Unexpected Marriage With Mr. Leighton: Rebirth of the Villain-Chapter 275: I AM WORSE

"They are alive," Hazel said. She stared at the bloody mess of the man before her eyes, waiting for some kind of feeling to resurface, but there was nothing.

Arlo’s body was trembling; he had lost so much blood, but he was determined to stay awake. At this rate, he was not going to wake up again if he gave in.

"Did she... know?" Arlo continued to speak to maintain his focus. His eyes searched Hazel’s face. There was no trace of River, but he felt like she was close to him, as if he was talking to her right now.

"Yes." Hazel had no intention to lie. Ranon had ruined this man, and if she inflicted more pain, he was going to die.

While Hazel didn’t have any feelings toward him anymore, they still needed to squeeze more information out of him. She was sure there were a few important things that Arlo had not yet told them.

However, Hazel had learned that pain did not necessarily need to be registered by physical torture.

"Aubrey has helped me from the very beginning. Do you remember the last charity event? She approached me. She offered herself to spy on you."

Hazel saw the flicker of anger in Arlo’s eyes. Good. Now, he knew what it felt like to be betrayed by the person whom you trusted.

"Do you know that Aubrey had started an affair with Darren, the man that you put as her bodyguard so that she can move freely?"

She didn’t know the details, but Casey, the spy in the Barlowe family household, noticed that the two of them were growing closer.

Hazel wouldn’t put it past Aubrey to use the same method that she had utilized on Arlo. If there was one thing that Aubrey was an expert at, it was knowing the right words to boost a man’s ego.

Clearly, Arlo was in desperate need of an ego boost, since he was only a shadow for River.

"Do you think I will believe that?" Arlo growled.

See? Arlo’s ego was hurt because the woman that he didn’t want, who used to love him deeply, now had an affair with someone else.

Hazel could very well be lying about the affair, but then her moral compass had been screwed up a long time ago. It was his fault for not being able to see through her lies.

"Is it important to me that you believe that?" Hazel chuckled. "She could warn you. She could change her mind at the last minutes and spare you..." Hazel casually waved her hand at Arlo’s current state. "...this, but she didn’t."

Arlo remembered how Aubrey acted the night he was ambushed. She asked a stupid question, and she acted strangely.

That bitch.

He was going to kill her. He should have killed her at the first chance he got. He should have killed her when she shot River. He should have pushed her from the bridge as well to accompany River.

"Do you know what? The McKennas refused to spare their men to save you. Your father has been like a headless chicken, sending his people on the street to look for you, in the hope that he could capture one of Leightons’ or Lozens’ men. How pathetic it is."

Arlo was burned with rage when he heard that. His last bet was on the McKennas to save him, but if they deflected, his father and the Barlowes’ men wouldn’t stand a chance to find him.

No wonder, in ten days, nothing happened. He thought they were having a hard time finding this hideout, but as it turned out, that was not the case.

"What are you going to do?! Kill me! I dare you to kill me!" Arlo burst in anger, but he lost his momentum, as he didn’t have much strength left. His whole body was cold because he had lost so much blood, and he was on the verge of blacking out.

"Of course, I dare. But you are still useful. Here is the deal." Hazel walked closer toward Arlo.

The closer she got, the clearer the sight of his wounds, but she felt nothing, not even pity. Her feelings for him had disappeared without a trace.

Hazel might feel more pity for the street dog that had been abandoned by its owner. It was a wonder how deeply she had cared for him in the past.

"I am going to kill you. I will do it quickly, so you will no longer feel the pain. In exchange, I want you to give me all the information that you know. The McKennas had deflected anyway. No one comes to save you."

"Do you think I am going to believe that?" Arlo breathed raggedly. He coughed a few times, and his body trembled even more. "Your fucking husband kept torturing me, even when I told him the information. Do you think I will believe you?"

Damn, Ranon! He gave a bad example. Hazel thought. "Well, we’re not the same person. I’m not like my husband."

"Fuck you, Hazel. If I survive this, I am going to kill you with my bare hands, and I will flay your daughter."

"You know what? I didn’t lie when I told you that I am not like my husband." Hazel walked closer, a storm in her eyes, when she heard what Arlo was going to do with her daughter. "I am worse."

Hazel picked the scissors that Ranon had left behind before. She grabbed Arlo’s hair and lifted his head. She shoved the scissors into his mouth. The side of his mouth was trapped between the crisscross of the scissors. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Are you going to tell me the information? No?" Hazel was cutting on his cheek without hesitation. "Die, Arlo. You piece of shit."

The crisp sound of tearing his cheek, followed by Arlo’s howl of pain, was music in Hazel’s ears. She didn’t like torture because it was messy, until Arlo mentioned her daughter, and he became an exception.

"You should watch what you say." Hazel twisted the scissor slightly to find his tongue while Arlo was struggling, gurgling, and choking in his own blood.

However, all of a sudden, she heard a commotion out there, and someone opened the door. Hazel pulled out the scissors and twisted them in her hand. She was ready to attack when she saw Elric walk inside.

"What’s going on?" Hazel lowered her hand. She let go of Arlo’s hair and stood up.

"We need to leave." Elric grimaced when he saw Arlo’s condition; if he didn’t make any sound, he would think he was dead instead.

His will to live was very strong. He gave him that.

"It is a battleground upstairs."

"How so?" Hazel raised her brows questioningly. This place was well protected. Not everyone could come and cause trouble here, even if the Barlowes or the McKennas discovered this hideout. "Is it the Barlowes? The McKennas?"

By this time, Hazel had walked into the corridor, and she headed straight to the second floor, where she heard the commotion was getting louder. She heard someone fire a few times.

"You can’t go there," Elric said. He pulled Hazel back toward the garage; his order was to leave with her immediately.

"So, who is it?" Hazel swatted his hand.

"None. They are not from the Barlowes or the McKennas."

"The Duncans, the Denvers?"

Elric shook his head. He tried to block Hazel from coming to the second floor. "Lennox."

"Who?" Hazel had never heard that name before. "How could he enter the building without alerting us?"

"Ranon knows him." Elric still didn’t want to move. "He worked for him in the past, and he came to visit."

Hazel widened her eyes. What kind of information was this? She had an urge to kick Elric away because he kept blocking her.

"Do you remember that in the past Ranon worked for an organization? The one he got orders to kill?"

Hazel knew about that. Ranon himself had told her about this part of his past, but he had never mentioned which family he worked for.

So, it was Lennox?

Hazel had never heard it.

Currently, Hazel was in the middle of the stairs. She saw thick white smoke coming from the door. The commotion was louder, and the gunfire was fired more often.

"This is that man. Ranon told me to get you out of here."

"Where is he?"

"He is upstairs; Arthur got shot."

"How could they enter the building and no one realized it until they were inside?" That’s why Ranon didn’t return to the basement quickly, because he was occupied.

"This man came alone. He wanted to see Ranon, but suddenly he threw a smokescreen. He put a few snipers around the building and killed our men in a row. They came prepared, Hazel. You need to get out of here."

That sounded like a special preparation, something that the McKennas or the Denvers would do.

While the McKennas used to work in silence, recently, when they joined hands with the Denvers, their attacks were way more aggressive but lacked coordination.

They preferred brutal attacks, which attracted attention.

The intention of those attacks was to instill fear.

But with snipers and smokescreens? That meant they had been observing this building for days.

"Hazel, let’s go back." Elric grabbed Hazel’s elbow. "Ranon will be fine. All of our men are upstairs. It is the smoke that is trouble."

"Watch out!" Hazel pulled Elric away when a body rolled down from up the stairs. The body was clearly dead.

Someone emerged from the smoke.