Chapter 232: HOLDING A GRUDGE
The slum area smelled like piss, with cheap brothels and gambling houses along the street. It was not the same place as the one Hazel visited to look for Luther. It was much worse.
Thankfully, Hazel didn’t wear her beautiful dress. Both she and Ranon dressed modestly with baseball caps over their heads.
They looked like a young couple who had ventured to the wrong side of the city, but were not completely out of place because they could still see some other men and women around their age visiting the places along this street.
Ranon placed his hand on her waist, so they wouldn’t be separated in this crowded street, while his sharp eyes were concealed under the cap.
"If you don’t want to be here, you can wait in the car." Hazel could feel his irritation. She thought that Ranon had grown accustomed to luxury, so he hated being in such a dirty place.
However, that was not the case.
"It reminded me of the past," Ranon said without thinking, and then chuckled at his own comment.
"You were a street fighter," Hazel noted. She remembered this piece of information. "Did you accept side jobs too?"
Ranon glanced at Hazel while his wife was staring at him. There was no judgment, only curiosity, as if she asked whether he could fix a broken chair or not.
"Yes, sometimes," Ranon replied truthfully, referring to the fact that he didn’t even tell Ema when they were together. She was already against it when he fought in the ring for scrap money to pay his bills. It would have been more difficult if she had learned that he did dirty work, too.
"I see." Hazel nodded. Now she got where Ranon’s remark about how he had killed more people than her came from. "Were you good at what you did?"
Ranon smiled. "I accomplished my jobs in goodnotes."
Hazel thought of Arthur. He would be thrilled to recruit someone like Ranon into their family. Knowing her father, he would love to personally train him.
Arthur was not completely satisfied with River’s decision to date Arlo because Arlo came from the business side of the family. However, Arlo was useful. They could be a solid match, even when Arlo was not up to Arthur’s standard.
"Do you like it? I mean, do you feel any regrets for the people that you executed?"
Both of them strolled in the dirty part of the city, discussing murders and whatnot, while embracing each other like an ordinary couple. They were on the way to meet their informant who had almost been killed by who knew.
Although this situation was surreal for Hazel, it was the best outcome she could have asked for.
Ranon didn’t answer her right away; he gave some thought about it as they slowed their pace so that this conversation could last a little bit longer.
Their sex life was exhilarating. They could do it the whole night, fucked like rabbits, as both actively pleasured each other and tried different things in bed.
But what they craved the most was this idle conversation after a busy day and threats to their lives.
They walked at a relaxed pace, having conversation like ordinary couples, although their topics were far from ordinary. Still, this gave them a semblance of solace.
"It was difficult at first, but once I lost count, I thought of it as just a job. I would do it, and then I would get paid." Ranon pulled Hazel closer to him when a man almost bumped into her. "What about you? Do you regret it?"
"I don’t. I was raised for it." Hazel widened her eyes; she caught herself before she exposed herself more. Hazel was not raised as an assassin. It was River!
Hazel racked her mind to correct her mistake, but Ranon acted normally. "In that case, I was worried about you for nothing."
This was not the response she expected. Ranon didn’t even question how it was not aligned with how Hazel was raised. He had gathered information about Hazel, and he should know that Hazel was not raised that way.
Yet, he didn’t question her. Did he know that she was actually River? Impossible. It didn’t make sense at all.
"Were you afraid when you took someone’s life for the first time?" Hazel shifted the attention back to him. Ranon’s lack of response made Hazel wonder even more.
"No." Ranon shook his head as they stopped in front of a cheap brothel, which was the location that Luther had given to Hazel. "I realized that people could die easily and then wondered what happened after death."
***
Laurel got the message from Wena. It was short and contained all the information that she needed; Carl was in the hospital, and he had attempted suicide. And then Wena gave her the address of the hospital.
Wena didn’t ask for Laurel to come, and this gave Laurel a conflicted feeling. If Wena had made a demand, Laurel would have been defensive and decided not to come only to spite her.
Yet, she didn’t do that. She let her choose whether it was important for her to be with Carl at this difficult moment.
Laurel then remembered her last conversation with him and decided she didn’t need to be there. She couldn’t always come to his side when he did something worrying, or else he would use it as a weapon.
With that thought, Laurel tried to fall asleep, but sleep didn’t come easily, and before she could talk herself out of it, she was already behind the wheel and drove to the hospital.
It was late at night, and the visitation time had been over, but Carl was placed in the VIP room; she could inform anybody there to let Laurel in.
And it was Wena who came to meet her in the lobby.
"Thank you for coming," Wena said warily. She looked exhausted.
Laurel wanted to ask where James was and why he was not there to care for his son, but then she remembered how James was with Carl.
Laurel realized now how James had shrugged all the responsibility of taking care of his son onto her, since she couldn’t have her own. At that time, Laurel was more than happy to do so.
"How is he?" Laurel watched as Wena sat down next to her.
"He is stable now, but I will admit him to a psychiatric hospital. That’s what the doctor suggested." Wena rubbed her face. "He used to be a bright boy, cheerful, and very happy. How can he become like this?"
Laurel didn’t answer that question because she couldn’t offer one.
"Can’t you stay? Not for James, but for Carl."
Laurel knew that Wena would bring up this topic. "The divorce has been finalized," she said in an even tone. "Do you remember how you said that my marriage would not last, and I would end up alone? I think you’re right, but I preferred this option to the other one, so let’s not talk about it. I am here to check on Carl, if you allow me. If not, I will leave."
"You are holding a grudge."
"No, Wena. I only remind you of how awful you had treated me during my marriage." Laurel felt good to see Wena’s ashen face, but it didn’t give her any satisfaction. "I give you grace to be here, so don’t talk about me and James again. It’s over."
She wanted to hurt her for what she had done to her in the past, but it didn’t accomplish anything. She was only frustrated.
"This way," Wena said in a defeated tone.
***
After talking to the owner of the brothel, who looked very suspiciously at Hazel and Ranon, she escorted them to the farthest part of the building.
She was an overweight lady in her seventies, but she looked very healthy, as if she could take a client for herself. She had a mole on the corner of her lip and full breasts and lips.
The woman named Cassie, a name that didn’t suit her at all, but Hazel was not going to say that to her. She smelled like cigarettes and cheap whiskey.
Cassie escorted them to a busy kitchen, which obviously had never run a food-safety inspection. Hazel swore she wouldn’t touch any food in here.
People there were shouting orders and profanities as they handled the food that would be brought to the customer upstairs, as they enjoyed their time with one of Cassie’s charm girls.
Next to the deep fryer, there was a door that led to another area of the building. The air here was thick with the distinct scents of alcohol and disinfectant. This was the illegal clinic Cassie ran alongside her brothel.
Therefore, if her girls were being reckless, they could have done it here, much cheaper and more practical. More so, this brought her a stream of money as well, as she provided two doctors with questionable backgrounds.
There were four doors inside, and Cassie took them to the farthest. She opened the door and revealed Rize was inside; most parts of his right body were tightly bandaged.
"There he is." Cassie’s voice was hoarse, revealing that she was a heavy smoker. "Don’t take long."
"Thank you," Hazel said. She wondered if Rize was lucid enough to talk.
She entered the room first, while Ranon stood by the door, leaning his tall frame against the wall.
On the other hand, sensing there was someone in the room, Rize stirred. He opened his eyes and found Hazel. He was surprised at first and then grinned.