Unexpected Marriage With Mr. Leighton: Rebirth of the Villain-Chapter 299: DEPRESSION

"Stop there," Ranon said to Dalton when they drove past a bar. Dalton glanced at Ranon, but he didn’t do what he told him, and this made Ranon mad. "Stop there, or I am going to throw you out of the car."

"You can’t just throw me out of the car!" Dalton protested, but when he saw the look on Ranon’s face, he knew that he would do exactly that. "Damn it, Ranon!"

Dalton had no other choice but to listen to him; he took a U-turn and then stopped at a bar.

"What are you going to do here?" Dalton was worried. The McKennas’ men could find them here. After all, this place was their turf. The media was also still going crazy about what happened to the Barlowe family and the death of Ranon Leighton’s wife.

Ranon didn’t answer him as he got out of the car. He had lost so much weight in the past month. Not only that, but he had also been avoiding everyone who looked for him and tried to talk to him about losing his wife.

Somehow, he still believed that if he waited a little bit longer, she would come. If he waited long enough, she would show herself.

But the waiting was killing him, and the alcohol in his system helped him to endure the agony.

Weeks ago, Laurel had thrown out all of his stock, and every time he bought more, she would do the same thing. That pissed him off.

In a fit of rage, he was so close to strangling her. Laurel could be very stubborn and unable to read the room, especially when she tried to talk about Hazel with him.

"What are you going to do here?" Dalton followed Ranon inside and figured that he wanted to buy more drinks. He stayed at the bar and asked for a glass from the bartender.

The clamor in this place could temporarily shut the noise in his head. After this discovery, Ranon felt he would come here often—just to find some peace.

It was an irony that he could get his peace in such a boisterous place.

"Ranon, you can’t stay." Dalton looked around. He had contacted Alen and Elric to come over, just in case—it would be better to be safe than sorry. "We need to leave now. This place is not safe."

Ranon didn’t listen; he had asked for the second glass.

To make matters worse, two women approached them and sat next to Dalton and Ranon, trying to engage them in conversation.

"Ladies, not to be rude, but we don’t need any company." The woman next to Ranon tried to sweet-talk him, but Dalton added boldly. "We are together." He put his arm around Ranon’s shoulder.

At this point, Ranon had leaned over to the table, using his arm as a pillow. He was not completely blacked out, but he could feel the fuzzy feeling that calmed his nerves.

"Oh..." The woman grimaced, and the two of them left Ranon and Dalton alone.

"He is going to kill me if he is sober," Dalton grumbled as he moved away from Ranon. "Damn, what should I do now?" He was tempted to order a drink because of his stress, but then he had to stay vigilant.

***

Ranon woke up in his bed, back in his bedroom. He didn’t remember how he got here, but then he couldn’t care less.

Hazel’s scent started fading away, and even the pillow had no trace of her anymore...

He didn’t want to be here. At the same time, though, this was the only place he could feel at home. Yet it wasn’t home anymore because she had gone.

Ranon covered his face with both palms and remained that way for a long moment, unable to move. He had no desire to get out of bed.

The emptiness that he felt was another torture.

He would give up everything, anything, to have a moment with her.

Ranon fished out his phone and stared at the red dot. It didn’t move. Although the location was correct, he simply couldn’t find her. In his mind, she was nearby.

His mind was playing a trick on him to prevent the pain from getting any worse.

But when Ranon’s mind came crashing down to a dark thought, someone knocked on the door.

At first, Ranon ignored it because he didn’t want to be bothered by anyone, but the knock persisted, and Renna’s voice finally came to his conscious mind. She sounded panicked.

"Mr. Leighton, please, open the door. Open the door! Mr. Rose wants to take Ashlyn away! Please, open the door!" Renna rapped her knuckles against the door rapidly. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Ranon heard her voice, but he couldn’t comprehend what she was saying until a few moments later.

"Mr. Rose will take Ashlyn away. You have to stop him now!"

