Unexpected Marriage With Mr. Leighton: Rebirth of the Villain
Chapter 29: EVERYTHING WAS A MESS

Chapter 29: EVERYTHING WAS A MESS

Dylan was staring daggers at his younger sister; he was fuming mad, and if it were a cartoon, Hazel imagined this man before her eyes would have hot steam coming out of his ears while she was eating her chocolate cake.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?!" Dylan hissed viciously. "Running away from home and now you are with Ranon Leighton? Don’t you feel any shame?"

Hazel almost choked on her cake when she heard that, but she managed a good laugh after she swallowed a piece of the cake.

They were currently in the restaurant, while Ranon and Greyson were talking somewhere else more private. Hazel was not sure what Ranon would say to her father, but she got the gist of it.

"Did you hear yourself when you said that? It sounds like the voice of a hypocrite in my ears," Hazel chuckled and happily gobbled her cake. "Careful, Brother. We are in public; you don’t want to let anyone see your ugly face behind your mask."

Dylan balled his fists. He could feel his phone was ringing, vibrating against his chest, but he ignored it. He knew who it was without even seeing the caller.

"Why did you go to Ranon Leighton?"

"Are you seriously asking me that? You are not stupid, are you?"

Dylan gritted his teeth; he was tempted to slap Hazel for calling him stupid, but she was right; they were in public. That was why she chose this place. What a clever little wench. Since when was she like this?

He didn’t remember the time when Hazel was even remotely this wicked.

"Why did you go to Ranon Leighton?" Dylan repeated the question. He had dealt with many wicked men; Hazel’s snide remark was not enough. He was simply flustered because Hazel was not like herself. He didn’t recognize this young woman.

"I am pregnant with his child. He needs to know that he will be a father, as simple as that," Hazel replied nonchalantly and then lifted her hand to order more cake. "If I am not mistaken, isn’t this exactly what you want?" Hazel raised her brows and then smiled. "I made your life easier, right? You want a connection with the Leighton; congratulations, you’ve got it."

Dylan’s expression didn’t betray his emotion, as his phone kept vibrating.

"Just remember, you coldly sold your sister’s virginity to get this opportunity. I hope that fact settles well with your morality and conscience."

Dylan was so close to lashing out if it was not for a waitress coming over to serve Hazel her stupid cake. He glared at her but said nothing because there was nothing he could say when Hazel was telling the truth.

"You make the decision on your own without consulting with us."

"Why should I?" Hazel lifted her head and looked at him with innocent eyes, as if she didn’t understand what he was talking about. "I am consulting my condition with the right person. The father of my child. Why should I consult with you? Are you the father of my child?"

The innuendo in Hazel’s words made Dylan glower at her. He couldn’t understand what got to her sister, but he definitely didn’t remember she was being so vulgar like this.

"Shut up."

Hazel made a gesture where she zipped her mouth and happily finished her second cake. She was happy enough to see how upset Dylan was, which made the cake even more delicious.

Actually, there were a lot of things that Dylan wanted to say to Hazel, but the way she acted right now made him confused.

Who was this woman before his eyes that looked like his sister? Her eyes were not dull; they were full of life, determination, and wit. Dylan remembered how his sister used to look: lifeless, pitiful, and cowardly.

"Stop stuffing the cake into your mouth," Dylan grimaced when Hazel ordered the third plate of that incredulously sweet chocolate.

"I am pregnant, remember? This is not me, but the baby that wants it."

Dylan cringed when he heard that. He didn’t need to be reminded of it. His phone kept vibrating, and he continued to ignore it.

It took Ranon and Greyson two hours to wrap up everything that they discussed, and when they found them in the restaurant, the four of them talked briefly about what they needed to do next.

Obviously, an engagement would be their next step, followed by a wedding, but they needed to slowly appear in public first.

They needed to do it quickly before Hazel was showing.

"There will be a charity event in four days in Aspen City. The two of you will make your first appearance there as a couple," Greyson informed Hazel.

The charity in Aspen City was an annual event. Aubrey used to attend this with their father. For public appearances, Arthur preferred Aubrey more, the pure and delicate Aubrey... while River was only good for cleaning up the mess behind the scene, within the shadow.

Hazel glanced at Ranon, who was sitting next to her; he sipped his coffee calmly and let Greyson do the talking. This man was not going to waste his time and energy.

"Do you understand, Hazel?" Greyson asked; his voice was hard. "You can’t embarrass our family, and you need to be careful with the way you act. I don’t want to deal with your childishness anymore. You need to stop it here. No more running away."

Hazel shifted her attention to Greyson; she looked at him briefly and nodded. "Yes, Father. Understood," she said with ease.

"Good. You are going home with us." Greyson stood up. "We leave now."

***

Finding River was not a problem because they wouldn’t be able to find her. If until now Arlo couldn’t find her and there was no sign of her being alive, then the chance for her to survive was close to none.

It was only a matter of time before Arthur stopped looking for her because right now, he had ordered all of his men to look for his other daughter, and he had been locking himself inside his study more often. Even if he went out, he would join the search team to look for River instead of going on a mission.

Everything was halted for a while in order to look for River, and Aubrey hated it when people’s attention was not on her.

"Father, have some coffee," Aubrey said. She set down a cup of coffee that she had brewed. She saw her father was distracted by countless emails that were pouring into his inbox.

"Thank you, you can leave."

That was the only thing that Aubrey got from her father when she came over. He didn’t say it coldly, but there was no warmth that was usually there.

This time, Aubrey didn’t leave immediately; she went to the back of his chair and started to massage his shoulders. One more thing about Aubrey: she knew how to melt someone’s heart with her affection and attention.

Arthur’s shoulders relaxed a bit.

"You are working too much, Father. I am worried about your health; you shouldn’t be up this late. It’s almost midnight," Aubrey said with her sickly-sweet voice as she massaged her father’s shoulders. "You need to rest, okay?"

Arthur shook his head. "I am going to find her first." He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "She will be punished harshly once I get my hands on her. How dare she pull this on us? After all the training that I gave to her, she still didn’t know the meaning of responsibilities!" He slammed his fist on the table. He was very pissed with his men because they couldn’t find her, not even a single sign or clue.

Arthur didn’t know whether he had to be impressed or upset because he trained her so well; she could disappear just like that under his nose. Out of his radar. He was pissed. There were a lot of things to do, and her childish action ruined everything.

"Thank you for the coffee; you can leave, Aubrey," Arthur said. He moved his body away from her touch and started to concentrate on the report on the table again.

Seeing her father acting like this hurt Aubrey, but Arthur couldn’t see it because right now, his eyes were on something else that was more important.

Eventually, Aubrey left the room, and when the silence descended inside the room, Arthur put away the report and then leaned his back. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He felt the headache come and groaned.

It was not like River at all to sulk and disappear without any words, but then, what Aubrey had done to her was really out of the line. No one could say how the other person would react if they were in River’s shoes.

"Where are you, River?" Arthur sighed deeply.

He didn’t like anything that was disorganized, and without River, he felt there was something wrong. It didn’t feel right, and everything that he was doing was out of coordination.

It had been close to two months since the last time he saw her. He still remembered the last words he said to her. There was nothing sentimental about it. They were talking about a mission at that time, like they usually did.

He would have a discussion with River at least three times a week, and now, without their discussions, he felt something was missing.

A big part of his day was missing without her presence...