Unexpected Marriage With Mr. Leighton: Rebirth of the Villain-Chapter 304: REVELATION

According to what River learned from Rafael, apparently, someone saved her when she fell from the bridge, but at that time, her heart stopped beating for a few minutes.

She was brought to the clinic and was declared dead before her heart began beating again. Ever since then, she had been in a coma.

"That person sold you to me for your organs." Rafael smiled sweetly. "Come on, don’t give me that look. I am still surprised that you didn’t even know my side job."

"What side job? Human trafficking?" River glanced at him with a disdainful look in her eyes, but Rafael laughed mirthfully.

"I missed your snide remarks." Rafael laughed for a few minutes while River was being impatient, waiting for him to be done with all of his laughter and focus on their conversation again.

River ate very slowly, because she didn’t want Rafael to stop talking. Moreover, the taste of this food dampened her appetite completely.

"But don’t you think it’s a destiny? If I hadn’t done this side job, there is no way I would have found you. You could have been sold to someone else, and you wouldn’t be alive by now. Parts of you could be miles away."

River scrunched her nose in disdain. "Should I thank you for that?"

Rafael waved his hand. "There is no need for that." He stretched out his hand and caressed River’s cheek. "You are eating too slowly. I will talk in slow motion too if you don’t pick up the pace."

"Don’t touch me." River swatted his hand away and glared at him in warning. Rafael had been like this; he used to touch her casually.

And then Rafael started talking very slowly. He was petty like that.

"Insane," River grumbled. She picked up the spoon and shoved the bitter food into her mouth while Rafael talked again.

This time, he told her about her family. "My condolences."

River already knew about all of that. Actually, some parts of Rafael’s information were not too accurate, but of course, River couldn’t correct him.

"Arthur is working with Ranon Leighton now." Rafael clicked his tongue. "I have never imagined someone like Arthur would work for a businessman. Neither of you likes businessmen, right?" He still remembered how River was.

And then he talked about Aubrey.

"I don’t really pay attention to her, since she is not that captivating. But I thought you might want to know what she was up to when you woke up."

"You have a strong faith that I will wake up."

"Of course. Why do you think I get involved in a hospital business?"

"To make it easy for you to run your human trafficking business."

Hearing the answer, Rafael laughed out loud as if River could see him thoroughly; it made him thrilled. "Well, you are not wrong. It is rather convenient to have all of the equipment necessary and the raw products." Rafael winked at her, and River felt sick to see this man.

"Don’t make me throw up."

Rafael chuckled again but then told River about what happened to Aubrey. She lived a normal life in Aspen City. Since Hazel was not there and River was dead, they thought that Aubrey didn’t have any urgency to leave and hide.

There was some part of Arthur that felt relieved because Hazel was gone. He could keep Aubrey by his side. After all, she was his last daughter.

More so, it was better to keep Aubrey close because they still didn’t know where Arlo was.

"After the attack on the Barlowes, Arlo and his brother have been hiding very well. They didn’t even come out when their businesses started to fall one by one, and Ranon Leighton made sure they declared bankruptcy. But still, they didn’t come out."

Rafael then lay down on the foot of the bed, and River had to sit cross-legged.

"Do you feel sad to learn his situation?"

"No." River was glad that she still had an opportunity to get to Arlo. "He deserves it."

"Great!" Rafael turned his body and looked at her. "You have moved on from him, then. Do you want to take me as your boyfriend? I swear, I will not cheat on you."

"I am married."

Rafael laughed again. He seemed to be in an excellent mood. "What? In your dream?"

He didn’t know how true it was, but it was not only a dream. That was not a dream at all for River. She lived as Hazel for the last few years when she was in a coma.

She gave birth to a beautiful daughter, and for the first time, she had hoped for a family—a small and warm family. A family belonged to her. Her family.

"Ashlyn..." The name felt so heavy in her chest but bittersweet on her lips.

"Hm? What about Ranon’s daughter?"

River said nothing. She only wanted to confirm that her daughter really existed. And with that, she knew it was not only a dream. She lived. For a brief moment, she lived as a mother to her child and a wife to her husband. She had a family.

Ashlyn’s existence got rid of all of her doubts about her life as Hazel.

"Why are you crying?" Rafael frowned. "Do you feel hurt somewhere?" He sat down and leaned over toward River. He had every intention of hugging her, but suddenly River stopped crying and glared at him.

"What do you want to do?" River’s voice was frosty, while Rafael’s arms hung mid-air in a gesture to hug her.

"Hm. Hug you. You need a consolation," he said awkwardly.

"I told you not to touch me."

Rafael lowered his arms in annoyance. "Fine." He grumbled something about how badly River treated him after he saved her life.

But then, she remembered something. "Hazel. Tell me about Hazel."

Rafael furrowed his brows. "Why do you want to know about her? How do you know her?"

"You mentioned her name when you told me about Ranon Leighton and my family’s collaboration."

Rafael made a theatrical gesture, smacking his head with the heel of his palm. "Oh, right. I mentioned her. I don’t like her. That woman pretended to be you, so I messed around a bit."

River squinted her eyes. She had a suspicion about what Rafael meant by ’messing around,’ but she needed confirmation.

"What do you mean?"

It was easy to make Rafael tell River the truth, since he didn’t have any intention to keep it away from River. He thought she would be enraged because someone stole her identity and used her name.

Rafael was wrong, though...

"Actually, seeing them get panicked and fight, and even bury the body, was quite hilarious, while I know that you are still alive," Rafael chuckled. "That woman should learn a lesson not to use your identity casually without any consequences."

"You are unhinged," River hissed derisively, but Rafael shrugged his shoulders and then lay down again. "But there was a time when you believed that Hazel was me."

Rafael’s smile disappeared. He pursed his lips. "Yeah, she fooled me once. I thought she was you. But in my defense, I had not yet found you; that’s why I believed she was you."

The man who saved River learned that she would be in a coma; thus, he decided to sell her for her organs. One of Rafael’s men recognized River because she had been around a lot and informed their boss.

Rafael came and checked on River and then took her. He gave a handsome amount of money to the man, but he killed him in the end so that he wouldn’t talk to anyone. No one should know that River was with him, or else they would hunt him down.

In a way, Hazel helped him get all of the people’s attention away from him.

Rafael found River’s body three months after the first phone call between him and Hazel had already happened, and he had signed a business collaboration with Ranon Leighton.

"Damn you, Rafael." River was upset. She remembered how it wrecked her to think that she saw her own dead body, rotten and unrecognizable. The image was still etched in her mind.

But as it turned out, it was all Rafael’s plan.

"You are sick."

Rafael shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "If they had been smart, they should have known it was not you. Hmm. Having a hospital business really comes in handy." He then contemplated something. "But how could Hazel know my phone number?"

"Why not? Many people know your phone number."

"No, sweetheart." Rafael looked at River. "You are the only person who knows that number. I keep the phone exclusively for you. So, when it rang, I knew it would be you. Did you give my phone number to someone else?"

Well, that was news for River, because she didn’t have any idea that Rafael had dedicated a phone number only for her. Now River remembered how he immediately could tell that it was her when she called him for the first time, when she was in Hazel’s body.

"No." River kept a straight face.

"Strange."

She didn’t say anything and pushed her empty plates away. "I want to sleep. Go back to wherever you come from."

Rafael smirked. "Why don’t we sleep together? I can help you if you need something in the middle of the night," he said suggestively.

"I may still be weak, but I can kill you just fine if you get close enough."

Rafael laughed out loud. "This is why I like you."