CHAPTER 256: WHO ARE YOU?

Ranon noticed Hazel was on her phone, grinning from ear to ear, on their way back from the little picnic they had.

"Who are you texting?" Ranon wondered because he couldn’t think of anyone that Hazel would happily interact with.

"Laurel," Hazel replied without lifting her head from the phone, and this answer surprised Ranon.

"I didn’t know the two of you were close." Although they claimed they were not close, Ranon noticed that Hazel interacted with Laurel more than with anyone else, even her siblings.

"Of course, we are not," Hazel said lightly. She then showed Ranon the text exchange between the two of them when they stopped at the red light.

Meanwhile, Ashlyn was sleeping peacefully in the backseat. She was very tired, and Ranon had to bathe her before they left the park because she was very dirty.

In the text, Hazel sent a video of Ashlyn walking. She looked adorable as she giggled when Hazel and Ranon cheered her up.

"She keeps trying to call me for a video chat, but I told her that Ashlyn is sleeping." As Hazel said this, she received a video chat request from Laurel. Hazel declined it with a cunning smile. She was messing with Laurel. "I have asked her to stop calling, but she doesn’t listen."

And then came a flurry of texts from Laurel.

[I am going to your house now, you will regret declining my phone call, Hazel Leighton!]

Hazel grinned from ear to ear when she read the threat, and Ranon could only shake his head inwardly to see the two of them. It seemed that seeing Laurel upset could alleviate Hazel’s mood, and Ranon didn’t want to bother with them.

Ranon was glad he took a day off today and saw his daughter walk for the first time. It would be a moment he would always remember.

He leaned over and kissed Hazel’s head. She turned her head and grinned as she kissed his shoulder.

"Happy?"

"Yes."

***

Laurel was upset because Hazel kept rejecting her video call requests, and she was ready to go to her place the first thing in the morning.

It was already very late, and Laurel was about to sleep as she put her phone down. Suddenly, the screen lit up, displaying a text message from Carl.

[I will go back to school tomorrow.]

Laurel smiled when she saw the text. Her heart warmed up. It still pained her to see Carl in person, as it reminded her of the betrayal and what she had endured the previous year. But then she figured it was fine to text from time to time.

The last time Laurel saw him was in the hospital after his suicide attempt. They talked for a while, and they resumed texting occasionally.

Laurel stared at the text for a long second before she typed a reply for him and then put the phone down.

[Good job. I am proud of you.]

On the other side, Carl smiled to see the text. He then put his books inside his backpack. After everything, he needed to repeat this year.

His grandmother told him to homeschool, but Carl refused. He didn’t want to be trapped inside this house the whole time. This place is suffocating; he needed to go out for fresh air.

And after a huge amount of money that James splurged for his case, he finally found some kind of normalcy now.

Carl got better, especially when he could talk to his mother again, Laurel. He held himself back from texting her all the time, but when he did, she would always reply, and her answer would improve his mood.

I am proud of you.

Carl realized that only Laurel would say such a thing to him. At this point, he couldn’t care less about his father, let alone his biological mother.

***

Hazel woke up early this morning and prepared breakfast for her little family with the help of Renna.

"Renna." Hazel hugged the old lady from behind.

"You look happy today." Renna chuckled when Hazel acted spoiled. She caressed her head like when she was little.

Hazel didn’t know why she acted this way, but she was in a good mood. "Ashlyn walked for the first time yesterday," she said cheerfully.

"Really?" Renna turned around, and Hazel pulled out her phone to show the video that she captured in the park.

In the video, Ashlyn was trying to stand up. She made a face when her hands touched the grass, but she stood up and then walked, even though she would fall after a few steps; she waddled toward her mother.

Hazel couldn’t tell Renna yesterday because they came home too late, and Renna had already slept.

"Oh, she is so cute! Send the video to me," Renna gushed.

Later, Hazel showed the video to Yara, Nolu, and her other seven bodyguards. It was impulsive for her, and it was rather childish to act this way, but then she had never felt this way.

