Chapter 179: I WANT MY MOTHER
"Don’t worry," Hazel said lightly. She waved her hand at Yara, whose face was as white as a sheet. "If Ranon is angry, I will deal with him."
Yara didn’t even know that Hazel owned a gun, or what she was doing here, or who those people were. All Hazel told them was to come here and arm themselves.
Currently, they were standing right outside Olivia’s apartment door with a bloody dead body on the floor.
"Come, we need to close the door. This is not a pretty sight to be seen," Hazel said lazily, as she caressed her stomach. Her baby was getting bigger, and she felt her body was heavier.
It didn’t faze her to see this gruesome sight, and Yara noticed that, too. Was she always like this? It almost felt as if she was used to this scene.
Yara then moved the dead body away from the door so they could close it. Hazel then entered. "Please, don’t go inside before there is a confirmation from Nolu."
There were two gunshots heard from inside, and people were cursing. Orders were being thrown in the air as Ranon’s people infiltrated the room.
Hazel didn’t know how many people were inside, but whoever they were, they wouldn’t bring so many people with them. After all, Olivia lived alone; they wouldn’t need many men to deal with her.
It would be easier if it were a mere robbery case.
"Okay." Hazel easily agreed with her.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long for them to subdue the people inside, as they didn’t expect this ’visit.’ Nolu came to report what happened inside, but then he added.
"There is... Carl here," he said.
"Carl?" Hazel was surprised. She didn’t expect Laurel’s stepson to be here. "What is he doing here?" It didn’t make sense for him to be involved with Olivia. They didn’t even know each other.
After Nolu said it was clear for her to enter the perimeter, she walked inside.
"They are in the living room," Nolu informed her. "We need to call an ambulance; Ms. Olivia was shot."
That was another piece of shocking news for Hazel as she hastened her steps. The thing was way worse than she imagined.
Meanwhile, Yara started calling Mr. Leighton to inform him what happened. They left in a hurry; thus, they had not yet reported this to him.
"Hey, you talk to Mr. Leighton." Yara dreaded her boss; she grabbed one of the bodyguards to talk to him instead.
"Why me?" He widened his eyes. He was scared of Mr. Leighton’s reaction, too.
And in the end, it was Nolu who grabbed the phone and told Ranon about what happened. Understandably, the man was furious.
***
"What? What happened?" Lucian jumped out of his skin when Ranon suddenly stood up during his report on the progress of their new project, while Ares frowned.
"Ranon?" Ares stood up as well when he saw him storm out of the room without any explanation.
Meanwhile, Lucian was too shocked to grasp the situation quickly, but in the end, he rushed after them as well. "What now?" he grumbled.
He hoped it was not business-related.
On the other hand, Ares managed to squeeze himself inside the lift before the door was closed.
"What happened?" Ares repeated the same question when he saw Ranon’s expression. He knew him well enough to say things were not good if he had this kind of expression. "What’s going on?"
"Hazel."
Ranon only gave him that answer before he rushed towards his car and started the engine. This time Ranon didn’t let him enter and drove away at breakneck speed, leaving Ares in the dust.
A short while later, Lucian finally managed to catch up to them. He was panting heavily. "What... What happened?"
"Hazel." Ares gave the same answer.
"What happened with her?"
"I don’t know," Ares said. He shook his head. He had been worried about the situation between Hazel and Ranon because lately he had become too attached to her.
No, he was obsessed with learning more about her, especially given the mystery surrounding that woman and her connection to River Lozen.
It was not a good sign. Ares felt Ranon was too focused on her.
While Lucian cheered their togetherness and hoped they could end up together since they looked compatible with each other, Ares had a different opinion.
He wished their marriage agreement would end soon and smoothly.
***
"Carl?" Hazel called him softly. He was sitting on the floor, hyperventilating. "It’s okay, Carl. It’s okay."
"I didn’t want to kill her. I didn’t mean to kill her." He rocked his body back and forth, mumbling the same thing over and over again, as he watched the medical staff carry Olivia away.
