Unexpected Marriage With Mr. Leighton: Rebirth of the Villain-Chapter 277: GAYLE LENNOX

Ranon knew Gayle well. He wouldn’t leave until he got what he wanted. It had been years since he last saw him.

Therefore, when Lennox walked into the place alone, it caught him off guard. It didn’t cross Ranon’s mind that he would join the fray, too.

And that mistake was solely on him for letting his guard down. Ranon should have found it suspicious when Lennox asked to meet him here.

"He is gone," Hazel said. She was panting lightly because Ranon walked too fast, and she needed to jog beside him.

The room was empty. No one was there; there were only Arlo’s blood and his fingernails.

"They took him? They work for the Barlowes?" Hazel looked at Ranon, who was deep in his thoughts, and his grip on her hand tightened. "Ranon, you almost broke my hand."

Ranon snapped back to reality and looked at Hazel’s face. She grimaced because he was holding her hand too tightly.

"Sorry," he said. He loosened his grip, but then he saw the cut on her arm. "Next time, if you encounter him again, don’t engage."

"Next time? There will be a next time, then." Hazel thought that couldn’t be further from the truth. If the Barlowes hired them, it meant there would be a next time indeed. "Who are they?"

Ranon had taken them back to the training area, where he found a first aid kit to treat the cut on her arm. He had seen it more closely, and the cut was not deep.

He then lifted Hazel and sat her down on the table as he dressed her wound.

"You shouldn’t have used your hand." Hazel frowned, but she could see that Ranon was in a foul mood. So, she stopped herself from complaining.

Hazel had never seen this side of Ranon; she didn’t know how to respond to him and kept silent to let him do whatever he wanted.

He put alcohol on the cotton and then dabbed it on her wound without warning.

"Aw! That hurts."

"Now, you know it hurts." Ranon glared at her.

"Are you still mad at me because I didn’t listen to you?"

Ranon pressed the wound even more, and Hazel widened her eyes because it was painful. "If you see him, you find a way not to engage with him, do you understand me, Hazel?"

"I can protect myself," Hazel said defiantly. She didn’t like the way Ranon talked to her. Who was that man?

Ranon was not usually like this.

"Ranon!" Hazel hissed when Ranon pressed the wound even harder, making it bleed again. "You hurt me!" Hazel wanted to kick him, but he saw it.

Ranon spread her legs and positioned himself between them. He towered above her as she was still sitting on the table, unable to get down because her legs were hanging and she could not get a footing.

"There is a high possibility you will not only get this cut, Hazel. You were lucky back then."

Hazel was unhappy about being called lucky, despite her skills and capabilities. "I know what I can do," she said.

"I know that, but I know what he can do, which you don’t." Ranon gripped her chin and tilted her head even more, which made her neck hurt. "You will not engage with him. If you meet him, you run."

Run?

Hazel felt her pride and ego hurt. She had been raised not to run from a fight. She could feel every cell in her body defy Ranon, but then there was something in his eyes that made her stop her protest.

"Do you understand me, Hazel? Do not engage. Find a thousand ways to run from him. I know you are smart. I know what you are capable of doing. I always let you do whatever you want, don’t I?"

Hazel wanted to complain, but Ranon was right. Usually, he didn’t mind everything she did. Just like her visit to the gambling place, she fought a few people there. He even agreed to let her lead the mission to kidnap Arlo.

Or the fight against Lyle in the hospital. He didn’t complain or voice out his worry.

He knew what she could do...

But this time, he was very adamant.

"Do you understand me?" Ranon squeezed the wound again. The knife only grazed her skin, but next time... Ranon gritted his teeth. He didn’t like to hurt her like this, but he had to get his point across.

Hazel must remember this pain.

"Aw! Okay, okay! That hurts!" Hazel swatted his hand that gripped her chin. Her neck hurt too. "What’s wrong with you?" Hazel was upset now. If she didn’t come, Ranon would be overwhelmed by the second guy who came not long after. Given his dislocated shoulder, things could go very wrong for him.

