Unexpected Marriage With Mr. Leighton: Rebirth of the Villain-Chapter 324: IT FELT LIKE HOME

"Please, I only want to talk. I want you to understand why I did what I have done," Arlo said in a pleading tone. "I don’t want to escalate this or hurt you."

"Hurt me?" River raised her brows and chuckled. "If you only want to talk, why do you need those people?" River looked around, indicating the people around them, who stayed far enough not to hear their conversation but close enough to reach them if Arlo needed.

"They will not hurt you. I will not hurt you; I only want to talk and make you understand my actions," Arlo said with a pleading tone. "There are so many people who are looking for me. They are here for protection."

"Say whatever you want to say here." River looked at Arlo’s current state. She wondered how she could have had such bad taste in liking a man before and how she used to think this man was perfect.

Damn.

People said love was blind, but River was not only blind but also brainless.

Even the soles of Ranon’s shoes looked better than he did in his current state. Arlo now had a permanent limp and had been a fugitive for so long after the torture, and everything that went wrong for the Barlowes must have taken a toll on him.

Arlo looked haggard. He lost his weight and muscles. He looked so old and pathetic.

River could imagine he was trying to pull his old charm before he came here to the funeral, but he was trying too hard. You could tell he was a mess.

His shirt and pants looked oversized on him. His hair was neatly combed, but it did little to improve his pale and exhausted complexion. He looked half dead, if River could say.

"I didn’t mean to kill them, but I had to. They betrayed me. Aubrey sold me out to the Leightons." Arlo shook his head. "You don’t know what kind of torture I had to go through in Ranon Leighton’s hand."

"Of course, I know," River said with certainty. She absolutely knew what kind of torture Arlo had to endure. Even then, it was still not enough.

Arlo shook his head again, as if River was talking nonsense. "River... I am sorry, but you know well that’s the rule in our world."

River snickered. "You are so funny when you talk about betrayal. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror when you prepared that speech?"

Hearing that, Arlo didn’t even look ashamed. "I know what you meant. I know that I did you wrong, but I have never loved Aubrey. It’s you; it’s always you that I love. You are always in my mind. Even when I was with her, it’s only you that I thought about. I know I have made a grievous mistake, but could you please understand me?"

River felt disgusted. "Your confession didn’t flatter me. If anything, I feel disgusted." And it was not a lie. Disgusted didn’t even cover how River felt about Arlo.

"River..." Arlo reached out to grasp her hand, but River swatted it away with all her strength, causing him to wince in pain. Hell, he was so fragile... "What can I do for you to understand me?"

River stared at Arlo. There was not even a shred of pity. Seeing him was like seeing dirt on the tip of her shoes; it was annoying.

Without a second thought, River pulled a gun from the holster inside the jacket that she was wearing. The sky was very gloomy. It darkened your mood.

When River aimed her gun at Arlo, the seven men surrounding the graveyard pulled out their guns as well and aimed them at her.

"River, put it down. We can talk it over. I don’t want them to harm you."

River smirked. "Don’t you think that I will harm you?"

Arlo shook his head, and with a nauseating belief, he said, "I trust you will never hurt me."

Hearing that, River paused. She lowered her gun, making Arlo smile widely because he believed what he said was right. After everything, River still didn’t have a heart to hurt him. She still loved him.

Seeing this, the other men around them lowered their guns as well. They assumed River was no longer a threat. Arlo had managed to talk her down.

"I know it." Arlo’s eyes lit up with a gentle love. "I know that you have the same feeling as I do. This will not be easy, but we will go through it together."

The light in River’s eyes dimmed when she heard that, replaced with apathy. She lifted her other hand to give the signal, and when she lowered her hand again, there was rapid fire from around them, which killed all seven men that Arlo brought with him.

They didn’t expect this. They didn’t even have the chance to fight back; everything went so fast. They heard the gunshot, and the next second they were already on the ground, bleeding profusely.

"River..." Arlo looked at the sight incredulously. "Why? How could you do this..." It was too late for him to realize that he had been baited here.

The next moment, there were a dozen of Lozen’s men who emerged from their hiding places and checked on the seven men, making sure they were dead before they approached Arlo and River.

Seeing the situation was not in his favor, Arlo intended to flee the area, but with his limp, it would be close to impossible to save himself. It was the time when River shot his leg.

Arlo fell to the ground with a loud scream, but River shot his other leg one more time to make sure he stayed on the ground.

It didn’t take long for the twins and Pete to reach River.

"Kill him! Kill him!" Paxton said with rage. "Kill him, River!"

Instead, River looked at Pete. "Did you bring what I asked you?"

The twins looked at their brother as he pulled a plastic bag out of his pocket. Meanwhile, the other Lozens’ men came out and approached them.

There were a dozen of them. It was not all of them, but they were enough to tell the other men about what happened here and how their revenge was avenged.

"Hold him," River said coldly.

Payton and Paxton didn’t need to be told twice; they immediately went to hold Arlo. They lifted his body, forcing him to kneel, facing River.

"River, no..." Arlo’s eyes filled with dread when he saw the plastic bag because he knew what would happen to him next.

Only then did he realize what his father and Michael said was right. There was no going back. This was not the woman who would do everything for him. She was not the same River that he knew.

"River, don’t let your impulsive thoughts win you over. You hate your sister, and you don’t even like your father. I have done you a favor."

River stood in front of Arlo, who was being held back by Payton and Paxton. She fiddled with the plastic bag she was holding.

"Didn’t it cross your mind that I don’t even like you anymore?"

And after saying that, River wrapped the plastic bag around Arlo’s head. She tightened it until he couldn’t take a breath. His eyes and mouth were wide open, trying to find a way to get air, while his body thrashed violently to fight back against Payton and Paxton.

Meanwhile, the other Lozens’ men were cheering for what River was doing; the graveyard had never been so lively.

Arlo couldn’t fight for long; his body grew limp, and he was no longer fighting. Only a loud sound of his breathing could be heard when life left him.

He was dead, next to Aubrey and Arthur’s graves.

Arlo died—in the same way as they did.

The rain started pouring down...

And finally, the revenge had been avenged.

***

Ranon dried River’s hair after he washed it because his woman was too exhausted even to lift a finger. She had not yet spoken more than a single word ever since they took care of Arlo’s dead body.

They sent it to the Barlowe family’s house, which had been empty for a long time. Once again, the media was in an uproar, with many wild assumptions about the matter. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Some said the Barlowes had ruined the Lozens, who then took revenge. However, some said that the members of the two families were killed by the same person. Others said it involved a heretical sect and that the victims were sacrifices.

So many people with different opinions, but none of them would really know the details of the story.

"Do you regret it?" Ranon asked lightly when he put away the towel. They were still in Talbar City.

"Absolutely not," River said. She was not certain what she was grieving for at this point, but she was exhausted, as if she had been running for hours. She wanted to rest...

"Do you want to talk to Ash?" Ranon asked. And when River didn’t say anything, he called Renna and told her to put Ashlyn on the video.

The little girl was watching a movie with Laurel, but she pursed her lips and moved away from the video call to hide beside Laurel.

"You know that she doesn’t like a video chat, right?" Laurel commented.

That sounded familiar. River found comfort in the familiarity of that sound. After a long and tiring day, she smiled for the first time.

This familiar interaction felt like home...