CHAPTER 162: THE CALM STORM

Hazel was right; they were wasting time, and with the backup possibly on the way, they needed to get to Arthur immediately.

Understanding the gravity of the situation, one of the men signaled for the others to pile into the car as well, preparing to make a hasty retreat.

Everything had unfolded so quickly, and now Hazel was in the clutches of her kidnappers.

Meanwhile, Yara watched helplessly, knowing there was nothing she could do but wait for backup to arrive.

It was only then that they could formulate a plan to get Hazel back.

On the opposite side of the situation, Aubrey was under immense stress.

Her father had berated her harshly for leaking the news about Hazel’s pregnancy, causing the media to focus on her.

Adding to her turmoil, Arlo, too, was furious with her reckless actions. It was not every day that Arlo would side with Arthur, her father, but this time, they were united in their frustration.

"Why are they treating me like this? Why don’t they think of me at all?!" Aubrey fumed, anger bubbling within her.

In an attempt to release her pent-up frustration, she grabbed anything she could reach and hurled it across the room.

But suddenly, a sharp pain surged through her lower abdomen, eliciting a sharp gasp. Gritting her teeth, Aubrey wrapped her arms around her protruding belly and waited for the pain to subside.

Once it felt manageable, she tried to continue her tantrum, but the pain returned, more intense than before.

As the tension mounted, Aubrey felt a cramp tightening in her stomach that refused to go away. Panic gripped her for the first time.

"What is happening?" She wondered. Aubrey hastily tried to call Arlo, but he didn’t pick up. Frantically, she dialed her father’s number but received the same frustrating silence in return. "What the fuck!? Where are they when I need them?!"

Desperate for help, Aubrey left her room and headed to her father’s bedroom, where she found her mother, Elise, in the middle of changing dresses. Elise was obviously preparing to attend another party with her friends.

"Mother, I don’t feel good," Aubrey said, each word laced with urgency as she clutched her stomach, bending over slightly from the pain. "Please take me to the hospital," she managed to gasp, barely catching her breath.

Elise glanced at her, annoyance flaring in her eyes as if Aubrey were nothing more than an inconvenience.

"No, I can’t. I have a party to attend, and I am going to be late. Ask someone else to take you to the hospital. There are drivers here."

Aubrey closed her eyes and shook her head, despair creeping into her voice. "No, Mother, please, I need someone to be with me. This is an emergency." Her plea hung in the air, filled with desperation as the pain intensified, reminding her that she might be facing a serious situation, and worst of all, she felt utterly alone.

Despite Aubrey’s frantic pleas for her mother to take her to the hospital, Elise remained stoic.

Her cramps worsened with each passing moment, and her mother was indifferent to her suffering. Aubrey was confused and unnerved by her mother’s reaction.

"Mother, please!" Aubrey cried; her voice strained as tears began to well in her eyes. Elise frowned at the sight of her daughter’s anguish, yet she said nothing. She merely stood there as if wishing Aubrey would simply disappear.

This lack of response only amplified Aubrey’s anger.

Fueled by pain and frustration, she glared at Elise and screamed at the top of her lungs. "At the very least, act like a mother for once! Why can’t you be a mother? Am I not your daughter?" The anger coursed through Aubrey’s veins; her deep disappointment rendered her breathless.

Yet, Elise remained unmoved. Not even a flinch escaped her as Aubrey’s voice echoed in the room.

***

Ranon was seething with fury after learning what had happened. He was in the hospital, where Yara was being treated for a bullet wound on her shoulder.

Though she was physically fine, she appeared weary, and what stung the most was her pride; she felt she had failed to protect Hazel.

All the bodyguards present, including Nolu, avoided Ranon’s gaze, terrified of the storm that brewed within him as he calmly processed the events.

Thankfully, Lucian arrived shortly after, eager to diffuse some of the tension. "What are we going to do now?" He asked, seeking to shift their focus onto a plan.

He gestured for all the people to leave the hospital ward, where Yara was being treated. Thankfully, they didn’t sustain serious injuries.

All of them left, but Yara and Nolu stayed behind.

