Unexpected Marriage With Mr. Leighton: Rebirth of the Villain-Chapter 318: STOP DREAMING OF BEING ASHLYN’S STEPMOTHER

Aubrey held her breath when she watched River enter the room. Her sister was just as she remembered her.

The only difference was her long hair. River used to have short hair, and she was thinner. She was wearing black clothes and black jeans, with her hair tied up on top of her head.

She said nothing, and out of instinct, Aubrey put down Bryer on the bed and pushed River out of the room. She locked the door behind her to prevent River from entering the room.

"Your problem is with me; don’t hurt my son," Aubrey said with her trembling voice. Even so, she was still trying to look brave. She gathered her courage to stand between the assassin and her son. "If you want to kill me, do it. But don’t touch my son."

Aubrey pressed her lips stubbornly, gathering her courage to face her death.

On the other hand, River looked amused. She didn’t expect Aubrey to truly love her son. Seeing how they grew up with an absence of a mother figure, it was rather impressive to say that they could love their children and didn’t turn out like Elise.

"Kill me, but leave my son alone." Aubrey was trembling, but she looked at River defiantly. Her ego was still too big for her to beg for River’s forgiveness.

Meanwhile, Bryer kept calling his mother. He kicked and hit the door, trying to open it while calling for Aubrey.

"Mama! Open the door! Mama!"

His cry echoed from inside the room, but Aubrey didn’t budge. She was blocking the door with her body.

"Don’t you want to apologize for what you have done?" River asked. She crossed her arms. Suddenly, she missed her daughter so badly.

She wanted to kiss her and nuzzle her cheeks. She missed the way her daughter clung to her. She felt as if she was wasting her time here.

"I am sorry. I know I have done the wrong thing. I know that you will never forgive me." Aubrey shook her head. "But I have gotten the karma. Arlo is a jerk. I shouldn’t have been with him. He is not worth it."

River was speechless. Even at a time like this, Aubrey was still too haughty to admit her mistakes. She was not apologizing for what she had done wrong, but she admitted everything because things didn’t turn out the way she wanted.

"I agree with the part that Arlo is a jerk. Even though it is kind of disappointing, because after you two went through so much trying to kill me, you two ended up hating each other. I feel my suffering has become a waste."

River took a deep breath, and she listened to Bryer’s cry. As Hazel, she had seen the boy previously.

"I am sorry, River. I mean it," Aubrey said in a low and small voice, which sounded a little bit genuine this time. "I envy you because you spent so much time with Dad. You have a special place in Dad’s heart, which I can’t replace. Dad will always trust you more than he trusts me."

"If you were in Dad’s shoes, would you trust your life to someone like you?" River’s question shut Aubrey up. "I envy you because you could live your life the way you wanted, while I lived with orders and a long list of people to kill. I didn’t even get to attend a single prom." River gave Aubrey a self-deprecating smile.

Aubrey bit her lip; she swallowed with difficulty. She knew that her envy was baseless. She only wanted her father to focus on her. Selfish and immature.

"You will leave for Elise’s family home and live there. You are not going to come back to this country. If I find out you set foot here, I am going to kill you. Stay as far away as possible from me, Aubrey." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

And after saying that, River turned around and left. Call her stupid and weak, but she couldn’t bring herself to kill Aubrey when she had set his mind to hunt down Arlo and kill him.

Bryer would lose his father, and River couldn’t bear the thought of causing him to lose his mother as well.

She felt this way especially as Bryer called out for his mother from behind the door with so much desperation.

Ashlyn had lost her mother, too, in such a tragic way, which left her with trauma as well. She wouldn’t want to inflict the same pain on another child, more so when the mother loved him genuinely.

Aubrey was a shitty person, but she was a good mother for Bryer. River did it for her nephew that she might never see again.

When she walked away, she didn’t feel bad, nor did she feel good. It was just that part of her life had ended, and she wanted to close this Chapter quickly.

