Unexpected Marriage With Mr. Leighton: Rebirth of the Villain-Chapter 306: THE FUNERAL

Rafael’s intention was very clear. He wanted her. He had wanted her for a long time, and it was obvious that he wouldn’t let River go.

This man looked normal, but if you knew him, you would be able to tell how insane he could be.

"Finally, you will be able to leave the hospital," Rafael said cheerfully as he walked into her room with River’s favorite cucumber juice.

"Are you sure?" River asked. She got the juice from him and sipped it in. This was exactly the taste that she liked, but she was not thrilled with the news.

Once she was in his house, she wouldn’t be able to go out. Her chance to sneak out would be close to zero.

In that case, she had to do something.

"When will I be discharged?" River watched as Rafael put the takeout that he brought from outside into the plates. It was the lamb chop from the Imperial Restaurant.

River only wanted to eat this dish for the last few days, and to be more specific, she only wanted the one from the Imperial Restaurant.

However, that restaurant was a little bit far from the Central Hospital; yet, Rafael had never complained about her demand.

To be honest, Rafael treated River well, minus the fact that he kept trying to initiate things with her. He would try to hold her hand, caress her hair, or even kiss her cheek, close to the corner of her mouth.

River had lost count of how many times she threatened to stab him. She did once. Rafael’s arm was bleeding when he tried to force a kiss out of frustration, but that crazy man was laughing when he saw the blood.

’Good thing we are in the hospital.’

That was what he said before he got seven stitches on his upper arm. River stabbed him with a fork.

"You will be discharged in three days," Rafael said excitedly. "I have prepared a room for you. You will love it. Do you have any special requests? What color do you want for your wall? The type of bed? How many pillows do you want?"

River grimaced. Three days. It meant that within three days, she had to find a way to leave the hospital. Her chance was not high, though.

She could already move freely, but it was not enough to sneak around. Memorizing the exit on this floor and the layout of the hospital did help, yet it wouldn’t guarantee her safe escape.

Once she got caught, Rafael would have increased the security around her.

"Paint all in black. That will suit my mood." River took the plate and started to eat the lamb chop. The taste was exactly how she remembered it.

"Don’t be too gloomy. There is no point in going back to your father. He doesn’t even do anything with the fact that Aubrey tried to kill you. You can see how he favors her more than you. In that case, you don’t need to care about him anymore. There is no need to go back to him."

Rafael sat down next to River and took a piece of meat, plopping it into his mouth.

"I can give you whatever you want. I can provide for you. Stay with me." Rafael stretched out his hand, but he stopped when River raised his fork. He widened his eyes and grinned mischievously. "You traumatized me with a fork."

No. Rafael couldn’t give her what she wanted because he was not who River needed or wanted. Not now, or ever.

***

Ranon skimmed through his documents, and his eyes landed on something; it was a property deed, the one that Hazel wanted. He gave it to her before their wedding, and now it sat in his bottom drawer.

He pulled it out and skimmed through it. Until now, he didn’t understand why Hazel wanted this house. He stared at her name and immediately put the deed back in the bottom drawer again when the dull pain hit him.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door, and Cam stepped in. He informed Ranon that they had gotten a lead on Gayle Lennox.

Actually, Ranon didn’t have a personal vendetta against Gayle, except for the fact that he had assisted the Barlowes in rescuing Arlo and was also concerned about... a cut on Hazel’s arm.

"No. That’s a trick," Ranon said when he heard Cam’s explanation.

"How do you know that?" Cam furrowed his brows. "It sounds legit to me."

"Hadn’t you learned?" Ranon stood up. Gayle had been throwing countless leads to confuse them. Until now, they had taken the lead for the ninth time, which ended in disappointment.

Ranon knew that this kind of game made Gayle excited.

As for Arlo and Michael, they had been lying very low. The only reason Ranon was involved and helped Arthur get them was because Hazel wanted Arlo dead.

There was a time when Ranon and Hazel bet on who would get Arlo first. But obviously, Ranon would win it.

"Where are you going?" Cam followed Ranon to the corridor.

"Visit someone," Ranon said. He walked toward his daughter and kissed her cheeks. Ashlyn gave him generous kisses on the cheeks as well.

This visit was long overdue. Ranon kept pushing aside the matter, but now he needed to end this. He couldn’t keep dragging things out.

His car was parked at the front of the Leighton family’s house. This house became even duller without Alfred and all the people who used to work here for years.

Laurel had taken Alfred and the other people to work in her house. It seemed that there was a tacit understanding between Laurel and Ranon about what he was going to do to their older brother.

She could understand his anger and the need for vengeance, and even though she disagreed with it, she didn’t try to persuade Ranon otherwise. She chose to turn a blind eye to what Ranon was going to do.

Meanwhile, Ema no longer lived here as well. Daniel had generously given her a house as per Ranon’s instruction to get her out of the family house.

And now, the majestic building looked more like a lonely tower. You could feel the depression even when you just stepped onto the property.

It was like a grandiose jail, isolated without anyone to talk to, and that was how Daniel lived for the last ten months.

He couldn’t talk to anyone. He lived without access to the outside world and no one to talk to, since all of the men in this place were Ranon’s.

The only reason he still lived was because Ranon kept pushing the matter aside. It was easier to deal with outsiders than with those you once thought of as family.

Of course, after Daniel, Ranon would go for Logan...

"It has been a long time. I thought you had forgotten about me." Daniel smiled when he saw Ranon step into the backyard garden. He was sitting in his wheelchair again; Ranon made sure of it. "This is it?"

Daniel lifted his head to look at his brother; he smiled a little and then nodded at the seat in front of him.

"Why don’t you sit down and we talk for a while? It has been a very long time since the last time I had someone to talk to."

Ranon glanced at the seat. This was the same place where they used to have long conversations in the past when Ranon joined the family for the first time. It felt like a lifetime ago.

At that time, Ranon felt he had a family for the first time, a brother who looked after him. But now, he had lost his family again.

Hazel told him that she and Ashlyn were his family, people who would stay by his side when he learned that it was Daniel behind the hit on him.

However, she had left, and now, Daniel would too.

"How are you? How is Ashlyn?" Daniel asked casually, as if everything was fine between them. He was wearing his grey sweater. The color that he liked.

However, Ranon noticed how much weight he had lost. The hollows on his cheeks were profound. The sleeves looked very loose on him.

"How is Issabella?"

***

Laurel woke up in the morning to a message from Ranon, informing her that Daniel had gone. Soon enough, the media was in an uproar about the death of the eldest son from the Leighton family.

It said that he fell from the stairs just like his father.

Some said it was an accident, but others said he ended his own life because of depression. Daniel had stepped out from the spotlight for years, but many people still remembered him.

And his funeral was held in the same place as Denzel Leighton’s; he was laid to rest next to his father.

"Did he... pass without any pain?" Laurel asked Ranon. He was the last person who met Daniel. There was an unspoken understanding between them.

"I don’t know; you can ask him," Ranon said and then turned around to leave the graveyard. There were still many media reporters in the area, but they couldn’t get any closer.

Meanwhile, many important figures came to show their condolences.

The whole process was very exhausting, and it was similar to Denzel’s funeral. It was only the next day that Ranon could get a moment for himself.

But now, he had no one to talk to. Hazel was not here to be with him.

Absentmindedly, Ranon drove to that house...