CHAPTER 250: FAMILY DINNER

"What do you want?" Ranon asked. Both of them were sitting outside on the balcony. The sky had turned red as the sun was about to set, and the lights from the buildings created a magical scene.

However, even though the sight was beautiful out here, Ranon’s eyes were fixed on the living room, where Hazel was sitting with their daughter, trying to make her eat solid food while Ashlyn kept nuzzling her face against her breasts.

Evelyn followed Ranon’s line of sight and watched through the glass door as Hazel became more frustrated with her baby, who kept pushing away the spoon.

"You were also not an easy child, you know," Evelyn said with a tinge of fondness.

But Ranon didn’t want to reminisce about the past. He shifted his attention back to his mother. She was the same as he remembered her, only a little bit older. She was still wearing her hair in the same style—a messy bun on top of her head.

"What do you want?" Ranon repeated his question.

When he appeared in public for the first time, he thought his mother would be looking for him. It was easy to find him since his name was all over the media, especially after his success in reviving the nearly collapsed company and recovering strongly from that setback.

Yet, she didn’t show herself, and only now did she come, a few weeks after Denzel’s funeral.

Ranon had never deliberately looked for her; therefore, he didn’t know what was going on with her life.

"I am married and have two children. A twelve-year-old girl and a ten-year-old boy." Evelyn turned around and then stared at the city lights. She waited for Ranon’s response, but he said nothing, so she continued. "I know you must hate me for what I have done to you, but I would not look for you if I were not in this difficult situation."

"Get to the point. I don’t remember you liking small talk."

Evelyn smiled. She then took a deep breath as if she were going to jump from the building. "I need money. My youngest is sick and needs to be operated on. I don’t have the amount of money that is required for that."

Ranon nodded. He took out Ares’s name card and handed it to Evelyn. "Call this number and tell him how much you need. Anything else?"

If money were the problem, then it was not a problem at all since he had plenty of it. All Ranon wanted to do now was have a peaceful evening with his little family. Evelyn had consumed his time more than he liked.

Their reunion felt lukewarm, as if they had only seen each other two or three days ago, not after being apart for nearly two decades. There was no emotional embrace or a drop of tears. Everything felt very formal.

Evelyn took the card and read it briefly. She then put it inside her purse.

"If there is nothing else, I will ask someone to send you back," Ranon said in a dismissive tone.

Their eyes met, but Evelyn didn’t feel any emotion from him. It felt like Ranon was staring at a stranger, but then, she was indeed a stranger to him.

"Thank you," Evelyn said.

Ranon then picked up his phone and called someone to prepare a car for her. "A car will wait for you in the lobby. You can tell him where you want to go."

Evelyn remained silent for a while before finally speaking up. "I didn’t mean to leave you that day, but I couldn’t live that way anymore. By then, I had raised you for fifteen years, and you were capable enough and responsible enough to live by yourself."

"Okay," Ranon said. He would rather not have a conversation about the past. He wanted her to leave.

However, Evelyn was not done yet. "I had paused my life for you and dedicated all my time to raising you. I needed to live my life, too. I know that you will not forgive me, but at least, can you understand me?"

"I can’t. Now that I have my own child, I don’t understand your reason even more."

"You don’t live in poverty, and you don’t live the life I lived."

Ranon found this ridiculous. Ema left because she couldn’t handle living in poverty, and now he learned his mother felt the same.

What a lame excuse. It was not like he lived in luxury at that time.

"But I’m proud to see that you are now." Evelyn didn’t say that in a condescending way. She was genuine with what she said. There was a hint of shame in her voice.

"Your car is waiting. You can leave now." Ranon then walked through the glass door. He kissed Hazel’s forehead and picked Ashlyn up in his arms. The baby giggled, and Ranon took the food from Hazel’s hand as he walked into the second living room.

On the other hand, Hazel glanced at Evelyn for a brief moment before she went to follow Ranon.

***

"Are you okay?" Hazel caressed Ranon’s hair as he rested his head on her shoulder. They were lying on the bed now, after Evelyn left three hours ago. Ashlyn was sleeping on her chest.

Hazel had never thought she would be in this situation. Ranon was hugging her and her baby was clutching to her. She couldn’t move because of them; they were so clingy. But Hazel wouldn’t complain.

"Yes." Ranon closed his eyes. "I am just tired."

Hazel waited for him to bring up the topic of his mother, but when he didn’t say anything, she didn’t push him. If he wanted to talk about it, he would. Hazel didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable while processing what had just happened.

After some time, when Hazel thought Ranon had fallen asleep, she got out of bed and put Ashlyn in her crib.

However, when she returned to her bed, Ranon was awake. He was staring at her. "Rize informed me that he found Arthur’s location in Goscht Country. Do you want to take a trip down there?"

Hazel climbed into bed and nestled in his arms. "Sure."

"Hm. I will arrange the trip." Ranon hugged Hazel closer. They didn’t bring up the topic about Evelyn anymore after that, and Ranon pretended his mother had never made an appearance.

But Hazel tried to find more information about Evelyn and where she lived. Ranon told her about the reason why she came here, and when Hazel looked into it, surprisingly, Evelyn didn’t lie. She indeed had two children, and the youngest one was hospitalized, waiting for an operation.

Meanwhile, Ranon didn’t even try to find out whether his mother scammed him for money or not. It was not noteworthy for him.

And a week before Ranon and Hazel left for Goscht Country, Greyson invited them to have dinner at the Rose family’s house.

Greyson wanted to mend things with Hazel, but his political career was on the way, so he couldn’t spend time with her and his granddaughter as much as he wanted.

On the other hand, Logan had visited Hazel and Ashlyn several times, attempting to get the baby to say his name after he learned that Ashlyn had already said ’Mama.’

Meanwhile, Dylan didn’t seem to care. He was still the same coldhearted man who didn’t care about other people, but himself.

"You are going to Goscht Country?" Greyson asked during the dinner. He showed his condolences for Ranon’s loss. He also came to the funeral, but because Ranon didn’t seem as if Denzel’s death affected him in any way, he didn’t mention anything about it anymore. "Will you take Ashlyn with you?"

"No, she will stay at home with Renna and the babysitter," Ranon replied.

Currently, Ashlyn was sitting on Greyson’s lap, playing with her rubber toy as her grandfather spoon-fed her.

Hazel noticed how well Greyson treated his granddaughter. He had asked to carry her around ever since they arrived at the house, while Logan could only sulk because he didn’t get the chance.

"Why don’t you leave her here? Bring Renna and the babysitter here. It will be good if there is another family member around." Greyson then looked at Logan. "He can help when I am not around. He has nothing better to do."

Even until now, Logan hadn’t made any contribution. He was the spender in the family, and Dylan had threatened to cut him off financially. Yet, Logan called his bluff. He said he was going to sell his share in the company to the competitor if he did that.

Logan stopped the spoon mid-air before it entered his mouth and gave his father a nasty look but immediately schooled his expression before Greyson noticed it.

Meanwhile, Dylan didn’t say much. He kept checking his phone a few times; he was very disconnected from what was going on at the dining table.

"We will think about that." Ranon thought it was not a bad idea. It would only work if Greyson agreed that he put his people around the house and if Hazel agreed to that. Both of them said so.

"Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t want any strangers around the house," Dylan said, speaking for the first time since the diner started.

"If you don’t like it, you can stay somewhere else while Ashlyn is here. We have a few properties around the company’s area."

Dylan glared at his plate, and Logan whistled. This was the first time their father sided with Hazel instead of taking his first son’s side.