Hearing that, Ranon grimaced as he pushed himself off the bed. His body was very feeble. He felt powerless; it felt like it took a lot of effort just to walk.

But finally, he reached the door and yanked it open to see Renna’s tear-stained face.

"Mr. Leighton, Mr. Rose is going to take Ashlyn away. Miss Laurel is holding him back, but he is very adamant. I have asked him not to take Ashlyn, but he refused to listen." Renna was even more panicked when Ranon didn’t do anything; he simply stared at her, as if she were talking in a different language. "Mr. Leighton, you can’t let him take Ashlyn away. Hazel will be furious if you let her father take her daughter, you know that!"

Renna was frustrated, but she finally could breathe in relief when Ranon eventually showed some response. He walked toward the elevator, and Renna followed him closely. She prayed Laurel would still be able to hold Hazel’s father back until Ranon arrived.

And thankfully, Laurel’s stubbornness worked so well in this situation. Even from outside, Renna could hear that the two of them were at each other’s throats.

Meanwhile, the men that Greyson had brought with him were facing Ranon’s.

The heated argument suddenly vanished when Ranon stepped inside. This would be the first time he visited his daughter after more than a month.

Ashlyn was inside the room, and Laurel held the door to prevent the little girl from being taken away as she argued with Greyson. From inside, you could hear a rapid knocking sound.

"Move," Ranon said to Laurel, who hesitated for a second, but she stepped aside.

"Are you drinking?!" Greyson was fuming. "Do you want to take care of her while you are like this!? I will not allow a drunkard like you to take care of my granddaughter!"

Ranon ignored Greyson. He opened the door and found Ashlyn was crying, hugging her stuffed bunny. She had been knocking on the door because she was afraid to be left alone, while the other people outside were screaming at the top of their lungs.

Seeing her father, Ashlyn raised her arms. She stood on her tiptoes, jumping a little because she was impatient for Ranon to take her. It had been a long time.

And despite the reek, Ashlyn still wanted to be with her father.

However, Ranon was frozen. He didn’t move or immediately pick up his daughter. The eyes staring at him... those brown eyes, they paralyzed him. He couldn’t move. She took after Hazel so much, from her eyes to her hair to the way she pursed her lips.

Because Ranon didn’t pick her, Ashlyn hugged his leg instead. She hugged it tightly, thinking her father would leave her alone again.

"Ranon!" Laurel called his name furiously because he didn’t do anything. It made her heart ache to see how desperate Ashlyn was to get her father’s attention.

"Move away! You are unable to take care of her!" Greyson pushed Ranon aside so he could get his granddaughter, but Ashlyn clutched onto Ranon’s legs even tighter. She kept shaking her head.

But they already knew that she was unable to speak. Laurel had brought her to see a professional, and they said this was elective mutism. They were still working on it.

"Ranon!" Laurel tried to push Greyson away from taking Ashlyn, but the man was surprisingly very strong, despite his old age.

Only then did Ranon move; he took Ashlyn and carried her in his arms. The little girl immediately wrapped her arms around his neck like an octopus, and she suffocated her father.

"You will not be able to take care of her!" Greyson said grimly. He didn’t say it out of anger but out of shame, because he could see himself in Ranon.

He abandoned Hazel because, in his twisted mind, it was Hazel who had taken his wife away, and he didn’t want the same thing to happen to Ashlyn.

This was his way to atone for what he had done, since he couldn’t do it with his daughter.

"No," Ranon said. His voice was hoarse, but his eyes were sharp enough.

"You know what?"

Greyson narrowed his eyes. He held back the aching pain in his chest that crept in when he spoke again.

"There was one time I asked Hazel about a hypothetical situation like this... And you know what she said? She said you would never turn out like me, a bitter man who abandoned his child because of losing the wife."

Greyson took a step closer.

"But she was wrong—absolutely wrong. You are just like me, and you will greatly regret it later," Greyson said viciously.