Even when Hazel wanted to keep it secret, she couldn’t do it. There were so many people here who needed medical attention.
Their injuries were not merely scrapes or bruises. Olivia was shot in her stomach, Marcus was unconscious, while Nelson and Lyle were badly beaten up.
What was going on here?
The smell of blood was nauseating. Even though this was not the first time for Hazel to be in this kind of bloody scene, she didn’t think she would ever get used to it.
"No, I am sorry... I am sorry."
"It’s okay, Carl. It’s okay. It’s over."
One of the medical staff wanted to approach Carl to check whether he sustained any injuries, but he became hysterical instead.
"It’s okay, I don’t think he is injured. He is only shocked." Hazel waved the medical staff away. She couldn’t come with the ambulance because Carl was like this, so she sent Yara to take care of it.
"I want my mother..." Carl started crying like a child. "I want my mother..."
Hazel frowned. Which mother did he want? "Do you want me to call Laurel?"
Upon hearing her name, Carl stopped crying, and his eyes focused on Hazel. They were filled with dread. "I want my mother..."
***
The distance between the Leighton Building and Olivia’s apartment was quite far; even when Ranon floored the acceleration, it still took him a while before he could reach there.
And when he finally arrived, all the injured people had been taken to the hospital. There were a few police officers who talked to Yara and Nolu while Hazel tried to calm Carl down.
"Mr. Leighton," one of the officers called, but when he approached, Ranon waved his hand to dismiss him.
"Later." He looked at Nolu. "Where is my wife?"
"Mrs. Leighton is in the living room with Carl." Nolu immediately told him.
Ranon found it strange to have Carl among this mess, but he didn’t dwell on the thought and looked for Hazel quickly.
She was sitting on the sofa, while Carl was next to her. He was talking to someone on the phone, nodding, and crying without saying anything.
"Ranon." Hazel caught his figure immediately. And she stood up. She was ready to explain the situation to him but stopped herself when she saw the storm on his expression.
"Come here." His voice was cold and rigid.
He didn’t wait for Hazel to respond when he grabbed her hand and took her to the first bedroom he found. He was rather rough with her, and somehow, Hazel was scared.
"Wait, don’t be angry, let me explain..." Hazel shut her eyes when Ranon closed the door and pushed her against it. He used his hand to cushion her head, but he was a little bit rougher with her.
"How will you explain this?" Ranon narrowed his eyes dangerously as his other hand wrapped around her neck, as if he was going to choke her.
Now Hazel understood why Ema was scared of him when he was livid; she could feel her soft, fragile, little heart was trembling upon hearing the way he spoke.
Hazel quickly explained what happened and how she received a phone call from Olivia and how she got here.
"Why did she call you?"
Shoot.
Hazel forgot that Olivia actually called River, not her. Her brain had been working very slowly lately. Probably because she had become lazy nowadays.
"River called me," Hazel said in a small voice. Ranon already knew about the fact that she was in contact with River, even though he didn’t know how Hazel could relate to people from the Lozen family.
After all, she had tapped his phone. She learned some information from it.
"Why didn’t she come here herself?"
"Uhm. I don’t know."
His grip around her neck tightened. He was going to snap her neck at this rate. It looked like he was conflicted.
"Ranon, you hurt me..." Hazel whimpered. She couldn’t push him away. "I can’t breathe..."
A flicker of rage crossed his eyes before he regained his control. "Fuck. I feel I want to strangle you."
His grip around her neck loosened. "You almost did..." Hazel breathed greedily.
"I don’t care what the relationship between you and River is; if she puts you in danger, I am going to hunt her down."
He had promised that he wouldn’t force her to explain anything to him. The relationship between them was strictly contractual, but for God’s sake, this woman drove him crazy!
The urge to protect her was as strong as the urge to kill her.
Why was she always in danger? She had just been kidnapped not so long ago, and now this.
"Don’t worry, I will handle..." Hazel thought Ranon was angry with her because she caused trouble for him, but he cut her off sharply.
"Don’t do anything."