Chapter 222: EVEN CRAZIER
The gun left Noah’s hand. He fell on his knees with his arm wrapped around his stomach as blood soaked his shirt. He took a bullet.
It was not enough to kill him, but it was more than enough to ensure that he wouldn’t be a threat anymore.
"Who is that?!" Michael turned around and found Ranon Leighton aimed his gun at him. He immediately shut his mouth and raised both of his arms, showing the other man that he was unarmed.
On the other hand, Hazel’s expression didn’t change. She was still holding Arlo at the tip of her scissors.
"Don’t," Hazel said.
Ranon put down his gun and turned his attention back to his wife. "I told you to wait in the hotel. What are you doing here?"
"Finishing a business," Hazel replied, her eyes cold. She glanced at Michael and hoped the young boy wouldn’t do anything outrageous.
She didn’t want him to get involved in this. If there were someone she would spare in the Barlowes, it would be him.
"Let him go." Ranon narrowed his eyes. He looked as dangerous as Hazel. He didn’t like what he was seeing.
Hazel didn’t budge; she gritted her teeth. It had come to this. There was no going back. No amount of explanation would justify what she was doing.
She could get away when she killed a thug that attacked Olivia, and somehow Ranon didn’t mind it, but Arlo was different. He was his business partner, not a random thug that Ranon could have covered up.
It would be difficult for Hazel from now on.
Her mind thought about a thousand scenarios in that second about what she was going to do. Her first option was running away to Goscht Country and tracking down Arthur.
She couldn’t return to her baby and Ranon. Probably, that was for the best. Hazel knew she had been stalling; she didn’t want to lose the comfort and protection. She was a fool if she thought she could keep that life for a little bit longer.
"Hazel, I don’t appreciate you hugging another man in front of me. I will misunderstand your intention." Ranon raised his gun again; this time he aimed for Arlo’s head. "Come here. I don’t want the bullet to get you, too."
Hazel blinked her eyes in confusion. She didn’t believe what she heard.
Hazel was very close to Arlo; if Ranon shot him, there was a possibility the bullet would go through his body and hit Hazel as well. That was why Ranon told her to let him go.
Even if he shot Arlo’s head, it would be messy, and Ranon didn’t want even a piece of that man landing on his woman.
"Come here, Hazel." Ranon tilted his head because Hazel didn’t budge. "Do you want him dead? Done. Come here."
He is crazy. Hazel thought inwardly, and Ranon’s craziness managed to sober her up. Her rage was replaced by shock.
This must be what it took to snap back a crazy mind; the other person should be even crazier, which made Hazel dumbfounded.
Not only Hazel but also Arlo was shocked. Ranon was a respectable businessman; was he going to kill him without any qualms? It was hard to believe.
"No!" Michael stood in front of Ranon, putting himself between the bullet and his brother. "No, there must be a misunderstanding," he said hastily, though he didn’t know the right word to say.
From the corner of his eyes, Ranon saw Noah move; he was going to grab his gun again, but Ranon was faster. He shot him dead this time, which frightened all of them even more.
If earlier they thought the murderous intention that came from Hazel was enough to surprise them, since they had never thought to see such a delicate woman next to Ranon Leighton, who was capable of threatening someone’s life, this time, they didn’t expect Ranon to really kill someone.
He was even crazier.
Michael was dumbstruck; he couldn’t move when Ranon aimed the gun at him. There was no hesitation in his eyes; he was going to shoot him dead, too, like he did to Noah, but Michael couldn’t move.
He had never come across a life-and-death situation like this or been held at gunpoint.
And when Michael thought he was going to die for his ridiculous brother, someone walked past him.
"Ranon," Hazel said as she hugged him. "Let’s go back home," she said in a light tone. Her fierceness disappeared into thin air, and she returned to her cheerful self. "It’s getting dark here. I am scared."
Hazel was not going to get Michael killed; he was not her target, nor did she want Ranon to kill Arlo. He was hers to kill after all; she wouldn’t let anyone get that chance.
"Let’s go back home."
"I thought you wanted him dead," Ranon said in a matter-of-fact tone, as if he were talking about what they would eat for dinner.
"Hm. Not yet." She met his eyes and could feel how he lowered his gun and placed his arm on her waist, but she felt the sudden pain and yelped. He pinched her! "What is that for?"
"For hugging another man."
What?! Even a blind man could know that she had every intention of killing that man, not hugging him affectionately. Where did this jealousy come from?
Something must be wrong in her husband’s head, but Hazel couldn’t complain. The end result of this was far from what she expected.
She thought it would be the last time she met Ranon, and somehow her heart ached to think of that.
However, he had just killed Noah and took everything lightly, as if killing someone was his daily routine. Hazel was befuddled about how to act around him.
"Do you want to kill him?" Ranon asked; he pinched her chin. "Do you want to do it on your own?"
"I..." Hazel found herself at a loss for words. Of course, she wanted to kill Arlo, but this situation was absurd. This was not right. "Let’s go back home; I am tired. I am injured." Hazel raised her hand and showed him her bleeding palm.
It happened when she smashed the vase against Arlo’s head.
She couldn’t kill him, at least not now. Michael would retaliate, and Ranon would kill him as well. She didn’t want him to die. They were not siblings, but she always thought of him as her brother.
Taking her hand for a closer inspection, Ranon frowned. The room was growing dim, but Hazel could still see his unhappy expression.
"Let’s go," Ranon said. He placed his arm around her waist and walked her out of the room, but Hazel halted.
"Wait," she said, as she wriggled away from him and went to get her father’s gun. "Okay, let’s go."
And with that, the two of them left the room, leaving a dead man behind, which made Hazel worried; it was Ranon who had killed him.
"What about the dead body?"
"Someone will clean it up," Ranon replied. He didn’t look bothered at all.
"What if Arlo reported you to the police?" Hazel wondered why he looked fine after what he witnessed she was going to do.
"He will not."
Arlo must have known that Ranon knew about his underhanded business, and with the dispute within the three big families and the deaths of the Lozens’ men, the last thing he wanted was to get the law enforcement involved.
Hazel didn’t question him further because she didn’t see the benefit of it, as she followed him outside of the Lozen family’s house, where she saw a car had been waiting for them, and Ares was sitting behind the wheel.
"What are you... How do you know she is here?!" Ares was surprised to see Hazel, but then he remembered his best friend was insane; he had put a tracker on her.
However, what shocked Ares even more was the blood on her clothes. At first, he thought it was the print of her shirt, but upon closer look, he saw blood on her neck and cheek too.
"What the hell?!" Ares exclaimed. "What’s going on?"
"Let’s go," Ranon said. He opened the car door for Hazel and then sat next to her, while Ares started the engine.
Ares would soon realize how he acted like a driver for this pair. "What’s going on? Where did that blood come from?"
"Drive, Ares. Take us back to the hotel."
Ranon took off his jacket and handed it to Hazel. "Put this on." He used tissue to clean the visible blood on her. They were going to walk into the lobby full of people, which would attract attention with how much blood she had on her.
Being very docile now, Hazel put it on, which meant she had to let go of the gun she had been holding.
"Give it back," Hazel said. She stretched out her hand to get the gun back as Ranon inspected it. "That’s mine."
"No, I confiscated it."
"What? No!" Not again! He had confiscated the gun she bought from Rize, and now he was going to do it again with the gun that she found with trouble? "No, that’s mine!"
Hazel was upset; she tried to snatch the gun away from Ranon’s hand, but to her annoyance, he was faster than she was. Instead, he pushed her closer and pressed her face against his chest.
"Be good." He patted her back. "I am still upset."
"I am the one who is upset here," Hazel grumbled.