Unexpected Marriage With Mr. Leighton: Rebirth of the Villain-Chapter 272: AUBREY’S FATE

"Mama kiss..." Ashlyn kissed Hazel on the cheek while she was sleeping. "Kiss Mama, kiss..." She pressed her cheek to Hazel’s lips. "Mmuach."

"Play with Peni, okay? Let Mama rest."

"No, no, no..."

Ashlyn wriggled out of Ranon’s grip. She stretched out her hands to grab Hazel’s hair, but Ranon had seen this trick before and anticipated this, so he tied it loosely. This made it difficult for their daughter to grab.

"Say ’I love you,’" Ranon taught Ashlyn before he took her away. "I love you, Mom."

"Love Mom."

"Okay, let’s go." Ranon carried Ashlyn away and gave her to Peni. She managed to get away from her babysitter and entered her parents’ bedroom.

And because Peni didn’t dare to come inside, she couldn’t get her in time.

"I am sorry, Mr. Leighton."

"Pay close attention to her," Ranon said.

"Yes, yes," Peni said fearfully. She wished not to have an interaction with this man because he was scary, despite how the women out there fell for him.

Peni got Ashlyn away, and Ranon closed the door behind him. He didn’t want Ashlyn to get sick, too, just in case; moreover, he needed to focus on taking care of Hazel.

This illness was more psychological than physical.

Once he was inside, he prepared Hazel’s medicine. She just ate her lunch, even though she couldn’t eat much, but at least her stomach was not empty so that she could take her medicine.

"Hazel, wake up. You need to take this," Ranon said gently. He caressed her forehead to wake her up. Her fever was not as high as before after four days, but it was still slightly above normal temperature.

Hazel opened her eyes slowly. She narrowed them because the blinding light hurt her eyes; therefore, Ranon blocked the stream of light from the window, and later on, he closed the curtain.

"Take your medicine and drink this slowly." Ranon held the glass and gave her the tablets one by one. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Hazel said hoarsely. She then wiped her cheek because there was something sticky there.

Ranon used his hand to wipe her cheek clean. "Ashlyn had been kissing you," he explained the mysterious wetness on her cheek.

"Gross." Hazel pursed her lips. "Where is she?" She looked around, as if Ashlyn were somewhere inside the room.

"She is with Peni," Ranon replied.

"Is it infectious?" Hazel asked about her illness. She had been in and out of consciousness; she didn’t notice anything else.

"No."

"Are you sure?" Hazel lay down again, curled up, and closed her eyes.

"The doctor said so."

"Bring her back here," she said sleepily.

Two minutes later, Ranon carried the happy Ashlyn as she crawled toward her mother and easily settled next to her.

"Mama’s sick." Ashlyn kissed Hazel. "Love you, Mama..."

***

Arthur carried Bryer. He raised him so high that the little boy giggled happily, while Aubrey watched the interaction between the two of them.

Neither of them spoke about Arlo, who was locked in the basement, or what would happen next.

Aubrey was sheltered in this house, but out there, it was an uproar. Since the Barlowes learned about Arlo’s kidnapping, they and the McKennas had been raising hell.

The violence on the street increased as they hunted down anyone who was related to the Lozens and the Leightons.

However, unfortunately for them, Ranon had learned from his previous mistake; he had concealed the locations of his men, including the Lozens’, much more effectively this time.

"What are you going to do with Arlo?" Aubrey finally ripped the bandage off and asked about the elephant in the room. She knew Arlo was hidden somewhere in the basement, but she had never tried to see him.

Even so, she wondered what kind of torture they had done to him.

"We still discuss it. We are waiting for Ranon and Hazel," Arthur replied. He put down Bryer on his lap and let him play with the toy car he bought him.

"Why... Are they not here yet?" Aubrey was not sure whether she was looking forward to meeting with Hazel again or not, but having a conversation with her wouldn’t hurt anyone, right?

"Hazel has been sick. They will come later once she gets better."

"Sick."

"Apparently, she got the flu because of the rain the other night."

Aubrey remembered that it was raining that night, but as far as she recalled, she was not drenched by the rain. She might be mistaken, though.

