Chapter 231: NIGHT WITH RANON LEIGHTON
Hazel froze when she saw Daniel standing there, about to grab something from the desk. The door was not completely closed, and it lasted only for a few seconds. Hazel happened to catch a glimpse of him at just the right time.
If she hadn’t seen a movement from the corner of her eyes inside the room, she wouldn’t have known that Daniel was there.
Because of how quickly it happened, Hazel almost doubted whether she had only seen something, as she had just woken up, but then she was sure that it was a real thing.
However, Hazel immediately walked away quietly. For some reason, she felt the need to keep her discovery a secret.
From what Hazel knew, Daniel had been unable to move due to a car accident a few years earlier, which had left him in a coma for several months. And when he finally woke up, he needed a long time to get discharged from the hospital.
Because of that, Denzel looked for Ranon. He needed someone to be trained as his heir for the company, since Eilon was still too young. That reason, coupled with the fact that the company was in a dire situation, meant he needed someone else to manage it.
"What are you thinking?" Ranon asked as he took Ashlyn from Hazel’s arms. The baby squirmed, but she didn’t wake up.
Hazel raised her brows and then smiled brightly. "Thinking about our future together." She replied randomly.
Laurel, who heard that, rolled her eyes and made a gagging sound before she left to enter her car and drive away.
Only when Hazel was alone with Ranon inside the car, with baby Ashlyn secured in the back seat, did she tell him what she saw.
"Did he already recover?" Hazel didn’t want to make an assumption. "I thought you said that the condition with his legs is permanent."
Ranon contemplated it too. "I don’t know. He didn’t say anything."
Among the other siblings, Ranon was closer to Daniel. Although they didn’t talk every day, they regularly checked in on each other. Yet, Daniel didn’t say anything about the condition of his legs.
"Why does he keep it secret?" Hazel tilted her head to look at Ranon, but it seemed that her husband didn’t have the answer for that, either, so she stopped asking him.
Whatever reason Daniel had, it didn’t concern her, and this was not her place to dig more into the Leighton family’s business.
With that, Hazel then changed the subject. They discussed the topic of the McKennas and the Barlowes on their way home.
Hazel couldn’t believe that one day, they would have a conversation about this. Ranon would look surprised when she knew something that he didn’t know, but he didn’t ask where she got the information.
For now, they were trying to figure out who had placed the hit on Ranon so persistently.
Meanwhile, Hazel explained how things worked when the McKennas went on a mission to execute the plan.
"Not all requests will be accepted. Usually, it would be the Lozens who decided whether the mission was doable and the risk was worth it or not. But now I think it will be the McKennas who will assess it. They are the ones who will go to the field, and it will be their people who carry on the mission."
Obviously, a hit on the Leighton wouldn’t be something that they would miss. It would give a boost to their names and recover their reputation after the fallout with the Lozens. It would establish the McKennas’ name among the people in their circle.
Hazel explained all of that to Ranon.
On the other hand, Ranon listened to her with a mix of emotions and complicated thoughts, but it didn’t show on his expression.
"What did you get from Luther?"
"I know where Rize is. He is still alive but in bad condition. I will visit him within the week."
"Hm." Ranon nodded. "Tell me when it is, and I will go with you."
"What? Are you worried about me?" Hazel teased him.
"No." Ranon caressed her cheek lightly. "You are not his only customer. He owed me, too."
Hazel was surprised by this revelation, but then she realized something. "So, have you been looking for him as well?"
"No." Ranon stopped the car at the red light and turned his body to face her. A cunning grin curled on his lips. "Because I know you will look into him."
Hazel’s jaw dropped. "You used me to get information for you?" She was in disbelief. "Ranon Leighton, you are so annoying!"
Ranon laughed at that. "Don’t you think this is a small thought after all the information that you gathered from me?"
Hazel wanted to retort, but then she remembered she had bugged his phone. Did he know? She didn’t dare to ask.
***
"Lyle, this is an important mission. Don’t ruin it," Kyle said to his younger brother. It was official that Lyle would be the one who carried on with the mission to kill Ranon Leighton.
"I know," Lyle said. He was not happy in the slightest with this mission because he knew Hazel was a close friend of Olivia. He owed her for saving him and his sister that day, but then he got a mission to kill her husband.
"Take that young man with you, but if something goes wrong, sacrifice him. No one will question you." Kyle patted Lyle’s shoulder.
The young man that Kyle was talking about was Michael, Arlo’s younger brother. He insisted on being part of the mission because he held a grudge against Ranon for killing Noah coldly.
Arlo didn’t object to that, and Jack thought it was good that Michael was involved in the mission. The Barlowes didn’t raise a mercenary, but for Jack to allow Michael to be part of this mission, it must be because he wanted to keep a close watch on the McKennas’ movement.
Their cooperation was still new and based on shaky ground.
"Okay," Lyle said. He furrowed his brows; he felt uneasy with this mission.
"Tell me the details once you have come up with a plan." He squeezed his shoulder and then left the room.
***
"Where are you going?" Ranon raised his eyebrows when he saw that Hazel had dressed up in a beautiful dress and done her hair and makeup.
"Renna thought we would go on a date, so she complained nonstop for me to dress beautifully." Hazel put on her earrings and then looked at her reflection in the mirror. She liked it. Hazel was beautiful as long as she took care of herself.
"Or, we can go on a date, and I will send someone to Rize." Ranon approached Hazel and hugged her from behind, while their daughter gave them a look from the bed.
It had been four days since their visit to the Leighton family’s house, and Ranon could make it now. He insisted on accompanying her to meet Rize because he had a debt to collect from him as well.
"No." Hazel wriggled her body. "Don’t you dare tempt me too. Let’s go." She had been very eager to see Rize again.
Even if he had not yet gotten the information that she wanted, she was curious to know what had happened that day.
Ranon took Ashlyn and gave her to Renna before they left. He didn’t fail to notice how Hazel was rather indifferent toward their daughter. She didn’t neglect their baby, but she didn’t make an effort to be close with their daughter, either.
The way she acted, as if she refused to be attached to Ashlyn, was because she knew that one day she was going to leave. In a way, she was right, because for Hazel, she was going to stay only as long as stated in the contract.
"She wants a kiss," Ranon said, holding the baby in front of Hazel before he handed Ashlyn over to Renna.
"Hm?" Hazel was confused, but she went along with him. She leaned over and kissed Ashlyn’s chubby cheek.
Ranon did the same and then gave the baby to Renna. Both of them left. This time, they went alone without any bodyguards that followed them, since it would be easier to move.
Once they were inside the car, Hazel climbed to the backseat.
"What are you doing?" Ranon raised his brows as he started the engine.
"There is no way I will wear this beautiful dress to see Rize. It was a slum area. I will attract unnecessary attention." Hazel started taking off her dress. She pulled out jeans and a shirt from her bag.
Ranon chuckled to see that Hazel had a difficult time with her dress. "Do you need help?"
"No, thank you. You can drive now." Her voice was muffled as she pulled the dress off her head and grumbled because it ruined her makeup and hair.
"You shouldn’t have done your hair and makeup," Ranon said.
"But I want to look beautiful." She grinned as she met Ranon’s eyes from the rearview mirror. "More so, Renna would have made a fuss if I went out with a bare face."
Ranon put the car in reverse and drove out of the parking lot while Hazel struggled to put on her pants in the back seat.
"Ugh! These pants must have been shrinking in size; they are too tight." She put the blame on the pants rather than on her baby weight.
Hazel had lost some and almost returned to her normal weight, though, thanked to her excessive training.