CHAPTER 170: THAT WAS NOT HOW IT WORKED

"What? No!" Nelson didn’t even realize it when he raised his voice. "That’s not what we agreed upon." He stood up from his seat.

"What did we agree upon?" Deryl looked unbothered. His eyes bored into Nelson’s with impatience, as if he was telling a child that he didn’t have time for his tantrum. "Did I promise you anything?"

"I..." Nelson stumbled with his words as he tried to find it in him to counter that question. Now as he thought about it, Deryl McKenna indeed promised him nothing about the safety of Marcus.

But in his defense, Deryl McKenna’s plan looked harmless enough in Nelson’s eyes. A few whispering words wouldn’t kill you, right?

The thing he didn’t know was: the extent of manipulation people like Deryl McKenna could do. People who worked in this field could have enough patience to see the irrevocable outcome of their plan.

And now, Marcus was going to die because of his stupidity since he was the one who decided for himself.

"I gave you money, and you accepted that." Deryl emphasized the huge amount of money for lame words of discouragement from Nelson to Marcus. "I paid my part, and you did yours. That’s the only agreement we have."

In a way he was; he was completely right about that.

At the beginning, Nelson didn’t understand why he would receive such an amount of money for a lousy attempt to discourage Marcus, but now he could see how destructive it could be.

A constant discouragement could kill someone, not quickly, but eventually...

"If you have nothing else you want to say, you can leave." Deryl turned around and then left the living room despite Nelson’s protest, and when he tried to come to him, two men approached him.

"You need to leave now."

"I have not yet done here!" He said angrily.

"I think you have," the other said menacingly, dragging him out of the house.

However, little did they realize, someone overheard the conversation. Lyle had been listening since the beginning, feeling strange because of Nelson’s presence there.

Of course, he knew Nelson was Marcus’s friend; he had his eyes on that man for long, and the only reason he couldn’t kill him was because his sister wouldn’t appreciate that.

Lyle’s gaze darkened; he was in deep thought, thinking of his father’s ruthless method...

This was only another reason why Olivia hated this family so much.

***

"What else do you want to know?" Arthur asked; he was still stubborn in his position, refusing to sit down in front of Ranon like a subordinate. "If you thought it was River who attacked you, you are mistaken. River disappeared even before the first attack against you."

Obviously, Ranon was aware of that. He only wanted to find the connection between Hazel and River since the two women lived in completely different worlds, but somehow, they connected to each other.

Arthur told Ranon all the information that he needed to know, but he said nothing about Aubrey’s attempt to kill her stepsister; of course, it was not relevant to the topic. It was his family business; someone like Ranon had nothing to do with it.

Ranon was still in his icy demeanor as he looked at Arthur as if he measured him. Contemplating whether there was something else that he could get from him.

"Now tell me, why did you kidnap my wife?"

The way he addressed Hazel was very possessive; he didn’t call her name. She was his, and he didn’t react well when someone touched what was his.

Arthur tilted his head. Now, after the previous conversation with Ranon, he could see that the man before him was also interested in River, which meant he was aware of the connection between River and Hazel.

"I am the one who wanted to ask you, what is the connection between the two of them? Hazel seemed to know my daughter really well."

"I am the one who is asking the question here, Mr. Lozen."

"And I refuse to answer yours unless I get something back." The defiance in his voice was palpable, and Ranon didn’t appreciate that at all.

He reached down for something inside his drawer and repeated the question. "Answer that."

However, Arthur scoffed. "Do you think..."

Arthur didn’t get to finish his sentence when a bullet shattered the book close to his head; a splinter of wood grazed his temple.

"I am not going to repeat the question." Ranon was eerily calm when he reminded Arthur that he should think twice with a gun in his hand. "I only want to hear the answer."

Arthur was completely wrong if he thought Ranon would only have a chat with him or that was simply an interrogation.

From the look in his eyes, Arthur knew that this young man would really shoot him. It was not a bluff. He could detect killing intent, and he was staring at one.

***

"What are you doing here?" Hazel was surprised to see her father come to visit her. He was the last person that she thought would come to see her after the wedding.

"Is that how you greet your father?" Greyson looked dissatisfied with the way Hazel welcomed him, but he entered the penthouse nonetheless.

The eight bodyguards, who were left behind by Ranon, stood there, waiting for Hazel’s order, whether she wanted to have Greyson or not. They couldn’t act immediately because no matter what, Greyson was still her father.

In the end, Hazel stepped aside and let her father enter. These bodyguards were actually more like a bunch of friends that Hazel had here, since she didn’t need them much. It was not like someone would stab her when she watched a movie.

Hazel didn’t like to see her father here, but like usual, her curiosity got the best of her, and she followed him inside as Greyson moved like he knew this place.

He looked at every picture and furniture in this place. He stopped for a long moment to stare at the wedding picture that was as big as the one he had in his bedroom, his wedding picture with Hazel’s mother.

He was being nostalgic, but Hazel didn’t have the stomach to care or to be as sensitive as him. Finally, Greyson moved to the living room and went to the balcony.

"Are you done inspecting my home? Or do you want to see my bedroom too?" Hazel asked, she didn’t hide the mocking tone in her voice, but it surprised her to call this place her ’home.’

Well, she lived here...

But then, even when she lived in her own apartment as River, she didn’t think that place was her ’home’.

Currently, they were on the balcony; the sun was so bright that Hazel took shade under the roof. She didn’t walk further away to the exposed space. Direct sunlight made her dizzy.

Renna came when Greyson was about to speak and asked if they wanted something to drink, and Hazel only said she wanted ice and gave the same to her father. This was a small act of rebellion, but Greyson didn’t protest and let her order the drink.

Greyson Rose didn’t like sweet things, though.

Renna knew that; that was why she gave Hazel a look, but as Greyson didn’t protest, she left the father and daughter alone.

"So?" Hazel asked when they were alone again. She thought she was going to meet with her father in the next meeting with all of the shareholders, but here he was.

"You have grown up."

Hazel raised her brows. What was that supposed to mean? "Good point. But you missed the fact I am also growing a baby inside of me." Hazel patted her stomach lightly and sat down.

The corner of Greyson’s lips quirked, which Hazel assumed was his attempt to stop himself from smiling.

"How is it? Did Ranon treat you well? Did the Leighton family make trouble for you?"

These questions were confusing. She didn’t like this small talk. "Yes and no." She wanted to urge him to get straight to the point so he could leave quickly too.

However, for the next ten minutes, Greyson kept asking these mundane questions. Hazel wondered what he wanted to accomplish by doing so.

And when she couldn’t take it anymore, she asked him point-blank. "Don’t tell me you come here because you want to ask those questions. What actually do you want?"

"Can’t a father ask about his daughter’s well-being?"

Hazel’s skin crawled. "Are you drunk?" Or maybe high. She doubted Greyson Rose used drugs, but it was a possibility, though...

Hearing the accusation and confusion in Hazel’s voice, Greyson laughed. "Not only do you look like your mother, but also you have her attitude."

Well, that last part was questionable, since River was born with this attitude, but it was nice to know there was someone amused and appreciated her sarcasm enough.

"Yes, I come only because I want to have a conversation with you. You are my only daughter, after all." His eyes trailed down to her stomach, and his gaze softened. "I want to fix this."

"What do you mean by ’this’?"

"The relationship between us." Greyson furrowed his brows; it looked like it pained him to put his ego aside when he was used to using it to get whatever he wanted.

"Is that a demand? Because I don’t hear an apology from you." An apology for what he had put all of his children through.

He couldn’t breeze into her place and demand a relationship. That was not how it worked.