Ares and Lucian began discussing their next steps. They needed to make a careful plan. Nolu stayed close to Yara, providing support while the two men analyzed the situation.

Ranon sat quietly on a chair, his expression unreadable but exuding a frightening intensity as he stared at his phone.

Nolu and Yara exchanged worried glances, both thinking that Ranon might crack under the weight of his mounting anger.

The medical staff had successfully stitched up Yara, and she was told to rest, but it was clear she wouldn’t remain behind if Ranon decided to make a move on retrieving his wife.

"Who do you think is behind all this?" Ares asked, his voice low and contemplative.

"It must be the Lozen family. Who else could it be?" Lucian replied, his tone laced with frustration.

"But I don’t understand why they would target Ranon now," Ares continued. "I thought they were no longer a threat to the Leighton family. Why attack Hazel at this moment?"

As the gravity of their situation sank in, the air in the room thickened with tension, and their next moves were critical.

This was the part that they couldn’t fathom. Why would the Lozen family attack Hazel? They understood that power dynamics had shifted between the Lozen and the Barlowe families, and there was an ongoing internal conflict between the two powerful families in the underground world.

Yet, beyond that context and the fact that the Lozen family was no longer in the running for a hit against the Leighton family, their motives for targeting Hazel remained a mystery.

"Perhaps the Lozen family wanted to reestablish their strength," Ares proposed, contemplating the situation. "The hit on the Leighton family was a failure, and this isn’t even their second attempt."

"I think they believe that by taking Hazel, they can get to Ranon," Lucian noted, acknowledging that the speculation made sense.

After a few minutes of discussion, they suddenly realized that Ranon hadn’t joined in on their conversation.

He remained in the same position, glaring intently at his phone.

"Ranon," Lucian called out, stepping closer. He craned his neck to see what Ranon was fixated on and was taken aback to notice a red dot pulsing on the screen.

It took him a moment to process the implications, and when he did, shock washed over him.

"Damn, Ranon!" Lucian exclaimed under his breath. "You put a tracker on her? How?"

Ranon said nothing.

Lucian couldn’t believe it. "When did you even manage to put a tracker on her?" He asked in disbelief.

Ares, who heard that, now moved closer to confirm what Lucian had seen. His eyes widened as he recognized the tracker displayed on the screen. "Where did you put the tracker?" He inquired, intrigued.

He remembered what Yara had said: Hazel hadn’t brought anything with her, not even her phone. All of her belongings had been left behind in the abandoned car.

Ares was eager to know how and when Ranon had managed to affix the tracker to Hazel. To be honest, he wouldn’t put it past Ranon to do something like this, even to his own wife.

"Damn, Ranon, I didn’t think you would go this far to put a tracker on her," Lucian remarked, shaking his head in disbelief while clicking his tongue. "Sometimes, I am scared of you," he admitted, a hint of admiration mixed with fear in his tone.

Ranon’s expression remained unreadable as he continued to monitor the red dot on his phone. His silence was even more frightening than his anger.

"Wait. It’s actually a good thing that you put a tracker on her," Ares said. "But this could be a trap."

He couldn’t think of another device that Hazel might have on her at this moment without anyone noticing it. Ares was currently on high alert, and Lucian finally grasped the weight of his concern.

"Yes, I think it could be a trap," Lucian agreed, turning to Ranon. "If the attacker realizes you put the tracker on her, they might use it to send a false location. This location could be used to lure you in."

Finally breaking his silence, Ranon looked up at Ares and Lucian. "No, they will not know this is a tracker."

"How can you be so sure?" Ares countered apprehensively.

"Because the tracker is hidden in her engagement ring," Ranon replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"What?" Lucian’s eyes widened; he was dumbstruck. "You put the tracker in her engagement ring?"

Ranon said nothing, but it confirmed Lucian’s question.

He placed a tracker inside Hazel’s engagement ring when he resized it. That’s why he didn’t give it to her immediately after the auction. He did say it needed resizing because it was too big for her finger, but he also put a device to monitor her movements.

Now it’s proving useful in this situation.

"You are unbelievable, Ranon. Did you put a tracker on me too?" Lucian wondered.