What The Hell, Hazel

POV: First Person (Hazel)

"Here we go," I muttered under my breath, my eyes locked on the figures standing on the sprawling wraparound porch.

Victor killed the engine, the low hum of the Aston Martin fading into the tense silence of the car. He turned to me, his dark eyes scanning my rigid posture.

"You ready?" he asked, his voice a low, steady rumble.

"No," I admitted without a second of hesitation.

He reached across the center console and took my hand. His grip was tight, warm, and instantly grounding. "You're not alone."

Before I could process the sudden comfort of his touch, he pulled my left hand toward him and slid something heavy and metallic onto my ring finger.

I looked down. An engagement ring.

It wasn't just any ring. It was a massive, breathtaking piece of jewelry with a huge, dazzling blue stone sitting proudly in the center, flanked by a sea of glittering diamonds. The cold metal kissed my skin, sending a shiver straight up my arm.

I snapped my head up to look at him. He already had his usual, infuriatingly cocky smile firmly in place.

"You forgot that crucial part of the story," Victor murmured smoothly.

I gaped at the heavy jewel resting on my hand, my brain temporarily short-circuiting. "Holy shit. Where'd you even get this?" I frantically scanned the plush leather seats and the dashboard, looking for a velvet box of some sort, but there was nothing.

"Doesn't matter," Victor said, his tone leaving absolutely no room for debate. "What's important right now is that we nail this little performance and get back to Philly as soon as humanly possible. Understood?"

My throat tightened with a sudden wave of anxiety, but I nodded once. We were in this now.

We stepped out of the car together. The moment the soles of Victor's expensive shoes hit the gravel, his entire demeanor shifted. He came around the hood to my side and placed a firm, protective hand on the small of my back, guiding me forward like a man who had done it a thousand times before. His sunglasses were tucked away, and his trademark smirk was out in full force.

He was six foot three of silent chaos and tailored confidence, and the effect he had on my family was immediate and utterly hilarious.

They collectively gasped.

Nora, never one to hide her thirst, practically squealed. "God, he's hot."

Aunt Martha clutched the collar of her blouse and whispered, "Lord have mercy."

My mom, who usually possessed a spine of rigid steel, blinked twice, entirely thrown off balance. "He's... taller than I expected."

But it was Piper's reaction that truly stole the show. Her jaw snapped shut so hard I could hear her teeth click. All the color drained rapidly from her face, leaving her looking as though she had just seen an actual, literal ghost.

She forced out a strained, breathless whisper. "You didn't say he was... him."

Victor didn't miss a single beat. He tilted his head slightly, his eyes gleaming with wicked amusement as he smoothly countered, "She didn't say you were this blonde."

The ensuing silence was deafening. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from bursting into laughter.

Desperate to break the tension and assert some sort of dominance, Caleb cleared his throat. He stepped forward with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, his chest puffed out in a pathetic display of bravado. "It's good to see you again, Haze," he said, moving in quickly and pulling me into an unexpected, overly familiar hug.

I immediately stiffened, breaking free from his grip and taking two quick steps backward to firmly plant myself right beside Victor. "Likewise."

Caleb's brown eyes darted between Victor and me, a dark intensity brewing in his gaze. He stretched a hand out toward Victor, puffing his chest out just a little bit more. "Caleb Mercer. It's good to finally meet you. In the flesh," he smirked, trying to sound like the alpha of the porch.

Victor didn't even bother to shake his hand immediately. Instead, he slowly let his sweeping gaze travel from the top of Caleb's perfectly styled hair down to his shoes, and back up again. He sized Caleb up like a tiny, insignificant specimen trapped under a microscope.

"You're a lot smaller than I imagined," Victor noted out loud, his voice perfectly casual.

The cocky smirk was wiped right off Caleb's face in less than a second. It was a complete and utter dismantling of his ego, and it was glorious.

Nora burst into a loud fit of laughter, stepping right past Caleb's bruised pride to pull Victor into a warm hug. "Hi, I'm Nora. I'm Hazel's older sister." She pointed to the little girl hiding behind my mom's legs. "And that's my daughter, Mia."

Victor smiled—a real, genuine, heart-stopping smile that completely transformed his sharp features. "It's good to finally meet you, Nora. You're a lot prettier in person. Haze has told me a lot of good things about you."

Nora blushed furiously, completely won over in record time.

He waved down at my shy niece. "Hi, Mia!"

Within minutes, Victor had effortlessly charmed my aunties, making small talk with a relaxed, convincing ease. He was doing incredibly well. Too well.

Meanwhile, Piper stood off to the side, her arms tightly folded across her chest and her lips twisted into a furious, sour frown.

"Come, Victor. My husband's been dying to meet you," Mom insisted, her initial shock completely replaced by eager hospitality. Aunt Martha flanked his other side, and together, the two older women practically dragged Victor into the house, leaving me standing near the trunk of the car with Nora, Piper, and a very stiff Caleb.

"I'll help you bring in your luggage," Caleb offered, his voice tight as he took a step toward the Aston Martin.

"No, thanks. I can manage," I replied quickly, reaching for the trunk release.

