Chapter 1030

The sudden warmth of Frederick’s hand startled Hazel, and she instinctively pulled hers back. Her obsidian-like eyes—shimmering as if freshly washed—locked onto his, fierce and defiant. “I don’t want to date anyone,” she declared firmly. Frederick arched a brow, a faint smirk playing on his lips. “You didn’t seem to mind when you asked to be my girlfriend the first time we met.” A faint blush crept up Hazel’s ears. She muttered, almost too low to hear, “Well, I couldn’t just let you off that easy. There should at least be a proper, romantic confession first…” Understanding flickered in Frederick’s eyes, and his amusement deepened. Despite everything she’d been through, despite all her maturity and restraint, his little star still carried that slightly spoiled streak—the same one he remembered so well. Rather than press the moment, he shifted the conversation, deftly placing another piece of fish into her bowl. “So, what were you sighing about earlier?” Hazel didn’t dwell on their earli