CHAPTER 167: LATE NIGHT CONVERSATION

Hazel was not happy, but she thought because of her pregnancy, there was not much she could do; and more so, if Ranon agreed with the plan she suggested, everything would be easier for her.

With that in mind, she decided to enjoy her time until their divorce, and then she could go all out to do whatever she needed to do.

However, to her surprise, Hazel was not looking forward to that time.

Everything felt right at this moment.

"How is she?"

"She is sleeping," Ranon said after he put Hazel down on the bed and walked out of the bedroom to find Lucian and Ares were already in his living room.

"She must be shocked after what happened," Lucian commented.

"I don’t think so," Ares replied. He was rather observant, and the look on Hazel’s face was not someone who was scared of being kidnapped. She looked very calm, and this made Ares wonder how there could be no trace of fear at all on her.

"Nah, no way, her calmness must be because of her shock." Lucian was still persistent with his theory. "Some people reacted that way in distressful situations."

Yes, some people did, but obviously Hazel was not one of them.

Meanwhile, Ranon didn’t say anything about that topic; he simply gave Lucian an order. "Put two more people around her."

"Geez," Lucian sneered and clicked his tongue in disbelief. "Being loved by you is both a gift and a curse."

***

Arthur wiped the blood from his nose. Sure enough, Ranon Leighton had broken his nose, and this upset him, especially when he did that in front of his people. It was a humiliation.

However, he needed to see the bigger picture of this whole mess.

"She gave birth two hours ago," Elise said callously when she picked up Arthur’s phone call.

"What?" The news shocked him. "But her due date is..."

"What do you expect? She has been under so much stress recently." Elise glanced at Aubrey, who was sleeping as she was still under the influence. "Come here. I want to go home. I don’t like to be in the hospital."

Both of them knew very well that Elise despised it whenever she had to be in the hospital, and it was already a great effort for her to stay with Aubrey during her labor.

"I will be there."

And with that, Arthur didn’t wait for another second before he dashed out of his office room and drove to the hospital, where Aubrey was.

Elise frowned when she saw his nose. "What happened with your face?" She asked.

"Nothing." Arthur waved his hand dismissively. "How is she?" He entered the room, and Elise followed behind him.

"She is stable now, but she needs to get a lot of rest." Elise shrugged her shoulders. "I think that’s what the doctor said. If you want to know more details about it, you can call the doctor. I am going home."

Arthur stared at Aubrey with mixed emotions. He still remembered what Hazel told him.

There was no way Aubrey shot River, right? There must be a misunderstanding. River could be very manipulative, and he knew about that very well; after all, he was the one who had taught her.

But...

Arthur stretched out his hand, yet he hesitated to touch Aubrey. He didn’t feel it was right. There was this anger that he felt upon the thought of the possibility that what Hazel said was right.

Aubrey shot River, and Arlo knew about that...

"Where is Arlo?" Arthur asked before Elise could leave the room.

She turned around and looked at Arthur incredulously. "Where do you think he is?"

"How dare he!" Arthur was enraged.

However, Elise chuckled. "You, men, are too busy with your things, and we, women, have to endure it. There is nothing new about it. Why are you angry? You did the same too with me when I gave birth to Aubrey. This is not the first time you have let me down. It’s so hypocritical of you. I am not surprised that you did the same to Aubrey or when Arlo treated her like this. Men around us are disappointing."

And with a derisive laugh, Elise walked out of the room, leaving Arthur alone with Aubrey.

Meanwhile, Arlo learned that Aubrey had given birth to their baby from his men after he was done with his meeting with his father.

And by the time he reached the hospital, it had been ten hours after Aubrey gave birth to their son.

"You will never see your son," Arthur said through his gritted teeth as he met Arlo at the hospital garden since he didn’t allow him to meet Aubrey.

Currently, Aubrey had regained consciousness. They didn’t say much, but she wished not to see Arlo, and Arthur was more than willing to do that.

