Unexpected Marriage With Mr. Leighton: Rebirth of the Villain-Chapter 261: THE RESULT

"What are you doing?" Ranon held back his smile when he saw Hazel having a serious conversation with their daughter.

"She is telling me about the conversation between you and Desgar before," Hazel said seriously, while listening to Ashlyn’s babble.

His wife was upset because he didn’t wake her up to participate in the conversation. But how could he do that when he saw how exhausted she was?

"So, did you get the answer you want?" Ranon climbed on the bed and then lay down next to Ashlyn. The little one was still talking to her mother.

"She said it was a boring conversation," Hazel replied, pursing her lips. "She didn’t like being there."

"Is that so?" Ranon caressed Ashlyn’s cheek, and the baby leaned over to his touch. She moved to snuggle against her father’s chest. She was a bundle of joy in Ranon’s eyes. "So, has she told you the information about Axel Duncan that Desgar knows?"

"No, she told me to ask you." Hazel scooted closer. "So, tell me, what is it?"

Ranon then told her about the conversation, while Ashlyn interrupted a few times as if she were chiming in on the discussion.

The night was peaceful, and despite the heavy topic they were talking about, both of them felt very comfortable.

Hazel had never thought she would reach this kind of peace in her life. Lying down on the bed, talking about everything, while listening to their daughter’s laughter.

Life had never been so kind to her like this before, and Hazel wished this kind of peace would last forever.

Later on, when Ashlyn finally fell asleep, Ranon took her to Renna’s bedroom, and Hazel raised her brows.

They only gave Ashlyn to Renna if they wanted to have alone time. At this point, Renna might as well keep track of the days they did the deed.

But Hazel felt bad; she was not in the mood. She was very exhausted and only wanted to cuddle, so she told him that.

"Don’t be a pervert," Ranon said as he pulled her closer after he handed the sleeping Ashlyn to Renna. "I only want to be close to you."

If Ashlyn stayed, Ranon couldn’t hug Hazel because their daughter would occupy the middle part of the bed, separating the two of them.

"I am also tired," Ranon said, as he tangled his legs with hers.

"Okay." Hazel snuggled closer, hugging him back. "I think we need to make a bedroom for Ashlyn. Let her learn to sleep alone."

They had to postpone moving to a new house because of what had happened recently.

"Yes, we will think about that later."

They didn’t have sex that night, but being in each other’s embrace was more satisfying than anything else, as it helped the two of them to sleep more peacefully.

The next day, they went to have a retest for the DNA test with Arthur. This time, Ranon chose a different hospital that was free from any influence by Rafael Scar.

After the bombing, the media went crazy. They tried everything they could to get more information about the murder attempt on Ranon Leighton.

"You got another invitation for an interview about what happened," Ares said when he put the report on Ranon’s desk.

"No." Ranon had made his stance clear that he was not going to say anything about what happened and offered a hefty sum of condolence money to those people who died because of the car bombing.

Aside from Nolu, three other people died.

"I know," Ares said. He then sat down tiredly. "I only want you to know that." He then stared into the distance. "This is getting serious, Ranon. Who have you offended to the point that person wanted you dead so badly?"

Ares had been with Ranon for years, but he couldn’t think of anyone who would hold a grudge against him so severely. Ranon could be a jerk, yes, but not to the point that you would become so obsessed with ceasing his existence.

And a moment later, Lucian came to tell them that he had the result of Arthur’s DNA test.

"Here, open it quickly." Lucian handed over the result, and Ranon opened it. Arthur must have received the result by now as well.

"Negative," Ranon said when he read the result. "It was not River’s body." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Both Lucian and Ares looked at each other before the latter took the paper from Ranon’s hand and read the result himself.

"Who had fabricated the first result?" Ares was confused.

"If it’s Rafael Scar, but for what reason?" Lucian couldn’t think of any motive that could make Rafael do this.

