Chapter 182: TROUBLESOME WOMAN (3)
Sweat layered Hazel’s skin when she snuggled closer to Ranon. She complained about the hickeys he left. It almost felt as if he vented out his frustration since he couldn’t really do anything to her.
"You gave me hickeys!" Laurel pursed her lips. "You also bit my shoulder."
"I did," Ranon admitted it without any trace of guilt, but he traced the bite mark on her shoulder lightly with his thumb.
Hazel gave up; there was no use in guilting him when he didn’t even have a flimsy thought that what he had done was wrong.
"Get up, you need to go to work, right?" Hazel patted his head sleepily, which made Ranon chuckle and grab her hand to kiss her wrist.
"I am off today."
"Hm?" Hazel lifted her head. It was so rare for Ranon to take a day off. "On what occasion?" Did he take a day off to deal with her mess?
"I thought you heard the conversation last night."
"What?" Hazel frowned. "Are you serious about quitting?"
Ranon nodded, and this made her sleepiness vanish. Hazel sat down and looked at him in disbelief. "Baby is expensive; you can’t be jobless now."
Hearing that, Ranon laughed. He laughed often whenever he was with her. "I still have enough money to drown you in diapers and formula bottles."
However, Hazel scrunched her nose. She was not worried about money, but she didn’t expect he would go through with what he said.
There was already trouble she created, but now Ranon created one for himself. "You are so petty." But then she shrugged her shoulder and grinned. "I like it."
"Hm." Ranon stretched out his hand and took her curls between his fingers. "I like it too."
"No, seriously, what are you going to do now?"
"Taking care of your mess."
That shut Hazel up quickly. He could be very mean. "You know, I can handle it myself."
"I know you can." He didn’t know how Hazel would handle it, but she exceeded all of his expectations. She had a lot of surprises that he didn’t expect. "But I don’t want you to do it."
Hazel blinked her eyes; she thought about it over again, and in the end, she didn’t mind it at all.
All this time, it was always her who handled everything. She had to plan and organize the missions her father gave to her.
She had no one to rely on or even clean up after her. Therefore, it was rather an unfamiliar feeling to be taken care of by someone else, but in a good way.
"You are being a gentleman." Hazel snuggled against him again and let him play with her hair. It helped her to sleep.
However, in return, Ranon slapped her bump, which jolted her awake.
"Ouch! What was that for?" She groaned at him. It was not that painful, but she knew what he wanted, and she was right. "I just praised you for being a gentleman."
"I am not yet done with you."
***
Lyle was heavily injured; he had three broken ribs and fingers, not to mention the bruises and cuts. He should be bedridden for a few days, but he insisted on seeing Olivia.
"She is still in an operating room," Yara said, trying to stop him from leaving. "Don’t you want to call someone from your family to come here?"
Lyle groaned and lay down again; he closed his eyes. "None." He was sure sooner or later, his father would learn about this. He didn’t really leave Olivia alone, especially after they created such a commotion. "Did you get them all?"
"The police are taking care of this matter," Yara replied. She sat down again when Lyle stopped trying to get out of bed.
"Why was Hazel Leighton there?"
That was his question, but what he really wanted to know was: how Hazel Leighton could pull such a move and save them.
"I don’t know. I thought she got a message from Ms. Olivia or something." Yara tried to recall what happened before they stormed to Olivia’s apartment. Hazel kept calling her.
"Olivia sent her a message?" Lyle could understand if Olivia called him for help, but what could Hazel Leighton do in such a situation? But then, it was actually her, who saved them all.
"I am not sure. You need to ask Mrs. Leighton yourself about this," Yara replied in a dismissive tone. She didn’t want to overshare something she shouldn’t.
Thankfully, Lyle didn’t ask anything anymore.
Two hours later, Olivia was sent to an intensive room for further observation, and this time, no matter what Yara said, Lyle insisted on seeing his sister.
