CHAPTER 244: A LIST

Ranon stared at the two documents in his hands. There was a lazy smile on his lips. They were the two contracts he had with Hazel, but he didn’t need them anymore.

Three nights ago, Hazel was rambling about the benefits of staying. She also demanded a few things, which sounded silly, but Ranon let her have her moment, since it was not easy for her to admit defeat.

At the very least, she had to put up a final good fight.

’So, since I benefit more from this arrangement, let’s have a marriage for real.’ That was what she said at the end of her speech.

Of course, Ranon agreed with whatever terms that she had, including the silly one when she said she was going to leave the moment Ranon had an affair, whether it was an emotional one or, even more so, if it was a physical one.

’I will leave, and you will never see me again.’ It wasn’t only a warning but also a threat, which Ranon was happily obliged to accept.

"Mama... ma..." Ashlyn babbled. The little one was sitting on Ranon’s lap, stretching out her arms to take the documents.

"Hm. This is the agreement with your mama," Ranon said. He put away the documents and picked her up so she would face him. "Your mama will stay now. You will have your mother. I will never let her go, okay?"

Ashlyn didn’t understand what he was talking about, but she laughed merrily. The sound of her laughter melted Ranon’s heart. He kissed both of her eyes; they looked so much like Hazel’s.

Aside from her nose, everything else was Hazel’s. His genes were no match for hers. But Ranon loved this mini version of his wife.

"Are you happy?" Ranon kissed Ashlyn’s cheeks gently.

***

The next few days, Hazel didn’t hear anything from Aubrey, but she didn’t think much of it. She could chicken out and back down, since she realized her life depended on the Barlowes so much now that the Lozens had been destroyed.

More so, she was not raised to spy on others. She was used to getting everything easily. To think that she had to risk her life and sneak around instead of flaunting must be appalling for her.

However, two weeks later, when Hazel was in the hospital to get Ashlyn’s shot, Aubrey texted her.

Her baby was crying, and Ranon was consoling her after she got a shot. He specifically took a day off for this.

His expression was rather scary when he was holding the crying baby. Even the nurse, who was being smitten by him, didn’t stay to linger a little bit longer. Poor soul.

Ashlyn’s face had turned red, and she snuggled against Ranon’s neck while he patted her back soothingly.

Meanwhile, Hazel read the message from Aubrey. It contained a few names of clients that the Barlowes had accepted in the past four months.

In total, there were eleven of them. Hazel knew six of them. You could say they were regulars. She didn’t think they would target Ranon. However, she didn’t know the other five.

"What is it?" Ranon came over, and Hazel showed the text to him.

Ashlyn saw her mother and stretched out her little arms toward Hazel, asking for her comfort.

Hazel handed over the phone and took the baby from Ranon’s arms. They were still inside the room while the doctor left them for a moment.

"Do you know them?"

"Some of them, yes," Ranon replied. He took the phone from Hazel’s hand and read the message. He recognized some of the names; he even met three from the list. He only knew the other six names but had never met them, while the rest of them he had never heard of.

"From what I gathered, the hit on you was up again three months ago, so it could be anyone from that list. Have you had a problem with some of them?"

"Business rivals as usual; there is nothing new." Ranon didn’t seem concerned.

Hazel stared at her baby, who stretched out her arms toward her. Hazel held the baby’s tiny hand, but Ashlyn was still crying and pushed away her hand.

So, absentmindedly, as she was thinking about the list, Hazel raised Ashlyn slightly and let her touch her cheek instead; only then did the baby calm down as she nibbled on her jaw.

She found out about it a few days ago. Ashlyn liked it when Hazel pressed her cheek against hers. It calmed her down almost immediately, but it didn’t have the same effect with Ranon.

The doctor came, and they stopped their discussion to hear what she said, and after that, they could leave.

"Which one do you think is the most suspicious?" Hazel continued the question when they were out of the room and walked toward their car in the parking lot.

Hazel was still holding Ashlyn as the baby dozed off, nestling against Hazel’s neck. Ranon opened the car door for them and let them enter.

They then continued the conversation inside the car.

This became something normal for them to discuss, and Hazel was happy with her decision to stay. This time, when she looked at her daughter, she found her adorable.

***

Aubrey was holding Bryer against her chest. The baby was crying because he hit a drawer when he crawled around.

"Why is he not yet walking?" Becca asked as she walked past the nursery room and heard Bryer’s cry. The baby would be a year old a week from now, but he was still crawling, and he was still not talking, as his words were not articulated clearly. "Arlo was running on his first birthday."

Becca furrowed her brows as she stared at her grandson, as if she was trying to find what was wrong with the little one.

Aubrey didn’t like the way she looked at her son, and out of instinct, she hugged him a little bit tighter. "Every child is different."

"Are you trying to lecture me about how to raise a child? I have raised two amazing men; do you think you know better than me?"

"Of course not, I am sorry," Aubrey said. She lowered her head, not because she was afraid, but because she didn’t want Becca to see the rage and hatred in her eyes.

Becca then ranted for about fifteen minutes before she left the nursery room, but Aubrey had tuned her out the second she decided to reprimand her harshly.

She couldn’t care less about what Becca was thinking about her. At the beginning of her relationship with Arlo, Aubrey always tried to win Becca’s heart over. Aubrey thought, given her relationship with Arlo, she would become the madam of the house.

However, Becca had never really welcomed her.

But to be fair, she treated River the same too, even though Becca wouldn’t voice out her displeasure openly. She was rather afraid of River. No matter what, her stepsister had made a name for herself in the world of men.

Once again, Aubrey felt this jealousy inside her. She couldn’t stop this feeling, even with the fact that River had died.

"It’s okay, baby. It’s okay." Aubrey calmed Bryer down and then put him on his bed. Once she was sure he wouldn’t wake up, Aubrey walked away and headed to the kitchen.

Around this time Arlo would have been in his study; thus, she would play her role, delivering his food. She couldn’t say she was his wife, since they didn’t have any kind of relationship at this point; aside from Bryer, there was nothing that tied them down.

Aubrey had lost all of her feelings and respect toward him. And for a woman to finally detach their feeling and logic, they could become very scary and manipulative. After all, Aubrey had no one to rely on. She had to take care of herself and Bryer.

The information that she gave to Hazel was not without a price, but this was not the right time to demand the reward. She would ask Hazel when the time was right.

Aubrey entered the room; she brought a tray of food for Arlo’s lunch as he worked behind the desk like usual. He was in a terrible mood. Well, most of the time, he was in a terrible mood, especially when he couldn’t walk normally.

He didn’t like the snail’s pace of his treatment. Because of this, he stopped appearing in public and decided to tackle the paperwork himself.

Meanwhile, Michael had been hanging out with Lyle, as they were on a mission together. Aubrey knew about the hit on Ranon Leighton. When she texted Hazel about it, Hazel already knew and told her to find something useful, which irritated Aubrey. She was not her lackey.

"Do you want to eat now?" Aubrey asked. She put the tray on the table and then approached Arlo.

All the important paperwork was on full display on the table, because Arlo didn’t feel the need to hide it since he didn’t think Aubrey would have any use for it.

"You need to relax a bit," Aubrey said gently. She then went behind the chair and started massaging Arlo’s stiff shoulders.

Only at a moment like this would Arlo let Aubrey touch him as if she were his private masseuse. This fucking bastard.

It irked Aubrey. On the other hand, it allowed her to skim through the documents he was handling and get a better perception about what the Barlowes and the McKennas were up to.