Chapter 173: RANON’S DUTY AS A HUSBAND
How could she have this twisted version in her mind after everything that he had done for her?! Even people around Arthur could tell that he was being biased in his treatment towards his daughters.
"She is still my daughter!" Arthur roared in her face. He was enraged; there was no word to explain how furious he was to Aubrey.
Even when he learned that Aubrey had shot River, he didn’t feel this intense rage, but right now he was on the brink of killing her.
"My daughter has gone missing! Your sister! What do you think I should do?! Dancing and singing?!" Arthur grabbed Aubrey’s shoulders and shook her body harshly, as if by doing so, he could get her back to her senses. "After all I have done for you, and you still thought it was not enough?!"
Arthur could feel the bitterness in his heart to think he had favored the wrong daughter. He thought he could give at least one of his daughters a normal life, a happy life.
But if this was what Aubrey thought after he had sacrificed almost everything for her, then he had made the biggest mistake in his life.
When Arthur spoke again, his voice dropped a few degrees; it sounded very cold and made Aubrey shudder.
"You are so greedy." He narrowed his eyes at his daughter. "You tried to kill River not because you love Arlo, but because you couldn’t stand the fact that he chose her over you."
That statement was not only for Aubrey but also for Arthur himself, as if when he said it out loud it would become the truth, because that was how he felt.
Everything was clear now.
On the other hand, Aubrey didn’t say anything; she shut her mouth because she was too scared to make a noise. Her father slapped her so hard, and now she could see the resentment in his eyes.
When exactly did she lose her father? The father that she knew wouldn’t look at her this way.
"You are not allowed to step out of this house until I say otherwise." Arthur dropped his hand from Aubrey’s shoulder because he was afraid the impulsive side of him would push her down from the balcony. "You are not going to meet with Arlo anymore. That child will have our family’s name."
Aubrey widened her eyes. "No! You are not going to do that! I will not allow it!" The baby was hers and Arlo’s; the baby would have his father’s family name. Arlo would come here to take them.
That was what Aubrey said to herself, but the fact was, Arlo didn’t even try hard to see their baby. Yes, she was angry and didn’t allow him to come near her, but he shouldn’t have given up so easily on them, right?
"I don’t need your permission to do that."
"I will not sign any documents to change Bryer’s family name!"
"You don’t need to."
Arthur’s influence was enough to change such a legal document. Aubrey didn’t need to sign anything, nor could she do something to prevent it.
With those cold parting words, Arthur confiscated her phone and restricted her access to any communication. In other words, Aubrey was currently under house arrest.
Arthur ended up not talking about the fact that Aubrey had shot River because he didn’t trust himself that he wouldn’t kill that daughter of his.
Meanwhile, Elise, who saw everything, didn’t say anything and just walked away as if nothing happened. She couldn’t care less about the turmoil within this family.
***
Marcus’s condition became even worse as Carl kept giving him the drugs religiously. He feared Viper, and he had nowhere to go. He didn’t come to school for days, but from what he learned, his father didn’t even look for him.
His family had shattered within less than a year, and somehow, he felt all of that happened because of him, especially when he remembered the way he talked to Laurel.
He was ashamed, and this feeling prevented him from leaving this wretched place because he didn’t want to face the reality out there.
"If he dies, it will be on you."
Carl lifted his head and saw Nelson. He just finished injecting more drugs into Marcus. Even he could tell that this man wouldn’t last for long.
And if he died... Just like what Nelson said, it would be on him. He killed someone. How could his life spiral into this?
Carl dropped the box; his hands were shaking as he took it again and tried to walk past Nelson, but he spoke to him in a low voice.
"Help me get him out of here."
"What? No. I can’t..." Carl shook his head. The idea terrified him, but actually it was Viper who frightened him as his vicious face came to his mind.
"Do you want to be a murderer?" Nelson gritted his teeth. This young boy had no guts at all, and he failed to ask the other people to help him. They were too scared to get on Viper’s bad side.
"I am not." Carl shook his head; he looked as if he was about to cry. "I am not a murderer."
"Yeah, say that to his face when he dies." Nelson nodded at Marcus, who crumpled in the corner of the room like trash.
However, Carl didn’t want to listen to him anymore and rushed out of the room, leaving Nelson with no other choice: whether he would do it alone or he was going to ask for help from her...
***
"What? Why all of a sudden?" Hazel was eating her ice cream while watching a horror movie when Ranon told her that they would have a dinner at the Leightons’ house. Denzel invited them to come.
"Not sure," Ranon replied, as he put away his phone. Denzel just called him earlier.
It was a rare occasion when Ranon came home early and sat idly with her while watching a horror movie. This was another thing that puzzled Ranon: because Hazel loved watching horror movies but she didn’t dare to watch them alone, she would need someone else there to stay with her.
Therefore, all of her bodyguards had been reduced in their status as Hazel’s movie buddies.
"Will you come?"
"Do you want to come?"
Hazel remembered Ema’s face and scrunched her nose. She didn’t like that woman, even though her son was rather cute. "No."
"Hm." Ranon then put his arm around her shoulder, and both of them continued to watch until Hazel fell asleep before the movie ended.
In the end, Ranon had to carry her back to the bedroom and tuck her in, but before that, Hazel woke up and started to take off her shirt and pants. She was used to sleeping naked, no matter how cold the room was.
She did that half asleep, almost like an instinct, and then curled herself.
The fact that Hazel could do something like that in front of him without being embarrassed showed how comfortable she was with him. She completely put her guard down.
With her body curled that way, it made her stomach bulge, and this fascinated Ranon somehow. He crouched down on the side of the bed and stared at her sleeping face. Her lips were slightly apart, and she snored softly.
"Who are you?" Ranon whispered, he raised his hand to caress her cheek, and then his eyes caught a movement from her belly. The baby was moving, so Ranon caressed the bump instead. "Be quiet, your mother is sleeping," he said gently.
He had never thought about having a family. At least when he was with Ema, he made his intention clear and let her choose whether to walk away, yet she decided to stay... for some time.
But now, it was different. He didn’t know what was so different about it; was this because of his circumstances? His status as a Leighton? Or was it because of this woman?
Hazel piqued his interest, and without him knowing it, he had spent a good amount of time trying to figure out who she was.
"Sleep." Ranon leaned over and kissed her belly before he kissed Hazel on her forehead.
Right at that time, his phone rang, and he immediately walked out of the bedroom to take the call after he tucked Hazel in.
"Yes?" Ranon picked up the call. He was on the balcony of his bedroom, staring at the city lights that Hazel loved the most.
"How long will you get here?" Denzel asked, assuming Ranon was already on the way after the phone call earlier.
"Maybe four to five days; there are a few documents I want you to see."
Denzel paused for a moment, but then he cursed at him. "I told you to come here right away! I don’t want to see any documents!"
Judging from the way he talked, Denzel was already in a bad mood; thus, Ranon’s presumptuous reply only enraged him even more.
"Come here now!" Denzel roared angrily and ended the call before Ranon could reply.
However, instead of listening to his father and immediately going to the Leightons’ house, Ranon chose to lie down with his wife.
He pulled Hazel close to him and closed his eyes. Hazel would be restless late at night, and he didn’t want to leave her alone.
It was his duty to ’serve’ her, right?
An hour later, there was another call from Denzel, but Ranon had muted his phone; thus, no matter how many times his father called him, no one picked it up.