We can talk about this more later. I need to come get you first."
Will hung up then, not even saying "Love you, bye" the way he usually did. He was that upset.
Hazel felt like she was missing something. Even if he was prone to being upset on her behalf whenever something bothered here, wasn't this too strong of a reaction? He seemed almost…rattled.
That didn't change when he arrived, having taken a rideshare so he could drive her home without leaving her car here, where it might get a ticket. She hadn't seen him this upset since they were in the mental hospital.
She got out of the car to hug him, burying her face in his chest. Hopefully, it would comfort them both.
Hazel could physically feel the tension seeping out of Will as he melted into her, his face in her hair. He had been that worried about her? Or was something else worrying him too?
"Are you okay?" she mumbled.
"No," he growled. "I'm pissed at that worthless worm!"
Ah. Will was talking about the author of that book, wasn't he? He did say they should sue him. Hazel never would have imagined suing anyone and still didn't know if they had the grounds for it.
"Do we even have the grounds to sue him?"
"Yes. Don't you worry about a thing. I'll take care of this and make sure you never have to see a single copy of that book again."
This brought back Hazel's question about how Will saw her file and how long ago he had seen it. If he had known the whole time, why hadn't he ever treated her like a freak for it? Everyone else who knew about it had. Not showing any sympathy at all.
"How did you know, though? When did you see my file?" she had to ask.
He let out a heavy sigh. "Before the hospital burned down. The staff there were careless. I've known who you were and what you had been through since before we first met outside."
Hazel couldn't believe this! All these years, she had thought no one knew her most terrible secret but the man she loved had. And it didn't change how he felt about her at all. It made her want to cry.
No one had ever cared about her this much. No one else ever could. He had always been in a class of his own.
"And you still didn't think I was crazy."
"No. Never. He was the crazy one. What happened to you wasn't your fault at all!"