CHAPTER 245: ANOTHER BABY

Rize was getting better; thus, he had sent some information that could be helpful. Mostly, it was about Rafael.

After a thorough discussion of the list, Ranon and Hazel concluded that two names could be the people who ordered the hit on Ranon.

They needed to sort this out first, before they came down hard on the two families, since the real threat was not them. Even if the Barlowes and the McKennas went down, those people who wanted Ranon dead would find another organization to put a hit on his head again.

Hazel was invested in this matter. It was not only her vengeance on Aubrey and Arlo. Now that she had decided to stay, she was determined to keep her family safe.

"It hurts," Hazel said, as she squirmed away from Ranon when he cupped her breast.

"Hurt?" Ranon raised his brows. He stopped his movement and looked at Hazel. Her face flushed as lust filled her eyes, but she pouted her lips.

"Ashlyn has teeth now," Hazel explained.

Hazel dreaded the time when she would have to breastfeed her baby because the little one already had three teeth. Most of the time, she used a bottle, but Ashlyn would be fussy because she liked latching onto her mother.

Ranon looked down and saw how red her nipples were. He leaned over and licked them lightly. "Feel better?"

"Hm."

"You need to wean her if it hurts so much..."

"There are four months left. I will wean her when she is a year old," Hazel panted, as the tension built in the pit of her stomach, her back curved, and she shuddered as she reached her climax, and Ranon came after her.

Later that morning, Hazel woke up early and prepared breakfast. Before she woke Ranon up, Hazel went to the crib first and saw that her baby was already awake and playing with her toes.

Hazel was mesmerized by how flexible a baby’s body was. Ashlyn reached out her arms when she saw Hazel, asking her mother to pick her up.

However, Hazel noticed something; the baby’s arms were actually short, so out of impulsiveness, Hazel made Ashlyn touch her own hands over her head. But the thing was that she couldn’t even touch her fingers.

And as both of her arms were up, they framed her chubby cheeks, which made her look like a stuffed bunny with three teeth.

Somehow, the sight made Hazel laugh. "How can you have short arms?" She picked up her baby, who was laughing with her, and then went to bed to wake Ranon up. "Wake up, I found something interesting."

"Hm?" Ranon opened his eyes. His sleepiness made Hazel want to reenact the sex from last night, but she brushed it off and showed him what she had just found.

"Don’t you think it’s so funny that she has short arms?"

Hazel looked ecstatic with this silly thing, while Ranon watched her gaze tenderly at their baby. This was a change from her initial indifference toward Ashlyn. She was now paying more attention to their baby, not only because she had to, but also because she was enjoying the moment.

"Do you find this amusing?"

"Don’t you?" Hazel felt silly, but she didn’t mind it.

"Should we make another one?"

Hazel facepalmed him and pushed his head down to the pillow. "Yeah, only if you are the one who gets pregnant."

She was not against the idea, since she had chosen to stay with him, but they had a lot of things to do; being pregnant again was not on her list. Yet.

"I like the process, though."

Hazel chuckled when she heard that. This man could be an expert on being a pervert. She then leaned over to kiss his lips. "Hm. I like the process, too."

If Ashlyn were not there and it wasn’t time for Ranon to get up and go to work, he would tackle his wife and pin her down on the bed.

"Come on, get up. I have cooked breakfast for you." Hazel put Ashlyn on Ranon’s chest and let the baby wake her father.

Ranon hugged his daughter and planted a gentle kiss on her cheek, but Ashlyn started crying and pushed his face away.

"I think your stubble hurt her." Hazel caressed his jaw. Ranon had been busy. It seemed he forgot to shave, but somehow, it made him look even more pleasant.

Hazel would prefer this, but she knew Ranon wouldn’t, since he couldn’t kiss his daughter without hurting her.

Today was a peaceful morning, and if this were how they started the day for the rest of her life, Hazel wouldn’t complain.

