Bewitched His Soul

The third time, he opted to find someone similar to Hazel. This woman's hair and eyes color-matched Hazel's, and they had quite a lot of similarities. When she blushed, it looked quite artificial, and her cuteness also looked fake to his eyes. Enzo kept on comparing this woman's every action to Hazel. 

That night while he lay in bed and replayed each incident he felt, except for Hazel, every other woman was quite annoying or stupid. Hazel's beauty, shyness, innocence, childlike personality were unique and irreplaceable in the entire world. 

Even if he went on hundreds of dates, he knows every woman will fall short compared to Hazel because she was the only one who had touched his heart. They have grown up together but were not blood-related, so it was okay for him to have romantic feelings towards her. 

He cannot run away anymore, as Hazel haunted every minute of his life. It's wise to acknowledge what his heart was saying as he knows she has ruined him for good, ruined him for any other woman out there. She had tightly reined over his heart, and maybe, for the first time, he did not want to break free from the shackle. 

He finally accepted that he had fallen in love with Hazel Ambrosio. 

There were so many hurdles if he wanted to pursue his relationship with her. Enzo decided to take it slowly and do everything step by step so that when he finally captures her, she would have no choice but to surrender to him. At least for another few years, he cannot do anything as she was still in high school. He was sure she was not yet ready to fall in love. 

Yes, there was a large age gap between them, and he had no issue with it. But there was a slight worry that Hazel may find it problematic, but he would do anything to change her mind. 

He made a conscious effort not to show himself to her, but sometimes it was unavoidable. He acted formally when he was with her. After two or three attempts, Hazel gave up on him and just gave a small smile whenever they met. It was painful to see everyone except him openly enjoy Hazel's company. He had such intense feelings towards her that there were many times he wanted to drag her across the window and kiss her breathless. 

One thing he was sure about was that Hazel will not be in a relationship with any other boy, as her father and brother were quite protective of her. Hazel's family was helping him by guarding her against anyone who had ill intentions towards her. 

Even though Enzo was not with Hazel, it does not mean he was not aware of what was happening in her life. He had decided to sit back and monitor every single detail about her. 

Since Hazel and Esther were close friends, it was easy for him to extract information from Esther. Enzo was quite sly and had extracted confidential information from such big criminals, so making Esther say the truth was a piece of cake for him. He always knew where Hazel went, whom she met, and what she was doing, all thanks to his cousin Esther. 

Poor Esther had no idea and thought her big brother was genuinely concerned about her. Esther put her pictures with Hazel on social media for all the different occasions they attended, and Enzo cropped only Hazel's pictures and saved them as a secret folder on his phone. 

Hazel reached womanhood, and her beauty had no bounds. While Enzo shed his bad-boy image and became a dangerous man in a suit. He became much more calculated and cunning because of his profession and learned to hide his feelings behind his poker face. This helped in his personal life, as the few times he met Hazel, he was able to fool everyone into thinking he was just treating her as a friend. 

Being an aristocratic heir and mafia leader, all the tabloids were very curious about Enzo's love life. He was a very private person, which made it very difficult to find any dirt on him. At parties, Enzo greeted women, and the reporters automatically linked him with them. The women did not deny the rumors and used them to boost their popularity. 

A few years had passed, and when Hazel was in her final year of college, Enzo thought this was the correct time to execute his plan and started courting her. 

He knew if he made any big gesture, then Hazel might get shocked and completely shut him down. So he slowly started by flirting and dropping hints now and then. He even made her come to his house, so that it will be just the two of them with no disturbance, and they can bond well. Being in close proximity may help Hazel see him in a different light. 

Everything was going well, but Tom's arrival spoiled all his plans. He feared for a second someone will steal Hazel from him or she may fall in love with another man. 

In the state of nervousness, he ended up blurting everything out, which he had hidden in his heart for so long. He was impatient and could not wait any more, making him behave aggressively towards her. 

He half expected Hazel to reject him and was kind of prepared for it. But somehow hearing the word no from Hazel made him lose his cool. He even went as far as threatening her so that she had no choice but to accept him. The big bad wolf has finally captured the white rabbit, and he was definitely going to have the tasty meat. 

Enzo was deeply in love with Hazel and had already decided she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Either by hook or crook, he will make her accept his proposal. He vowed to do everything in his power to make her love him. He was a Santoris, and the word defeat was never in his dictionary. 

Hazel Ambrosio belonged to him. 

She was his. 

Only his. 

The day she held his finger from the cradle was the day her fate had been decided.. Hazel was going to be Lorenzo Santoris' bride.