Chapter 172: THE UNGRATEFUL DAUGHTER
Hazel didn’t promise Laurel anything, and thankfully, she managed to ’kick her out’ of the apartment. However, when Ranon came back later that evening, she talked to him about Laurel’s problem and asked if Lucian knew a good divorce lawyer.
Hearing the question, Ranon knew what happened right away, especially when Nolu had informed him about Laurel’s visit.
"I thought you didn’t like her."
"I still don’t like her."
Ranon raised his brows as if asking, then why did you help her? "So, do you want to prepare a divorce lawyer in advance?" He pretended like he didn’t know Hazel’s intention.
Seeing him like this, Hazel rolled her eyes dramatically. "Not for me, but for your sister." Now that Ranon mentioned the divorce lawyer, it reminded Hazel that they would need one soon, since her due date was approaching.
"I didn’t know that the two of you grew closer." Ranon took off his shirt and tossed it on a chair nearby, while Hazel sat cross-legged on the bed, staring at him with a foolish smirk on her lips, watching Ranon undress himself.
For some reason, Ranon felt like he was a male stripper, putting on a show for her. Therefore, when he took off his pants, he threw them at her.
"Hey!" Hazel was agile when she caught his pants before they covered her face. "What was that for?"
"Stop ogling at me."
"Then don’t tempt me."
Ranon smirked, but he didn’t continue as he strode towards the bathroom to take a bath. "I don’t need to tempt you; you even groped me when I slept."
"What?! When did I do that?!" Hazel’s face turned very red; she threw the pants towards him, but he had already entered the bathroom. "If you were going to take a bath, you should have undressed yourself in the bathroom," she grumbled.
***
Laurel didn’t expect to receive a phone call this early morning. She didn’t use her old number anymore because James kept harassing her. He sent multiple messages within a few days, which only made her feel miserable.
His messages would change from pleading and begging to outright insulting, and he would start apologizing again; the circle continued.
However, this morning someone called Laurel’s new phone number. She just woke up; her head was throbbing painfully since she drank until she blacked out.
"Who is this?" Her voice was scratchy, but she forced herself to speak. The bright light from the window hit her annoyingly. "Who?" She couldn’t hear the other person clearly.
"I am Ezra Black," the other person repeated what he said calmly. "I was asked by Mr. Leighton to represent you in the court."
Laurel blinked her eyes; she was still processing the information but then immediately sat up when she got the grip of what he meant. Her mind cleared a little bit. She reached for her other phone and started to look for his name again.
She was surprised but also elated to read his reputation.
"Mrs. Starling, are you still there?" Ezra asked because there was no reply from Laurel.
"Yes, yes, I am here!" Laurel immediately answered with a grin. She got a good chance to get herself out of this marriage.
James had been dragging this divorce through the mud.
***
Aubrey had just finished breastfeeding her baby; she put him down in his crib. Dark circles under her eyes were the proof of how exhausted and sleep-deprived she was.
Despite everything, she was actually a good mother to her baby boy; she learned how to take care of her little one pretty quickly. Even though Arlo was not by her side, she handled everything on her own quietly.
"May I come in?" Arthur had just been discharged from the hospital, and you could still see a few bruises on his face that had not yet faded away.
Currently, Aubrey had her back against Arthur. Her body stiffened when she heard her father’s voice, but then she relaxed.
"The baby has just fallen asleep. I don’t want to wake him up," she replied with an emotionless tone.
"Come outside and let’s talk," Arthur said again. This time he lowered his voice so he wouldn’t disrupt his grandson’s sleep.
For a while, Aubrey didn’t make any move; she just stood there, staring at her baby, but after some time, she turned around and walked out of the nursery room first.
Arthur gave a quick glance to the baby in the crib before he closed the door and followed Aubrey to the balcony. She knew that he had been hospitalized, but she had never come to visit even once.
However, this was not the right time to be sensitive about it. He didn’t come when she needed him the most either.
"What is the baby’s name?" Arthur asked Aubrey. He stood next to her, leaning his body against the railing, staring at the family picture in the corridor, but Aubrey was facing their backyard garden. The flowers were blooming, and the smell was refreshing.
When she was little, River used to take her there to play. She was only two years old when she looked at her half-big sister with adoration because she was so nimble.
"Bryer," she replied curtly. Now that she was thinking about it, she realized that Arlo didn’t have any contribution with the baby aside from giving his seed. Aubrey wanted to laugh at herself. He was not even interested in looking for the baby’s name with her.
"Bryer..." Arthur repeated the name and smiled softly. "Good name."
After that, a thick silence ensued between them. They knew where this conversation would head, but neither of them mentioned the elephant in the room.
"Someone beat you up pretty badly," Aubrey stated. She glanced at her father, and their eyes met, but she quickly averted her gaze to stare at the garden again. "Will you take revenge?"
Arthur didn’t immediately answer the question, and a moment later, he shook his head. "No." He then added, "We will work together."
Aubrey looked at her father again, confused. Since when would the Lozen family take such disrespect lightly? Not to mention he was the head of the family. "Who was that person who had injured you?"
However, instead of giving the answer, Arthur posted a question of his own. "Why did you do it?" He asked with an even tone.
There was no trace of rage or anger; he talked very placidly, as if they were conversing about the weather, and this took Aubrey by surprise, but she composed herself quickly.
"I don’t like her." Her eyes fixed on one of the red roses. "She got everything that she wanted."
"How?" This time, it was Arthur who was surprised; he turned his body to face his daughter.
He favored her over River, and he had to admit that; yet it was not enough, and Aubrey was still thinking River got everything that she wanted? Did she even know what her sister wanted?
Because even now, Arthur was still clueless about what River actually desired. She only acted based on his order, and she had never been interested in anything aside from finishing her job.
"How can you think that way?"
Arthur had seen the difference between his treatment of River and Aubrey. Visiting River’s childhood bedroom had given him a new perspective and let him see clearly what he had done to River.
"Because she was useful to you. You relied on her so much. You trusted her." Aubrey turned to face her father too. "You said it yourself that you would even trust your life in her hand."
Hearing that silly reason, Arthur was speechless. He had spoiled Aubrey to the point she turned stupid.
"You quoted me on that?" Arthur narrowed his eyes; if Aubrey were not his flesh and blood, he would have pushed her down from this balcony and watched her body fall to the ground because of how angry he was right now.
"You never rely on me on anything!" Aubrey pressed her lips stubbornly.
This was when Arthur realized that Aubrey had not yet changed at all. He thought because of how mature she was at taking care of her baby, she had changed a little bit.
"Because you are not reliable!" Arthur snapped back at Aubrey, which made her startled, but she gritted her teeth and met her father’s eyes fiercely.
"You took her for weeks of training; you left me with my mother alone! You spent your time with her more than you did with me! You believe her to go out there and do some crazy shit, but you didn’t even allow me to go out without any of your stupid men following me around!"
Aubrey continued to list all the things that Arthur had done, which were wrong in her eyes. But the truth was: Arthur did that because he favored her. He didn’t want her to get involved in this dangerous world.
If there were a part of him that was normal, he wanted it to be Aubrey. He wanted her to live a normal life, but now she blamed him for that?!
He spent most of his time with River because of the missions, but he would show up to all of Aubrey’s important events. He would be there for every milestone, yet she complained?!
"You don’t realize it, but you prefer River more than me!? Have you seen yourself when River was missing? You looked clueless and lost! You didn’t know what to do, and now our family’s reputation is in tatters because of that!"
A harsh slap landed on Aubrey’s face when she finished her words.