CHAPTER 255: THE FIRST STEP

"Something happened at home?" Ranon asked. They returned to their bedroom. It was already eight o’clock in the evening, and they had not yet eaten anything.

Ranon had ordered dinner delivered to their bedroom because Hazel wanted to pack. They had to catch the earliest flight.

Her husband had his men stay in Arthur’s apartment to deal with the aftermath.

"No," Hazel replied curtly. Ranon knew it meant the opposite.

He hugged her from behind and asked more gently this time. "What happened? Something is bothering you. Is Ashlyn fine?"

"Yes, she is fine. But she refused to talk to me." Hazel looked sullen. "She intentionally didn’t look at the camera and turned around. What audacity from that child! I wonder where she got that temper from."

Ranon laughed when he heard that. If it were just between the two of them, it would be obvious who would easily become cranky and sulky for a long time.

"What? Why are you laughing?" Hazel wiggled her body away from his arms. "Are you laughing at me?"

"Yes, because you are cute."

Hearing that, Hazel hissed. "I am still upset with you, Ranon Leighton. I am going to carry my gun wherever I go."

And with that, she turned around and walked away.

Ranon imagined this was how their little girl turned around and pissed her mother off, but Hazel still asked where their daughter got that temper from.

***

Michael was not pleased with Arlo. Truth be told, it had been a long time since he lost respect for his brother.

Ever since he cheated on River with Aubrey and put them in this mess, he had been on the verge of hating his brother, although he wouldn’t harm him.

When he was little, Michael looked up to Arlo so much, and he thought of River as a sister he didn’t have.

However, this idiot brother of his jeopardized everything.

"Did you tell Lyle what you have done?" Arlo knew the answer, but he wanted to be certain.

"No. I want him dead. Lyle’s plan took so long."

"Do you even know that you have ruined the plan?! You have alerted them with this unnecessary murder attempt!"

"They have already alerted! What’s the difference?!"

Arlo wanted to strangle his younger brother so much. He didn’t even know what he was doing, nor did he have any idea how to make a plan.

"What? Are you scolding me for that? I didn’t send our men or the McKennas’. What’s your problem?!" Michael snarled back.

This time, Arlo didn’t know what else to say; it felt as if he had to explain to an adult why two plus two equalled four.

"This will be the last time I hear you make an unauthorized move. If you can’t hold yourself back from causing trouble, I will pull you out of this mission!"

"It’s not fair!" Michael roared angrily. "I am here to help!"

"Yes, but you’ve created more trouble than being helpful!"

***

The three of them were leaving early this morning. When their plane landed, a car was waiting for Ranon and Hazel, while Arthur would take a separate car to his people.

This time, he cooperated well with the couple. It had been a few months since he left this country, and he missed it.

Meanwhile, when Hazel arrived, Ashlyn crawled to her father, as Hazel had to take off her shoes first and came after.

Ranon picked his daughter up and kissed both of her cheeks. Ashlyn giggled when Ranon raised her high, but she started crying and stretched out her arms toward Hazel, asking her mother to hold her when she saw her come.

Hazel was rather surprised; this was the same baby who would walk away whenever she tried to talk on a video call.

Seeing his daughter crying, Ranon went to his wife. He took her handbag and handed Ashlyn to her. "She missed you."

"Really?" Hazel picked up her daughter, and the little one snuggled against her chest. Hazel patted her boobs. "Yeah, I doubt that."

***

"He left me with nothing!" Ema said hysterically to her sister while Lena listened to her woes silently. She was not the only one with problems.

Her man’s wife was finally fed up with her husband, and she was filing for a divorce. He was trying to calm his wife down, so he needed to persuade her to drop the case.

"You should have secured some of his assets. I told you before, right? But you always said it was not necessary, that you have a son with him, that Eilon is your leverage."

Lena had told Ema about this matter countless times in the past, but she just didn’t listen. The whole process required creativity in seduction and whatnot, whereas Ema had wanted to be out of her marriage ever since the first year of it.

As Ema didn’t have a place to live, despite the inheritance she got, Daniel let her live in the house and didn’t kick her and Eilon out to fend for themselves.

It was very kind of Daniel to do that, but it felt like a charity for Ema. It broke her heart to think about all the years she spent with Denzel, only to end up with nothing.

She had wasted her youth and her prime. And all for what? To giving birth to a son that Denzel despised because Eilon was neither a prodigy nor strong. He was weak and sensitive, Denzel said.

Countless times, Ema saw the look of disappointment in Denzel’s eyes when Eilon came to him to show his drawings instead of a business idea or a solution to the world’s famine.

She hated him from the deepest of her heart; even his death didn’t make her sad.

"Don’t nag me about that, Lena." Ema lay down on her back. Both of them were inside Lena’s bedroom. Ema came here after she dropped Eilon at school.

Without Denzel, the house felt better, but it didn’t feel as if Ema belonged there anymore. Daniel had given her options: she could stay, or if she wanted, she could choose a house, and Daniel would buy it for her.

Ema had not yet decided what she wanted to do, and Daniel was very patient. He said to Ema that she could take her time, because she was still mourning.

But no, Ema didn’t mourn for Denzel. She was done with that man a long time ago, so his death meant nothing to her.

"Be careful with your next move, Ema." Lena was spacing out. She didn’t have the mental capacity to listen to her sister’s misery.

"I know..." Ema closed her eyes, and all she could think of was Ranon.

If only...

That ’if’ kept haunting her even in her waking moments. And when Denzel was gone, the feeling was getting stronger.

Ema hated herself because she was no longer as young as Hazel. Probably, that was one of the reasons why Ranon didn’t look her way. She was not the young girl that he had met in their early twenties.

If only Hazel died...

***

Ranon watched Hazel sleeping with Ashlyn curled beside her. They had the same serene expression in their sleep.

He approached them and placed a gentle kiss on their foreheads before he lay down next to his baby. Hazel was sleeping with her clothes on. It seemed that she was too exhausted to take them off, and Ashlyn had been very clingy with her.

Hazel slowly weaned the little one, and Ashlyn was not happy about it.

The next morning, Ranon decided to take a day off and take his family to a picnic to make up to Ashlyn for the time when they were away. Hazel was more than delighted to do so.

It had been a long and tense week. They needed to unwind a little bit.

Therefore, in the morning, Renna had prepared their food, and an hour later, they were already on the road. Hazel blasts the car with a cheerful song, not a sad one.

"New song you like?" Ranon glanced at Hazel. She was singing along to the song while Ashlyn giggled in the backseat.

"Hm? I heard this song when Peni played it for Ashlyn." Hazel kept singing.

Out there, the weather was nice. It was a perfect day for a picnic, and they had a blast, as it was Ashlyn’s first time being out in the open area.

She was scared at first and didn’t want to touch the grass without her shoes, but once she got acclimated to it, she loved it.

Renna had packed two pieces of Ashlyn’s clothes, so it wouldn’t be a problem if she made this one dirty.

There were several people who were there with their families, too, so Ashlyn got to meet with other children around her age.

She had not yet walked, but she could crawl very fast, and she liked to observe her surroundings.

"Dadada... up, up..." Ashlyn raised both of her arms so Ranon would pick her up, but when he did, she asked to be put down. "Down... down..."

Ranon obliged, and Ashlyn did it several times, which made Hazel laugh. It was a good thing their daughter did it to her father, because if it were her, she would just hand her over to Ranon.

But when Ashlyn heard Hazel’s laughter, her attention shifted to her.

"Mamaaa..."

Ashlyn was sitting on the grass, and Hazel stopped laughing. "Oh, no..."

But then, Ashlyn stood up and took her first step toward her mother.