He should thank me.

That was what Hazel thought, but she didn’t dare to voice it when Ranon was in this dark mood.

"Swear it on Ashlyn."

"What?! No!" Hazel widened her eyes. "Why do you bring our daughter into this?" Now she was pissed, but she became timid when she saw the rage in Ranon’s eyes.

"Swear it, Hazel. So, I know you will not do it, and you take this seriously."

Ranon must have seen through her that she would only agree to appease him. She had no intention of following through, but now Hazel had to swear it on their daughter...

"I hate you, Ranon." Hazel wanted to punch his shoulder, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it, no matter how upset she was.

"That’s not the word, Hazel."

"Fine, I swear it!" Hazel finally relented. "I will run away when I see him like a coward."

"I don’t mind a coward." Ranon lessened the pressure on her wound.

"I hate you."

"I don’t mind that too, as long as you are unharmed." He then focused on dressing her wound.

***

Because Arthur was shot, they took him to the hospital. Ranon also needed to be checked for his shoulder.

And Hazel, for her arm.

Actually, she didn’t need stitches, but because Ranon pressed the wound, his action aggravated it, and she had three stitches now.

Hazel threw him an angry glare as she got her wound stitched, but he didn’t seem to be remorseful at all. He was very composed when his shoulder was being examined.

All this while, Hazel stayed with him. She didn’t even check on Arthur, since Aubrey was already there, and so was Rye.

However, Aubrey approached her instead when she was about to leave. Because his shoulder was injured, Hazel would drive them back to Talbar City. They wouldn’t stay, since Desgar would handle the situation here.

Ranon needed to go back to rearrange the security around their place. He had been very agitated.

Dalton and Elric would also join them, but they would drive a separate car.

"Hazel, wait!" Aubrey jogged toward her, her face flushed red. "Is that true?"

"What?" Hazel stood next to the car while Ranon was waiting inside. He was on the phone with someone. He just glanced at her, and when he saw it was Aubrey, he paid no mind to their conversation.

"You lost Arlo."

"Yes."

There was no point in lying to her; moreover, Aubrey was not that important for Hazel to put in the effort to lie to her.

"How could you lose him?!" Aubrey was a little bit hysterical. "Why did you lose him?"

"You know how. It’s not like you were not there." Hazel glared viciously at Aubrey because she caused a scene in the parking lot.

"You shouldn’t have lost him! Now he is going to kill me!" Aubrey grabbed a handful of her hair; she looked so stressed about that fact.

Arlo must have learned that she had betrayed him; knowing him, he would hold a grudge. She would die...

"Even if he wants to kill you right away, he needs to recover from the torture first. Grow his nails back, and learn how to walk. You still have at least a year to figure out how to survive, unless I kill you first."

Aubrey was stunned by Hazel’s last words, and Hazel used that opportunity to get into the car and drive away. Dalton and Elric followed her soon after, leaving Aubrey all alone in the parking lot.

She looked around her, shivering as if Arlo were lurking in the dark, waiting for the right moment to kill her.

Fear was an understatement about what she felt now. Therefore, she rushed back to the hospital and stayed close to her father and the Lozens’ men.

Meanwhile, inside the car, Ranon just hung up the call. He was on the phone with the head of security as he doubled them.

For a moment, Hazel was hesitant to speak to him, since his mood was very awful, and she didn’t know what to do when he was being like this.

All this time, between the two of them, Ranon would be the cold-headed one. And now, he lost his cool. Hazel couldn’t help but feel anxious.

"Ranon," she called him softly. "Will you...tell me who that man was?" Hazel wondered when she had become this timid.

She glanced at him when he didn’t answer her question right away and decided to drop the topic. She would talk to him again once he calmed down.

But then, Ranon started to speak.

"Gayle Lennox," he said. "He was the one who recruited me into the organization years ago. I told you that I worked with one."