After living as River, who had to be very secretive and low-key, when she couldn’t even tell anyone anything about herself, it felt great to finally have something to show off.

Close to afternoon, Laurel came over, and Hazel had expected her visit.

"Where is my niece?" Laurel didn’t even greet Hazel, as she went straight to Ashlyn, who was being held by Peni. "Give her to me."

Ashlyn raised her arms when Laurel picked her up. The little one giggled and babbled. "Up... up..."

Meanwhile, Hazel just came out of her bedroom. She was ready to leave.

"Where are you going?" Laurel looked at Hazel, raising her brows.

"I need to run some errands. I will leave Ashlyn to you."

"Run some errands?" Laurel scrunched her nose. "I thought Ranon surrounded you with a lot of bodyguards. Why do you need to run an errand?" Yet, Laurel waved her hands. "Go, go. Don’t worry; I will take care of her. Oh, can I bring her out?"

Hazel thought about it for a while. "No, she had been outside for a long time yesterday. I want her to stay inside."

"Fine." Laurel rolled her eyes dramatically and waved her hand again to shoo Hazel away. "Go, go now."

Hazel made a face, but for a moment, she saw how happy Laurel was with Ashlyn, since she couldn’t have a child on her own.

That was why what Carl did hit her so hard, because she wanted to have a child, but unfortunately, it was not going to happen for her.

Despite everything, Hazel could see how much Laurel loved Ashlyn, especially since the little one was also her blood, even though Ranon and Laurel were half-siblings.

"Don’t bring her outside!" Hazel shouted from the door before she left.

"I know!" Laurel shouted back.

Since Ranon was busy taking care of the company—there were a lot of things that needed his attention due to Denzel’s passing and the transition after the buyout—Hazel took it upon herself to deal with the other problems.

She was going to meet with Arthur this afternoon. They would discuss further about the next step they would take to figure out who wanted to kill Ranon. Of course, revenge was on the way against the Barlowes and the McKennas.

Currently, the two hundred of Lozen’s men that Ranon managed to gather stayed in the boxing club owned by Desgar.

Since Ranon took charge of this building, it had been undergoing significant renovation. He also purchased the land surrounding the building for expansion.

The boxing club was closed due to the reason that there was a renovation.

"Hazel, long time no see." Dalton approached Hazel. He smiled brightly. "Are you going to meet with Arthur Lozen?"

"Yes, where is he?" Hazel noticed Dalton’s excitement.

"He is inside," Dalton said cheerfully.

"Why are you so happy?" Hazel narrowed her eyes at him.

"Do you know him? He is Arthur Lozen!" Dalton waved his hand, gesturing to Hazel that she might not know this man. "Let me tell you about him. Before the betrayal of the McKennas and the Barlowes, the Lozen family was the ruler of the underworld; they were the real assassins. I can tell you more about them..."

Hazel made a face when she heard that. Of course, she knew more than what Dalton thought. But she didn’t say anything and let him take her to the inner building, where she saw her father talking to one of his men.

"Can we talk for a while?" Hazel asked.

Hazel knew the man that Arthur talked to; he was one of the best of Lozen’s men. It was hard to locate him, and it was even harder to bring him here.

If it were not for the promise that they would bring Arthur back, he wouldn’t have come willingly and might have killed a few of Ranon’s people.

Rye was fiercely loyal to Arthur.

"So, you will choose Rye as your second-hand man?" Hazel asked once they found a quiet corner where no one could hear their conversation. She talked formally, using a business-like tone.

"Yes," Arthur replied. "So, when will we do the test?"

"We will do it as soon as possible," Hazel replied. They were going to where Arthur buried River’s body, and they would do the second test on her.

It felt surreal for Hazel.

"Now, it is only the two of us," Arthur said in the same manner as Hazel. "Tell me, who are you? You are not Hazel Rose. Are you... River?"

"What makes you think that way?"