The CEO’s Masked Secret Wife

Hazel's POV

I stirred awake to the sound of voices drifting from the kitchen. The apartment felt different somehow, charged with an energy I hadn't felt in a long time. I padded barefoot across the hardwood floor and paused at the kitchen entrance, taking in the scene before me.

Liam sat across from Leo at our small dining table, both of them animated in conversation. My breath caught watching them together. Liam had prepared an elaborate breakfast spread that covered every inch of the table surface. Fresh fruit arranged in neat rows, golden scrambled eggs still steaming, crispy bacon, thick slices of buttered toast, and Leo's favorite chocolate chip pancakes cut into perfect triangles.

Leo bounced in his chair, syrup already sticky on his fingers, hanging on every word his father said. Liam gestured with his coffee mug, explaining something about room sizes and backyard space. They were both showered and dressed while I still wore yesterday's oversized t-shirt, my hair a tangled mess.

How long had I been asleep?

"Mommy's awake!" Leo spotted me first, his voice carrying that infectious morning enthusiasm that never failed to amaze me.

"Good morning, sweetheart." I crossed to him and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, breathing in his familiar scent of strawberry shampoo and childhood innocence.

Liam's eyes found mine over Leo's head. The intensity in his gaze made my stomach flutter.

"Morning, beautiful." His voice was rough with something deeper than sleep. "We didn't want to disturb you. You needed the rest."

I settled into the chair beside him, accepting the steaming mug of coffee he slid across the table. Our fingers brushed during the exchange, sending electricity up my arm.

"So what were you two conspirators discussing so seriously?" I asked, though I already suspected.

"The new house," Liam replied, his excitement barely contained. "I've already contacted everyone. The guys will be here within the hour to help with the move."

I nearly choked on my coffee. "You told Leo already? We agreed I would handle that conversation."

Liam had the decency to look sheepish, running a hand through his dark hair. "I couldn't wait. He was asking questions about why I was here so early, and it just came out."

Leo piped up between bites of pancake. "Daddy says our new house has a huge backyard and my own bathroom with a bathtub shaped like a boat!"

I shot Liam a look that promised we'd discuss his oversharing later, but I couldn't stay annoyed when Leo looked so genuinely happy. We'd lived in this cramped apartment for so long, just the two of us. The idea of space, of a real home, felt surreal.

After breakfast, I escaped to the shower while Liam cleaned the kitchen with military precision. By the time I emerged, towel-dried and dressed, the doorbell was already ringing.

Chloe burst through the door without waiting for an invitation, her arms crossed and lips pursed in mock anger.

"So you're really stealing my roommate and my godson, you manipulative bastard?" She pointed an accusing finger at Liam.

He grinned, completely unfazed by her theatrical display. "I've waited long enough for my turn with them. You've had three years."

"I'm not sure I approve of you, Sterling," Chloe shot back, but her facade cracked when Leo launched himself into her arms.

Soon the apartment filled with friends and laughter. Scarlett arrived with Damian in tow, followed by Thea and Stella. The men congregated around Liam, discussing logistics and box-moving strategies while we women gathered in my bedroom to pack my personal belongings.

"Chl, I should have talked to you first," I said, folding clothes into a suitcase. "I feel terrible springing this on you."

Chloe waved me off. "Hazel, honey, I'm not your mother. You don't need my permission to be happy." She sat on my bed, watching me pack. "Besides, Liam wants his family together. I get it. And frankly, the timing is perfect because Noah's been practically living here anyway. We made it official last night."

"Wait, what?" I dropped the shirt I was holding.

"He moved in!" Chloe practically glowed. "All his stuff is being delivered this afternoon."

Scarlett groaned from her position on the floor, sorting through my shoe collection. "At this rate, I'm going to cave and let Damian move in too. He's been campaigning for weeks."

"Do it," Thea encouraged. "Life's too short to waste time on logistics when you've found someone worth waking up next to."

The conversation naturally shifted to relationships, and I noticed Stella's unusual silence. She sat in the corner, mechanically folding my sweaters without really seeing them.

"Stella, you're being awfully quiet. How are things with West?" I asked gently.

Her hands stilled on the fabric. "We've been having some issues."

"What kind of issues?" Chloe's protective instincts immediately activated.

Stella's voice cracked as she spoke. "He's been distant lately. Cold. Last week I decided to surprise him at his place with dinner." She paused, tears gathering in her eyes. "Another woman answered the door wearing nothing but his dress shirt."

The room went silent except for the muffled sounds of the men talking in the hallway.

"That cheating piece of garbage!" Chloe jumped up, her face flushed with rage. "I'm going to castrate him with a rusty spoon!"

"Please don't make a scene," Stella begged. "I was humiliated enough hearing him call her 'babe' from the bedroom."

Scarlett pulled out her phone with a predatory smile. "I have a better idea than violence, Chl."

She dialed a number and put it on speaker. We all leaned in, curious about her plan.

The afternoon dissolved into a whirlwind of packing, planning revenge on West, and preparing for my new life. As I taped up the last box of my belongings, I felt a strange mixture of excitement and terror. Liam appeared in the doorway, his sleeves rolled up and hair messed from moving furniture.

"Ready for this?" he asked, his voice low and intimate despite our friends bustling around us.

I looked around the bedroom that had been my sanctuary for three years. The place where I'd cried over Liam's absence, where I'd read bedtime stories to Leo, where I'd built a life as a single mother.

Now I was about to build something entirely new.