Piper immediately stepped in, dropping all her previous pretenses of being a welcoming host. "I'll help you. Nora's too lazy to help anyway."

Nora just rolled her eyes and laughed, unbothered.

Piper aggressively stomped her way over to the back of the car. But instead of pulling out our suitcases like she was supposed to, she reached out and aggressively snatched my left hand. She yanked my fingers toward her face, her eyes locking dead onto the massive blue jewel resting on my finger.

She looked down at her own diamond, then back at mine, her mouth dropping wide open in pure outrage.

"How the hell do you get a bigger ring compared to mine?" she whined, her voice pitching up into a shrill, grating frequency.

"Are you being serious right now, Pipes?" I asked, yanking my hand out of her grip.

"Like hell I am!" she screamed, actually stomping her foot on the gravel like a toddler denied candy. "You shouldn't have a bigger ring than the bride! It's a disaster! Haze doesn't even know the first thing about rings and yet she got the biggest one. Do something, Caleb!"

Caleb sighed and stepped in, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to appease her. "Babe, it's not that serious. It's the thought that counts," he murmured. He leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips.

But as his mouth pressed against hers, his eyes didn't close. Instead, he kept his intense, calculative gaze fixed solely on me over Piper's shoulder. The unbroken eye contact sent a repulsive shiver down my spine, and I immediately looked away, disgusted by the blatant disrespect.

Her face was as red as a beet, all the ugly jealousy bubbling right up to the surface. She looked like she would cry at any moment.

"Oh, boy. I thought we were past this point," Nora muttered under her breath, shaking her head at the sheer absurdity of the scene.

"Alright, alright. If you want a bigger ring, then that's exactly what you'll get," Caleb said, his tone placating. "Give me a moment to speak with my jeweler and we'll work around something new to fix this."

Piper bobbed her head up and down eagerly, her tantrum instantly pausing. Caleb pulled his phone from his pocket, pressed it to his ear, and walked a few feet away, no doubt to make the call.

"You're not sixteen anymore, Pipes," I told her, crossing my arms. "We shouldn't be fighting over ring sizes in a driveway."

Her nostrils flared in indignation. "Still as conceited as always, Haze?"

"Piper, enough," Nora snapped, finally stepping in to chide her. "Just help her get the bags out of the trunk."

"Don't worry, I've got it."

Victor's deep voice surfaced out of nowhere, slicing right through the rising tension. He walked back out of the house, his imposing presence instantly shrinking Piper's inflated ego. I smiled, a genuine feeling of relief washing over me, and stepped back as he effortlessly hauled our heavy bags out of the trunk, his muscles flexing under his tailored shirt.

As Victor grabbed the last suitcase, Piper leaned in close and hissed directly into my ear, her voice dripping with venom. "You're seriously bringing him to my wedding?"

I turned to face her, flashing a smile that was a little too bright and a little too sharp. "You brought Caleb."

"He's my husband, duh," she shot back.

"That makes two of us then."

I didn't wait for her to come up with a response. I turned my back on her and followed Victor inside, our hands naturally intertwining as we walked up the porch steps.

Entering the house, I realized nothing much had changed around here. The heavy wooden furniture, the smell of lemon polish, the ticking grandfather clock—it was all exactly the same. Well, except for the fact that literally a hundred different bridal fashion magazines were scattered aggressively all around the living room.

"Where's Dad?" I asked Mom, who was busy arranging coasters on the coffee table.

"He's in a Zoom meeting right now, but I'll let you know the second it's over," she replied.

"Okay, Mom."

A moment later, Piper and Caleb finally walked into the living room, standing side by side and looking like the smug, crime version of Ken and Barbie.

A wide, wicked smile appeared on my face instantly. It was time.

"Piper," I said sweetly, making sure my voice carried across the room to grab everyone's attention. "I actually got you a little pre-wedding present."

I walked over to where Victor had set down my luggage, unzipping the front compartment.

"Initially, I was really confused on what to get you since you basically have everything," I continued, keeping my tone perfectly innocent as I retrieved the gift. "But then I thought of something absolutely perfect."

Victor chuckled softly beside me. It was a low, dark sound. He clearly already knew exactly what lay inside the package.

In the middle of the living room, in the presence of my extended bloodline, I turned around and extended my hand, presenting the wedding gift of the century. It was wrapped meticulously in an elegant, sleek black box.

Piper stepped forward and took the box from my hands. Her earlier hostility began fading, quickly replaced by eager curiosity. She could never resist a gift, especially one that looked this expensive from the outside.

"Uh, thanks... I didn't think of getting you anything," she said absentmindedly, lowering herself to the height of the cherry wood coffee table so she could set it down and get a better grip on the wrapping paper.

Victor stood right beside me, his shoulder brushing mine. I bit the inside of my lip, trying desperately to hold in my laughter as Piper eagerly tore the elegant black wrapping paper open.

I started a mental countdown in my head, waiting for the inevitable chaos to erupt.

Three...

Two...

One...

Piper ripped the final layer away and stared down at the contents. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers, and her face went completely rigid.

"What the hell, Hazel!"