"You can’t stop me from seeing my child, Arthur," Arlo said viciously. He was done with Arthur’s nonsense.

At this moment, he felt justified in betraying him. His anger towards him was enough reason to turn his back against him. Not to mention that without River, the Lozen family was rather at a loss.

Because Arthur was too busy to find River, he neglected some of their deals with the clients. At this point, the Lozen family was going down, and the Barlowes should be wise enough not to stay in the sinking ship.

"Your child?" Arthur asked mockingly. "Where were you when Aubrey gave birth to that child?"

Arlo lifted his chin defiantly. He didn’t mask his hatred towards him right now. "I should ask you the same question. Where were you?"

The rage that coursed through Arthur’s veins was a mix of feelings. He was angry about Arlo’s negligence towards Aubrey, but also his mind was filled with the thought that Arlo was there when Aubrey shot River, even though he was still not sure of the truth of it.

Without thinking twice, Arthur swung his punch at Arlo’s face.

But Arlo was quick with his response, and he dodged it easily; yet he was not that fast to avoid the second punch, which landed on his stomach.

He doubled down and coughed, but Arthur kicked his face, and the sound of the broken nose echoed in this empty garden.

It seemed that Arthur vented out his anger on Arlo.

"I know what you are doing, Arlo."

And that was what Arthur said before he walked away from him. It almost felt like a tacit understanding, but years of cooperation between the two families had finally broken.

***

After being kidnapped, Hazel slept throughout the day, but she woke up in the middle of the night because she was hungry.

She found Ranon sleeping next to her. He was deep in his sleep when Hazel got off the bed and went to the kitchen. Her stomach was growling. She would whip something up for her to eat.

"Okay, okay. I know that you are hungry, me too," Hazel talked to herself as she caressed her belly, where her baby was rather active during the night.

Actually, one of the reasons why she was woken up was because her baby kicked her repeatedly.

"What are you doing?"

"Ah!" Hazel startled and turned around immediately. She was very defensive until she saw Ranon’s figure step into the kitchen. "You scared me!" She said in a scolding tone.

"Weird. I thought nothing would scare you." In one look Ranon knew what Hazel was going to do. "What do you want to eat?"

"I want chicken broth. Can you cook that for me?"

"Sit down." Ranon pulled a chair and let Hazel sit down as he started to find the right ingredients to make the chicken broth she wanted.

"I didn’t know you could cook."

"There are many things that you don’t know about me."

Ranon was not born with a silver spoon. He had his own struggle before he joined the Leighton family.

"Tell me one or two things about you so I will know you better." Hazel used her arms as a cushion as she watched Ranon move around the kitchen.

"Why do you want to know about me? Do you fall for me?" Ranon glanced over his shoulder, smirking when Hazel gave him a face.

"Oh, please... Forget it."

Ranon chuckled to hear that and continued with his task, but after a long silence, Hazel couldn’t hold back her curiosity. She genuinely wanted to know him.

"Why didn’t you join the Leighton family right away when Denzel Leighton found you?"

It was a surprise for Hazel to know about that, but at this point, it was something that Ranon expected of her.

And when Hazel thought Ranon wouldn’t answer his question, he started to talk.

"There was no reason. I only despised him." Ranon had his back against Hazel as he continued to cook.

"Then, what is the reason you joined the family?" Hazel teased him. "Is it because you wanted to be close to Ema?"

Ranon laughed at her suggestion. "You sound jealous."

"How so?" Hazel became defensive.

"She was not even in my mind when I accepted the offer to be part of the Leightons." Ranon turned off the stove and poured the soup into the bowl. "Things seemed easier from the position of power."

Ranon took a bowl of rice and then served Hazel the chicken broth she wanted.

"Do you still think the same now?"

"Yes, but it’s also messier." Ranon poured her a glass of water and then went to the fridge again. "What fruit do you want?"