***

Hazel was feeding Ashlyn when she received a phone call from Ranon about the result of the DNA test.

"I see," Hazel muttered to herself. She had guessed it; the body was not River’s. But then, it left her with more questions about why Rafael would do that. What was his motive?

"Boobies..." Ashlyn babbled as she grabbed Hazel’s shirt. "Boobies?"

"No, no more boobies," Hazel said to her daughter. She had weaned her, and now she ate solid food, but sometimes, she would ask to be breastfed, because she liked to be close with her mother.

Ashlyn pursed her lips and nuzzled her head against Hazel’s chest.

"When will you come home?"

"I will be home a little bit late," Ranon said on the other end of the phone. He smiled when he listened to Ashlyn’s voice.

"Okay, let’s talk about it when you get home."

"Okay."

They hung up the call, and Hazel handed Ashlyn over to Peni. She kissed both of her cheeks as a consolation, because the little one was about to cry when she saw that her mother was leaving for the other room.

Ranon and Hazel had chosen this room to be Ashlyn’s bedroom, but it was still under renovation. There was nothing crazy, only to make the room cozier for a child. It was temporary because they intended to purchase a house.

Hazel sat down on one of the chairs there as she fished out her second phone and fiddled with it. She was contemplating what to do next.

In the end, Hazel ended up making the phone call. He picked it up on the first ring and called her name, which always made Hazel wonder how he could know it was her.

"River?"

This time, Hazel didn’t try to hide her real voice. "Why did you do that?"

There was a pause, but then his sweet voice could be heard. Hazel imagined he was smiling right now. "Hazel, right? Did you stop pretending to be River?"

"Why did you do that, Rafael?" Hazel asked straight to the point. She didn’t expect him to tell her the truth, but she wanted to feel him. What this man was up to was giving a false report, which caused an uproar in the three families.

River’s death was the last straw for the McKennas to turn their back on the Lozens, and Rafael’s false result had caused so many deaths.

Hazel couldn’t believe that things would escalate to this point. All she wanted was to take revenge on Aubrey and Arlo for what they had done, but now the situation was getting complicated.

She had to put her family’s safety above her revenge.

Family.

The word put a smile on her lips. She had never imagined having one, especially with a child involved, because she knew that she couldn’t give birth to one.

"Did what? I have done a lot of things, Hazel. Please enlighten me." There was a touch of a smile in the way he spoke, as if he had anticipated this conversation. He sounded relaxed and prepared.

"The DNA result," Hazel said. She wanted to know what his reaction would be.

Even though they didn’t say it out loud, Rafael must be aware that Ranon and Hazel knew about his collaboration with the McKennas, since Hazel moved Ranon and changed his hospital when the car accident happened.

"Ah, that one," Rafael said. "I heard Arthur had returned. So, he works for you guys now?"

He dodged the question, but Hazel wouldn’t let him change the topic. "Answer the question, Rafael. What’s the reason you fabricated the result?"

"You are so feisty. You remind me of River." He hummed. "If you want me to answer your question, then answer mine first: why do you pretend to be River?"

Hazel wanted to tell him that she didn’t pretend, but Rafael cut her off.

"Ever since the first time you called me from this number, it’s been you, Hazel. But how do you know everything that River knew?"

"Because she told me," Hazel said automatically. It was the same answer she had given to all the people who had asked the same question.

"Liar," Rafael said harshly. His tone took a drastic change. "I know you lie, Hazel. If you say you met with River after Aubrey tried to kill her, you are a bad liar. You have never met River."

Technically speaking, yes, Hazel had never met with River. They didn’t even know each other existed.

"Tell me the truth, who are you? You are not just someone who is pretending to be River. You know everything that River did."

Rafael didn’t realize it at first when Hazel called him for the first time, pretending to be River so that he would have a business deal with Ranon Leighton.

He still believed Hazel was River until he found something...

"How do you know all of that?" Rafael demanded.