She stared at Ranon and their daughter and felt an immense sense of satisfaction, which led to protectiveness. They needed to find who had placed the hit as soon as possible, because their daughter’s life would be compromised as well, the longer they dragged this matter out.

Ranon seemed to have the same thought.

Right at that time, Ranon’s phone rang. Hazel took it from the table and saw there was only a phone number on the screen.

"Here." She handed the phone to Ranon, and he answered it. She could hear a woman’s voice from the other end, which sounded frantic, but she couldn’t grasp the words she said.

Meanwhile, Ranon listened quietly and then hung up the phone after he said that he would be there.

"What happened?" Hazel could feel the mood shift.

"My father passed away this morning."

"What?" Hazel didn’t know how to react when she heard that.

***

Everything happened so fast. The media received the news almost immediately. Thus, by the time Ranon and Hazel arrived at the Leighton family’s house, a few reporters were already waiting at the gates.

"Are you okay?" Hazel asked Ranon because he had been very quiet on their car ride here, which was not something worth mentioning on any other occasion. But this time, it was different.

"I am fine," Ranon replied. "I am not happy that he is no longer breathing down my neck, but I am not sad either. It feels like a stranger has died, and as an outsider, I can only offer sympathy," he confided to her.

In a way, Ranon had always felt like an outsider since he joined the family only a few years ago. His relationship with Denzel was not close. The tension between them was no joke.

Probably, what Ranon felt was the same as what Hazel was feeling at this moment. She remembered how Denzel could be a pain in the ass, but she neither felt happy upon hearing of his death, nor did she feel sad.

The car then stopped right in front of the main door of the house. Ranon came out first and was holding the door open for Hazel when Ema rushed out of the house, going straight to Ranon with the obvious intention to hug him as tears streamed down her face.

This bitch.

Hazel narrowed her eyes. Her first instinct was to tackle her down to the ground, but thankfully, she had so much control over her impulsiveness.

Instead, Hazel sidestepped and reluctantly hugged Ema right before she could touch her husband. Ema couldn’t dodge Hazel in time; thus, she couldn’t avoid the hug.

"Just because you are mourning doesn’t mean you can be a bitch now. Mind your manners, Ema." Hazel whispered in her ear, which made Ema shiver in fear at how cold and dangerous her voice sounded.

Hazel let Ema go. Several cars were parked in the front yard, which meant that the other children of Denzel had likely been informed and had arrived.

There was no reporter inside, as all of them were waiting outside the gates.

"I am sorry for your loss," Hazel said. She then took Ranon’s hand and pulled him inside the house, leaving Ema behind.

"You look upset." Ranon found her quick reaction amusing.

"I don’t want to hug her. The feeling makes my skin crawl." Hazel shuddered exaggeratedly. If they were in a different situation, Ranon would laugh, but the tension in the air was palpable as they went upstairs, where Denzel was lying on his bed.

Based on the information that they gathered from Laurel, as she called Hazel after Ema made a phone call to Ranon, she said that the cause of Denzel’s death was that he fell from his wheelchair.

He fell from the stairs along with his wheelchair this early morning, and Ema only found him an hour later, which was already very late.

They called the family doctor, who confirmed Denzel’s death. They didn’t bring him to the hospital because it was obvious that Denzel had been dead for a while.

The funeral was in process, as Daniel had handled most of it. There wouldn’t be a further investigation into whether foul play was involved.

"I will wait here," Hazel said when they arrived at Denzel’s bedroom. Ranon entered the room to see his father, and Hazel approached Laurel. "I am sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." Laurel smiled. Her eyes were red, but she was no longer crying. She looked exhausted.

It had been a difficult year for her. It started with her divorce, losing her family, and her fight with Denzel, and now she had to lose her father as well.

"He is not always a good father, but I will miss him." Laurel seemed to talk to herself more, and Hazel could only pat her back soothingly.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw Eilon. He was sitting on the floor next to a drawer, hugging himself.