Arlo’s death would do that.

River saw Ranon. He was still talking to Desgar, but she couldn’t care less about other people as she hugged him from behind, which made Desgar raise his brows.

But Ranon didn’t seem surprised. He didn’t push her away; instead, he turned around and hugged her.

"I want to go... home," River said. She was a little bit awkward to call that place home, but Ranon kissed her forehead and took her hand.

"Let’s go home."

***

It was the afternoon the next day when River and Ranon finally arrived at the penthouse, since they stayed at the hotel for the night. She was exhausted, and she blamed it on Ranon.

But before they came, River asked to stop at the toy store so that she could buy her daughter the two stuffed bunnies she had promised, even though it was long overdue.

"I will talk to Cam for a while; you go up first." Ranon kissed River’s forehead.

He was not awkward at all with her, even when she looked different. The way he treated her made River feel she was still in Hazel’s body.

With that, River went up first. She had seen Renna, and just like Laurel and Lucian, she was on guard with her, even though she was not as strict as Laurel.

However, River was used to Renna’s warmth, so seeing Renna treat her coldly made River feel a little lost. She didn’t realize how much she missed this family until now.

River expected to see Ashlyn watching her favorite cartoon, but instead, she heard Laurel’s loud voice. She sounded very furious.

And when River stepped in, she saw the reason why Laurel was so pissed.

"I told you not to come back here ever again!" Laurel was seething. She crossed her arms in front of her chest as she glared viciously at Ema. "How can you get here?! Where are the guards? Ranon should fire them all!"

On the other hand, Ema looked very calm; she had a box in her hand. "I walked into a pastry shop, and I saw this strawberry cake, and then I remembered that Ashlyn likes one. I only come here to bring this cake for her."

She sounded very sweet; it was nauseating for River. This occasion must have happened a few times, because Ema was unfazed by Laurel’s wrath, and Renna didn’t even bother to come out.

"I don’t care what it is; get out of here!" Laurel grabbed Ema’s shoulder, but Ema side-stepped and avoided Laurel.

Surprisingly, Ema was rather agile. She proceeded to enter the apartment, but of course, River wouldn’t let her get to Ashlyn.

"She told you not to come inside, right?" River grabbed Ema’s elbow, and she put enough pressure to make her drop the box. "Oops. Why did you drop the cake? I thought you were going to give it to my girl."

"My girl?" Ema’s eyes squinted dangerously. "Who are you?" Alarm was blaring in Ema’s head when she saw River.

"Me? I am with Ranon." River flicked her hair to show a hickey on her collarbone. Ranon didn’t change at all; he had a penchant for this kind of thing.

Ema gasped; she widened her eyes in horror, while Laurel was also surprised to see the red mark on River’s pale skin.

Laurel was upset, but she had to choose between these two women.

"Stop showing off," Laurel said with a giggle. She put her arm around River’s shoulder. "I see you had a fantastic night with my little brother."

River raised her brows slightly, surprised by the sudden change, but she also knew what kind of game Laurel was playing.

"Oh, he is more than fantastic. I don’t think I can keep up with him. Do you want to hear it?"

Laurel coughed. "No, thanks. Keep that for yourself," she hissed.

"I know you. You must be Ranon’s stepmother, right?" River knew how much Ema despised that title, but she had improved at keeping a straight face.

"Did Ranon talk about me?" She asked with a small smile.

"No. I love Ranon, so it is only natural for me to find out more about him, and what I found about his ex-girlfriend is completely disgusting." River scrunched her nose. Ema was the only ex-girlfriend Ranon had. "Stop throwing yourself at your stepson; that’s... disgusting. You are trying too hard."

Ema pressed her lips together; she was trembling with rage.

In this moment, River felt good to be slightly taller than Ema so that she could look down on her.

"Go back to wherever you are, clean that cake on your way out, and stop dreaming of being Ashlyn’s stepmother." River’s voice turned cold.