Unexpected Marriage With Mr. Leighton: Rebirth of the Villain-Chapter 284: UNEASY

"Ruth Devano is an old associate of our father; he will listen to our father more than to you. The best way to get him is to make him believe that whatever he is going to do will get praise from our father."

Daniel laughed when he saw Ranon frowning. He knew that his younger brother didn’t like to work that way.

"A straight way is not always the best way; sometimes, you need to find a roundabout way to reach your goal, little bro." Daniel patted Ranon’s shoulder.

Both of them were sitting in the backyard garden, basking in the sunset. Ranon just got home when he saw Daniel here, so he came over to sit with him for a while.

Daniel knew how to make Ranon open up about the problems with the company and helped him with whatever he could.

"It will be better if you can return to the company soon."

"I will not step inside the company again."

"It’s not like the things that you have to do in the company require you to run a marathon."

Daniel didn’t take offense at that. That was how Ranon talked, and because of this, he got into a few troubles when he entered the company for the first time, but at the same time, it made people wary of him.

"Dad is not happy about me being in the spotlight in my current condition. It is not good for the image of the family and the company." He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Giving an impression that the company and the family are weak," he said.

They spent many evenings talking about everything like this. But most of the time, it would be Daniel who gave Ranon a few suggestions or prodded him to talk more about his life before the Leightons.

Ranon would tell him a few things, but he didn’t disclose the real deal about what he had done. Daniel only knew about his street fight and how he got money from the ring. That was all.

Daniel also helped him to get away from Ema as much as possible, since she didn’t stop trying to get Ranon to talk to her.

He knew about their past, and he felt upset for his younger brother for what their father had done.

"She chose this. It takes two to tango." Ranon lit up his cigarette.

"How are you feeling about them now?" Daniel took the cigarette from his hand and put it out. "Smoking is not good for your health. Don’t you hate them?"

"Nothing." Ranon was not trying to be sarcastic; he only told him the truth. He didn’t feel anything at all. "Hating them takes so much energy. I don’t have that."

Daniel chuckled. "Right." He glanced at Ranon. "I wish I had found you sooner and taken you to this house, so I would not be alone when I grow up. It is so much fun to have you here."

Ranon frowned because he wanted to smoke so badly, but Daniel was being a jerk with his new rule. "You mean so you wouldn’t have suffered alone?"

"Yeah, you can say so," Daniel laughed at Ranon’s conclusion.

Ranon stayed for another year in that house until he successfully brought the company back from the verge of bankruptcy, and Denzel was being too overbearing with his controlling antics. Only then did Ranon move out and buy his own place.

Because of that, Ranon didn’t spend as much time with Daniel as usual, but still, among all of Denzel’s children, it was Daniel that Ranon thought of as a sibling.

However, years later, here they were...

The man that Ranon thought of as a brother was the one who wanted to kill him so badly.

"What? Are you upset because I didn’t do anything to help our father?" Daniel stood up and walked to the wine cellar again.

"No. I would have done the same thing. There is no need for him to live that long."

Daniel laughed, but this laughter was so different from what Ranon remembered. "I wish I had never found out that you were the one who was responsible for Luciano’s death."

He was not only Kyra’s soon-to-be husband, but he was also very close to him. His death left a deep wound, especially when Kyra decided to end her life as well. Issabella had never been the same.

The accident happened because they fought when Daniel was driving. They rarely fought, much less had a big fight.

"I wish it were not you." Daniel scoffed. "Not only did you not get any punishment, but Dad helped you to avoid one. Instead of punishment, you live a luxury life that you have never had."

"Blame that on Denzel. I am not interested in taking the blame when I had no other choice."

"You can choose to go to jail and receive your punishment; you can rot there!" Daniel raised his voice. His life was perfect, but it crumbled down because of what Ranon had done. "You should live your rotten life, fighting on that dirty ring to get money so you can put food on your plate, you street dog!"

Ranon stood up, grabbed the ballpoint on the table, and then approached Daniel. He was not in a hurry, but his steps were steady.

"You are more and more like Denzel now." Ranon pushed Daniel against the wall and stabbed the ballpoint only a centimeter away from his neck. "Your dear friend is not an angel, either. He is a drug lord, but you talked about him as if he were a philanthropist who had sacrificed his life for a greater good."

"He is still a brother to me."

Ranon scoffed. "No one stops you if you wish to join him, if you love him that much. You have had years of chances, but not even once have you taken it." Ranon wrapped his fingers around his neck. "If it had not been me, someone else would have gotten him back then."

"You are still so naïve, Ranon. Do you think it was your bad luck when you got caught?" Daniel pushed Ranon away when he saw that his words caught his attention. "Dad planned everything, and you walked straight into his trap."

Ranon clenched his jaw. Daniel smiled at the look of distress on his face.

"You should thank me for killing him. I remembered that you are particularly upset when someone fools you. Dad got you, didn’t he?"

Ranon didn’t respond to his mockery.

"I came here to find out where the boy is. But if you think he fooled me into taking the Leightons and living off the benefits, then think whatever you want."

"Fuck off!" Daniel was livid. He swung his arm, but Ranon was faster than him. He could dodge it without any trouble. "So, what if I do not tell you? Will you kill me now?"

"You are not worthy of it, Daniel." Ranon took a step back. "You can kill yourself; I don’t want to dirty my hand. But to see how important that woman is to you... I know what to do."

Daniel’s eyes widened. "What?! If you touch her..."

Ranon didn’t let him finish the word. "Gayle Lennox is not the only person who can kidnap someone."

***

"I’ve told you, I want to go on a vacation, but why do you drag me here again?" Rize was sulking. He was sitting on the sofa with his arms crossed.

"It’s really a pain to find him," Desgar grumbled. He came with Elric, while Arthur came with Rye and five other men, who were waiting outside.

They took this long to reach the apartment because they had to stop by and pick Rize up first.

"Thank you for coming, but I need your help."

"Don’t talk to me as if I am coming here voluntarily." Rize was still pissed because he was having his overdue sleep when Desgar came and woke him up abruptly. "What do you want? I want double the price this time."

"Sure."

Hazel then went out of the room to get Logan. Thankfully, he was already awake. After that, Logan told Rize what happened about the kidnapping.

"Do you have any information that may help us track down where Gayle Lennox keeps the boy? You have been spending the last two months shadowing him after all."

"Give me some time to think... I am sleep-driven." Rize scratched his head. "Then, if they want Hazel, how will they get her? Someone will contact you?"

"Yes." Logan looked at the watch on his wrist. "They will contact me around three hours from now."

"How do you know that? There is no such text here." Rize looked at the pic of Archie.

"They called to inform us of that."

"Hm..."

And therefore, in the last three hours, they needed to discuss places related to Gayle Lennox that Rize knew about. Places where they might be keeping Archie.

But it could be anywhere.

An hour later, Hazel walked out of the room to check on Ashlyn. She was staying inside her bedroom with Peni because there were so many people that she didn’t want her baby to meet.

Those people were on their side, but Hazel was uncomfortable exposing her baby to them, knowing their background.

"Mama... bunny..." Ashlyn showed Hazel her stuffed bunny. "Mama kiss..."

Hazel kissed both of her cheeks as she giggled happily. Somehow, she felt uneasy. Ashlyn was with her; she was safe, but she felt like she had missed something.

And then Ranon called her.