She Stole My Crown: My Best Friend, My Worst Enemy

It was pouring heavily in Jovania on the day I finished my postpartum treatment. Hazel had showed up at my door, soaked from head to toe. She was kneeling on the ground, begging me to take her in.

She said her parents were going to sell her to a fool from their village for a bride price of 200 thousand dollars. She said only I could save her, and that she did not care even if she had to work as a nanny in my home.

Hazel had been my best friend. How could I watch her sacrifice herself to a miserable life?

So, I let her stay. I even paid her parents two million dollars to settle the matter. Since she had studied medicine, I asked her to help me recover and regain my health.

My husband, Richard Hudson, traveled a lot for work. So, having Hazel around truly lifted my spirits. I never actually made her work as a nanny. Instead, I gave her a bank card and told her she could spend it however she liked.

Gradually, things started to feel off.

The household staff stopped listening to my orders. Even if I wanted an extra dessert, they would check with Hazel first. More outrageously, Richard would take her with him on multiple business trips.

When my son, Miles, spoke his first word, he called Hazel "Mommy".

Richard said Hazel was my best friend, and he was the one who had told the household staff to ask her instead of bothering me. He also said Miles was still young and didn't know any better, that I was his real mother no matter what.

So, I believed him.

Hazel even acted hurt because I doubted her, saying she wanted to move out. At that point, I genuinely believed my postpartum emotions had made me overly sensitive. I apologized to her and even agreed to her suggestion—that she attend some company events on my behalf.

I thought it was necessary for me to attend certain functions as the CEO, considering my parents had left the company to me before they passed. However, since my health was failing, having Hazel cover for me didn't seem like a bad idea.

Back then, I truly believed I was the happiest woman in the world. I had a sweet child, a loving husband, and a caring best friend. Later, as my condition worsened, Hazel became bold enough to ask to tag along on Richard's business trips.

Everything fell apart one day when I forgot to take the medicine she had prepared for me. That was how I caught them having an affair. Once they realized they couldn't hide it anymore, they worked together to have me locked away in a psychiatric hospital.

I vividly remembered how my skin was covered in sores, pain pumping through my body every second, right before I died. Hazel had pressed her high heel against my face and cursed at me.

"Oh, Maxine. If you'd just stayed quiet and pretended to know nothing, I could've let you live. You could've rotted away in this psychiatric ward for the rest of your life, but you just had to go looking for death."

The memory of that excruciating agony crawling all over my skin sent a shiver down my spine. Somehow, by some kind of twist of fate, I was given a second chance in this new life.