Unexpected Marriage With Mr. Leighton: Rebirth of the Villain-Chapter 262: I DIED ONCE

"I am the one who is asking the question here, Rafael," Hazel said firmly. She changed her tone as their conversation turned heated. "What is your motive to fabricate the result of the DNA test?"

At this point, both of them had dropped all formality as they sought to gather as much information as possible from each other.

"Hazel, you can’t get whatever without giving up something." Rafael clicked his tongue in annoyance. His attitude changed, and Hazel could imagine his expression based on his voice alone.

When River worked as a middlewoman between her family and Rafael, she had seen how cruel Rafael could be whenever he felt dissatisfied.

River had witnessed how Rafael cut one of his subordinates’ ears off, simply because he didn’t like the way that person worked and how he answered Rafael’s question.

Probably, if Hazel were within his reach, he would have cut off her ear as well.

"If you don’t want to answer my question, then there is nothing else we can talk about," Hazel said coldly, but she waited a second longer for Rafael to finally give in, and tried to find a middle ground.

"You asked me why I fabricated the DNA test result?" Rafael scoffed. "Because people thought River was still alive, and that she actively sought revenge on them because you made it look like that."

"Why do you even care about that?" Hazel frowned; she caught his words. "River is dead. The dead body under the river may not be hers, but it doesn’t mean she is still alive."

Hazel was very emotional when she saw the dead body, thinking it was hers, but now that she knew it was not, she didn’t feel anything. There was no relief whatsoever.

"What if she is?"

***

"What do you mean by this, Dad?" Arlo confronted Jack. He couldn’t get ahold of him for several days, and only now could he find him in one of his favorite bars.

Michael was not helping at all. That little brother of his had become more and more brazen. Something must have snapped inside his head during the confrontation with Ranon and Hazel, after the death of Noah.

He became easily irritated and prone to violence. He usually couldn’t care less about family business, but now he was all in.

"Since when have you agreed with the McKennas without consulting the matters with me?" Arlo was trying to hold back his anger, but it was so hard to do so when he felt humiliated.

Jack had dismissed the women and his business partners from the room so he could talk to his son.

From the floor to the glass ceiling, you could see the wild party out there. People were dancing like crazy on the dance floor, and the music was so loud that you could still hear it from the soundproof room.

"Things have changed, Arlo. I warned you about this before, but you did not respond to it well." Jack poured a glass of whiskey into a tumbler and handed it over to his son. "As Michael is interested in the business, I think you can hand over this part of the family business to him."

Arlo was so angry that it showed all over his face. He picked up the glass but didn’t drink from it.

"Don’t think too much about it," Jack said, patting his shoulder lightly. "Arthur has returned and joined the Leightons. Your approach to handling things is very familiar to him. He can easily read our moves."

"You can talk to me beforehand, but instead you ambushed me with this." Arlo stared at the tumbler in his hand, as if the glass had wronged him.

Jack downed his drink and sat down next to his son. "You have been very erratic in the past few days, and we needed to move swiftly. Letting you know about the plan will only delay it because you would have kicked up a row and disagreed with it."

Jack was not wrong; Arlo would strongly disagree with him. Recently, he had been in this state: a my-way-or-no-way kind of man. It was difficult for someone to talk sense to him.

"You take this mission too personally because of the death of Noah and... River. It clouded your judgment." He put down the glass on the table. "Take this chance for you to rest so you can share the responsibility with Michael and focus on your treatment."

"Are you questioning my capabilities now?" Arlo turned his head and looked at his father.

"I am not, but this matter is too personal for you, and we don’t work well when the emotions involved rule your decision. You know the basic rules."

Arlo had been spiraling ever since River’s dead body was found, and Noah’s death only worsened his mental state.

***

Hazel handed back the DNA result that Ranon showed to her. She only saw it briefly, since she already knew the result.

She walked around the table and then sat down on his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder while Ranon caressed her back.

"Something is bothering you?" Ranon could tell there were a lot of things on her mind. "Tell me."

Hazel stared at the window and hugged him a little bit tighter. "Rafael knows something about River," she said. "I called him this afternoon to talk to him about the DNA result. He didn’t deny it."

There was no point in hiding it from him, since he would get wind of it sooner or later.

Ranon then remembered Hazel had pretended to be River when she helped him make a business deal with Rafael Scar more than a year ago, which caused Lucian to lose his bet.

He had put a tap in her bedroom; thus, he could listen to the conversation. "Did you pretend to be River again?"

Hazel raised her head and looked at her husband with confusion. "How do you know that?" She narrowed her eyes and knew the answer almost immediately. "You are insane. Where is it?"

"In your old bedroom."

"You are being too honest for someone as cunning as you."

Ranon smoothed her hair. "I will not lie to you, Hazel. You don’t know because you didn’t even ask."

"How should I know to ask you about that? You are insane."

"So, I am insane to put a bug on you?"

Hazel was annoyed, but it was more to herself, because she became self-conscious. She did the same to him, did she not? More so, she was not as angry as she expected she would be.

"Why did you pretend to be River?" Ranon caressed her cheek with his thumb, and the touch made her sigh in relief.

"So, I could win the deal." Hazel tried to remember her conversation with Rafael at that time, what she had talked about with him, but it was more than a year ago, and she couldn’t remember clearly.

"How do you know everything that River knew?"

Ranon asked the question lightly, as if he couldn’t care less about the answer, but he actually anticipated how Hazel would reply to that.

Hazel bit her lip and then leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder again. "If I tell you, will you believe me?"

"Try me." Ranon’s gaze hardened. It was a good thing for Hazel to even consider telling him what was actually going on.

He didn’t push her because he didn’t want her to cave in again, but damn, the wait was nerve-wracking. Even so, he still gently caressed her hair. She smelled so divine.

"I..." Hazel furrowed her brows. She found it difficult to tell him. "What do you think will happen when someone dies?"

Ranon was taken aback. He didn’t expect the question, but he gave some thought before he answered her question.

"I have never really thought about that," Ranon admitted. "I think they are just dead. Cease to exist."

"Where do you think they will go when they are dead? Do you even believe in heaven?"

Ranon furrowed his brows. "I am not a religious person, Hazel. But supposing that heaven exists, for me there is none if you and Ashlyn are not in it."

Hazel chuckled. "You are really good with your words, Ranon. Do you know that? You can still flirt even with this topic of discussion."

Little did Hazel know, Ranon did not try to flirt with her; that was what he thought.

"I died once, Ranon," Hazel said softly. Her voice was barely a whisper.

Ranon furrowed his brows. He waited for Hazel to elaborate on the statement, but when she didn’t, he asked her gently. "Are you saying it in a metaphor?"

People died so many times in their lives. Life chipped away at you little by little, or all at one time.

"No, in a literal sense." Hazel closed her eyes. She knew that she had confused Ranon even more with the answer, but she wanted to know what was in Ranon’s mind when she said that.

What could his response be?

Hazel didn’t realize until now how much she cared for his opinion or the way he looked at her. Would he think she was crazy and pull away from her?

She didn’t want that. She wanted him.

Fuck. She couldn’t let him go or risk his affection toward her.

For a long moment, Ranon didn’t say anything, and Hazel’s fear grew stronger. She hugged him a little bit tighter.

"Do you mean like: died in the river?"