"Oh." Aubrey was silent again.

After that night when she approached Arthur in the basement, her father started to recognize her, but it was not the same.

She felt a high wall between them, as Arthur intentionally kept her at arm’s length. She couldn’t protest about it; it was already very lucky for her to be here and alive. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Dad," Aubrey called and looked at him. Arthur’s focus was still on Bryer, but she knew he listened to her, so she spoke anyway. "What now? What about me and Bryer?" She asked carefully.

Even though Aubrey didn’t know what happened out there in detail, one thing she knew for sure was that she couldn’t go back to the Barlowes. She didn’t want to.

"What will happen to me and Bryer?" She was most worried about her son.

Arthur sighed deeply. "Once the situation calms down, I will send you to Goscht Country, where your mother’s family is. You are going to live there. They have agreed to take you in."

The Raven family wouldn’t help him to exact revenge on Elise, but they agreed to take Aubrey in, since she was still part of the family.

At least, Arthur didn’t go there for naught.

"Can’t I... live here?" She was reluctant to live in another family’s household like a beggar. She didn’t know them; her mother had never talked to them for years, and she only knew them by name. They were strangers to her.

"You don’t get to choose."

Arthur couldn’t send Aubrey right away because he couldn’t afford to upset the Leightons. They relied on them so much to take down the two families, and now that the Denvers and then Axel Duncan joined in the hunt, he couldn’t lose their support.

And Arthur understood that sending Aubrey away would only provoke Hazel. He also knew that Hazel had a strong sway over her husband.

If only Hazel were River...

Arthur had buried the idea deeply when the result of the DNA test came back negative, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of similarity between them.

"But... maybe, we can talk to Hazel and Ranon about me staying here, if the situation has calmed down..."

"She is going to kill you." Arthur cut her off; he finished the line for her, and this surprised Aubrey. "She is going to kill you," he emphasized these words.

"But, why? I don’t even have a personal grudge against her." Aubrey had always had a habit of protesting when things didn’t go her way, though it had been toned down now.

"She carried a torch of revenge for River. She is going to kill you."

Arthur had not yet told Aubrey about the fact that the dead body that he buried was not River’s. He decided to keep it secret until he found her.

"Don’t argue with me, and do what I told you."

"Okay," Aubrey said. She was being exceptionally obedient. "Is there anything I can help you with?" She had been living on this floor and never wandered to the other part of the house.

"Stay with Bryer." Arthur then handed Bryer over to her, stood up, and then left.

***

A week after they returned from Aspen City, finally, Hazel could get out of bed. She was still a little bit dizzy, and it felt as if there was a fog in her head.

She didn’t know why she was suddenly crashing down.

Every emotion hit her at once, but at the same time, she felt nothing. She was so enraged when she saw Aubrey.

There was a gun in her hand, and it was a perfect opportunity for her. She could reenact what Aubrey had done to River.

The rage and hatred filled her, like a burst of energy that was going to explode.

But then, she saw the little boy, who was crying for his mother, and suddenly she remembered Ashlyn. Her daughter’s face flashed before her eyes, and Hazel had to suppress her killing intent.

One thing was for sure: she couldn’t kill Aubrey in front of her son.

But what if her son were not there? Would she be able to do it with a good conscience, knowing that she was going to kill both of his parents?

The thought plagued Hazel’s mind, and without her knowing it, she had spiraled into her own dark thought.

"Mama, wash hair." Ashlyn tugged Hazel’s hair, trying to mimic what Ranon was doing when he washed Hazel’s hair, because she was too sick to do so. "Mama smells..." Ashlyn scrunched her nose.

"What?" Hazel narrowed her eyes. "Who told you that?"

"Mama smells." Ashlyn pinched her nose.

"How dare you!" Hazel hugged Ashlyn and pressed her face against her bosom. "I am not smelly!"

Later, Hazel insisted on taking a bath.

"Don’t take it to heart. She doesn’t know what she is talking about. Renna always teased her that way when she didn’t want to take a bath."

"No," Hazel said furiously. "I am going to take a bath."

Ranon could only sigh and shake his head. "Come, I will help you."

"No chance, Ranon."