"She is safe now, but unfortunately we can’t save her child."
"She is pregnant?" Lyle didn’t seem surprised. What else could that jerk do to her? He was going to trap her with a baby at this point, and it was not even news for him.
"She is still in the early stage of pregnancy." The doctor then told him about a few more things. "May I know where the father is?" He was about to explain Olivia’s condition and his condolences for losing the baby.
"He is dead," Lyle replied coldly.
He wished Marcus were dead; it would be easier for Olivia. Unfortunately, that bastard survived. The doctor said he had overdosed, but after that, Lyle didn’t want to hear any explanation about him. That jerk was not worthy of his attention.
Currently, he was also under intensive care. Once Lyle got better, he was going to move Olivia to a different hospital.
However, his plan didn’t go well, because later that night his father came to collect his children.
***
"I am dead serious, Hazel. Don’t step out of this building," Ranon said in a threatening tone. He looked her dead in the eyes.
"Okay," Hazel promised him.
He was going to handle the problem she created, but before he left, he made sure she wouldn’t leave the building unless it were on fire.
He could be so dramatic, too.
Actually, Hazel wanted to check on Olivia, but she didn’t dare to ask for Ranon’s permission when he was acting like this.
Thankfully, that afternoon Yara and Nolu returned, and she could gather all the details from the two of them.
Later, Laurel also called her to fill her in with more details. Some parts were unnecessary, in Hazel’s opinion.
But the most unexpected part of the day was Ema’s visit. She came here alone and wanted to talk to Ranon about what happened the night before. She wished she could smooth things over between the father and son.
"Ranon is not here," Hazel said. She let her come because she was bored and curious about what Ema wanted to say.
"I don’t believe you." Ema narrowed her eyes; she was about to search for Ranon when the bodyguards stopped her from venturing into every room. "There is something important I need to tell him."
"You can tell me. I will tell him later." Hazel was sipping her juice, sitting behind a piano that faced the floor-to-ceiling window. She couldn’t play it, since she spent her childhood playing with a knife and gun, but Aubrey could.
"This has nothing to do with you."
"I am his wife. Anything related to my husband has everything to do with me." She emphasized the words "wife" and "husband" to irritate Ema. This was the entertainment she needed.
This woman was delusional if she thought she could get free access to see her husband in her own house.
"You don’t know Ranon like I do." Ema looked around; there were four bodyguards there. The sight irritated her because she knew it was Ranon’s way to protect Hazel.
Years of being his woman taught Ema one thing: Ranon could be overbearingly protective. He was very intense, and she used to hate that, but now... It angered her when he turned his attention to someone else.
"Do you?" Hazel waved her hand and dismissed all the bodyguards there, so it was only the two of them. "Do you mean with his decision to step down from his position because his father threatened him?"
Oh, Hazel loved to see the change in Ema’s expression.
"Why are you very surprised? We are married; there is nothing we hide from each other. Ranon loves to tell me about everything."
Ema tried so hard to appear that the statement didn’t bother her. "Really? He was not like that before."
"People change," Hazel chuckled. "I think you know better than anyone about that."
"If Ranon is not here, I will leave." She refused to engage in an unnecessary conversation with Hazel. She couldn’t stand her, especially after their phone call the other day.
Yet, Hazel was having her fun time; she wouldn’t let her go without giving a few jabs. It was Ema’s fault for looking for someone else’s husband.
No one would believe that her intention to come here was pure.
"I am glad you are not pregnant."
Ema didn’t get the meaning of it; she turned around and looked at her with confusion. "What do you mean?"
"You hinted to me that you had sex with Ranon the other day. I thought you were going to trap him with a baby." Hazel was being so blunt, it made Ema’s face turn red.
Both of them knew it was a lie, but it didn’t stop Hazel from bringing it up.
"Oh, but Ranon told me a different story." Hazel touched her belly. "Do you mind telling me what happened? It’s fascinating you can enamor father and son."