CHAPTER 169: A REMINDER

Even when Ranon didn’t raise his voice, all of the men inside the room immediately jumped to their feet, as if the sofa burned their asses.

But Yara couldn’t do the same since Hazel was resting her head on her lap; she could only give Ranon an apologetic look and didn’t stand up until Hazel got up.

"You are here," Hazel said. She approached Ranon with light steps, beaming to see him, which neutralized the dangerous look on Ranon’s face.

The man was still not happy with how sloppy his bodyguards were, to the point he could stand there without them noticing him.

Ranon was thinking of changing them all, and Hazel could see through that. She tried to smooth the situation and appease her husband.

"I asked them to watch the movie with me," Hazel explained, which was the answer that Ranon had expected. "Come, watch the movie with me too."

At the very least, all of them had the decency to leave the two of them alone, and Yara took the apples from Ranon’s hand before she left.

"I can’t. I have work to do." Ranon’s voice was softer; he reached out to her hair and twisted her curls between his fingers. "There is someone I have to meet."

Of course, he didn’t say anything about Arthur, and Hazel didn’t think Ranon would be crazy enough to kidnap the head family of an assassin organization like the Lozen family.

Moreover, it was not unusual for Ranon to meet someone; his line of business required him to meet with a lot of people, and it would only give her a headache if she had to keep up with the people he met.

"Oh, okay." Hazel feigned sadness, or she might as well feel sad for real. "You are always very busy."

Ranon looked at her for a while. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and for a moment, he didn’t look like someone who was in a hurry.

Even though Lucian had urged him to come immediately, Ranon looked like he had all the time in the world for his wife.

"Should I quit my job and spend more time with you?"

The suggestion sounded silly to Hazel, and she laughed. "Don’t even think about that. We have a baby on the way, and I have a rather peculiar taste for pricey things."

Ranon laughed with her; her laugh was infectious. He realized how easy it was to laugh at her antics. "Hmm. I think I have to work my butt off for a long time to sate your peculiar taste." He leaned over and pressed his forehead against hers.

"You mean a year, right? After that I will not be your headache anymore." Hazel was still giggling, but she noticed the shifting emotion in Ranon when she said that. He straightened up his back, and Hazel looked up at him, but she couldn’t read what was in his mind.

"I need to go now." He planted a gentle kiss on her lips and then left.

Hazel knew the reminder of their one-year agreement was also a reminder for her. She couldn’t let herself be carried away with the comfort that he offered. This was not right; more so, she had mapped out her plans, and she couldn’t abandon that.

It would be disrespectful for her to let those people, who had wronged her, live their best lives.

But outside, when Ranon saw the bodyguards, who apparently became so busy to ensure the protection around the apartment even though nothing happened, he talked to them in passing.

"Half of you can stay here."

The meaning of that curt sentence didn’t register to them immediately, but then they realized their boss allowed them to continue watching the movie with his wife. Half of them, so she didn’t need to watch alone.

Hazel didn’t have friends, and she was not close with her family, so in Ranon’s absence, she would be all alone with Renna.

But the old servant didn’t have the heart to watch the crime scenes from the movie, and the soft side of Hazel wouldn’t subject her to that.

His wife was still a mystery for Ranon.

***

"I think this is not a rather proper way to have a conversation, Mr. Leighton," Arthur said; he didn’t even try to hide the disdain in his voice.

He was not tied up or shackled to the wall in a dungeon of nowhere; they were actually in one of Ranon’s properties.

They were alone inside the study room with a shelf big enough to cover the wall. From the window, you could see the sun was so bright, which meant Arthur had been waiting for this meeting for more than six hours until Ranon deigned him with his presence, which annoyed the hell out of him.

"This is not a conversation. This is an interrogation," Ranon corrected him dismissively; he couldn’t care less about being polite with the man that put his wife’s life in danger.

"I see." Ranon sat on his seat, but Arthur refused to sit down on the seat in front of him. It was a power play; he was not going to act like a subordinate in front of a man twenty years or so younger than him.

Instead, Arthur stood in front of the shelf and leaned his back against it, arms crossed, as his sharp eyes directed at Ranon.

"What do you want?"

"Tell me about River."

"What?"

This was a question that Arthur didn’t expect at all. He thought they were going to go through that interrogation of the kidnapping.

"We will get there soon; let’s start with this," Ranon suddenly said, as if he could understand what was in Arthur’s mind. "I am holding a grudge, Mr. Lozen; I am not going to leave you unscathed after what you have done to my wife."

But Hazel was right; they could use him and his sources. He could find out who had ordered the hit for the Leighton family.

That was the word that he didn’t say out loud. Having a family of assassins in his arsenal wouldn’t be bad either.

More so, he could ask about River.

This particular thing was what Hazel didn’t expect. Ranon’s curiosity about River now ran deeper than she expected.

"You can talk now," Ranon said when Arthur didn’t say anything, as if the old man waited for his permission to speak, which pissed him off even more.

One more thing that Hazel was right about Ranon: this man could piss you off with a few words easily.

***

Marcus was in and out of consciousness a few times, but every time he woke up, he would be in the same position; no one cared about him, they were told not to touch him, and they obeyed, understandably so, since they wanted to keep their lives.

He was kept there as a reminder for those who wanted to try to quit. There was no easy way out of here.

Even Nelson didn’t dare to come closer, but after a few days he watched how Marcus was facing a painful death, which was inevitable in his condition; he gritted his teeth and finally did what he should have done years ago.

No, he shouldn’t even have started this. He should have known better when he accepted the job that it would destroy the only person that he could call a friend.

With that thought, Nelson rushed out of the building. He headed to the place that he was familiar with, the place that someone like him shouldn’t be able to enter.

"I want to see Mr. McKenna. Tell him Nelson has something important."

The McKenna family — it was Olivia’s family. Nelson had been a pawn in their plan for years, strategically edging Marcus towards violence to demonstrate his worthlessness to Olivia.

It was Deryl McKenna who had orchestrated all of this.

He knew that Olivia was stubborn enough not to see reason, and she would only defy him even more when she was forced to leave that stupid young man.

Therefore, he needed her to come back to the family on her own.

It was also a form of punishment for her. The blow wouldn’t hurt as bad if it was not from the one that you cared for the most.

That was why Nelson had been the one who had been whispering ’crazy things’ into Marcus’s ears, telling him how unworthy he was and how Olivia could find someone else better than him. Telling him how she must have been cheating behind his back.

Because who would want someone like him?

It was easy enough, as Marcus had doubted himself since the beginning; the seed of being worthless was already there, and Nelson only needed to nurture it.

It was a long manipulation tactic, but it was also a long punishment for Olivia for daring enough to object to her own father.

"What do you want?" Deryl asked; he came to the living room after Nelson waited for him for two hours, indicating how insignificant he was in his eyes. "I didn’t ask you to come."

"He will not survive," Nelson said; he was extremely anxious in front of Deryl McKenna, knowing his connection to the Lozen family. "He is going to die if the boss doesn’t let him go."

Deryl was a half head taller than Nelson; he was well-built despite his old age, and there was this sharp and cunning look in his eyes that were so cold as if they were filled with killing intent.

"Good, let him die," Deryl answered without hesitation. "Is this the urgent thing you wanted to talk with me about?"