Unexpected Marriage With Mr. Leighton: Rebirth of the Villain-Chapter 129: WHO ARE YOU?

"The Lozen family is in a crisis, and there is an indication that the Barlowe family has an underhanded deal with another organization."

Ranon listened to the report that his man gave to him. There were a few activities that Jack Barlowe had done behind Arthur Lozen’s back.

Actually, for the fact that the Barlowes was on the road of betraying the Lozens, the news was not a surprise.

In the dog-eat-dog world, it was plausible for the Barlowes to deflect the Lozens because apparently, the disappearance of the Lozens’ first daughter had a great impact on the balance of power in their business.

It was pretty predictable that the Barlowe family, which was a business family, would seek another benefit since the Lozen family had been making a few errors in their decisions and they were not benefiting them anymore.

Not only that, even though they had joined forces for years, it didn’t stop the Barlowes from looking for another opportunity.

Even so, the Barlowes were still very cautious since there was a possibility that the Lozens would turn the table around, especially since River had been giving signs that she would come for them.

If the Lozens could stop her vengeance and get her back, then everything would go back to normal. But if the Lozens couldn’t stop her, the Barlowes didn’t have any other options but to protect themselves.

What happened between Arlo and River was no longer a secret in their community. There were a few rumors about it.

Some rumors might not be true, but there would always be a truth inside those rumors. Therefore, it was understandable that the Barlowes took a precautionary move.

"I have sent more information to your e-mail, sir," the man said respectfully to Ranon.

Wasting no time, Ranon went to his desk and got his laptop to check the e-mail while still on the line with his man.

He breezed through the report, and the gist of it was pretty obvious. The Barlowes were trying to save their own asses because River was trying to get revenge on both families for the betrayal that her ex-fiancé and her stepsister had done.

"I want you to look deeper into this matter," Ranon said in a firm tone.

"Yes, Sir," The man replied and then hung up the phone call.

However, Ranon didn’t immediately close the laptop; instead, he looked into it more. He had messed up with the cyber protection that Arlo had planted in their factory, and because of what he just learned, Ranon wanted to know more.

He spent around four hours looking into it, and what he got piqued his interest.

From the look of it, Arlo was the one who had committed the arson in the factory. The record that he saw before this had been tempered, and as someone responsible for cyber security in that factory, it was pretty easy for Arlo to do that.

And Ranon didn’t have any reason to be suspicious of him.

Therefore, he didn’t look into it anymore and overlooked the possibility that it was Arlo who had done it.

After all, they were business partners; the loss that they had to suffer because of the fire didn’t benefit both of them at all.

But now it left Ranon with a question: Why did Arlo do that? What was his intention? If it was not a profit, then what was his goal?

The only thing that Ranon could get from this was the fact that Arlo needed a reason to put his people in the factory.

For whatever reason, he wanted his people to be around, and the fire was a perfect excuse to bring more people inside.

However, when Ranon checked the other things, there was nothing suspicious that had happened around the factory.

Arlo didn’t do anything to their business, and he pulled back his people around three weeks ago, which happened to be the same time when River showed a sign after her disappearance, and it was through Hazel.

The wedding dress that she was wearing was initially the dress that River bought last year.

When the horizon had turned brighter, Ranon closed the laptop and went to bed, where Hazel was still sleeping peacefully.

He pulled her body against him, and she let out this cute sound; she hugged him back, even though she was still deep in sleep.

Ranon stared at her face. She looked innocent. No one would have expected that someone like her would be involved with the Lozens and the Barlowe family. Somehow, everything was circled back to River.

And in some weird way, it was connected to Hazel. She was a mystery in herself.

"Who are you?" Ranon asked no one in particular as he caressed her cheeks.

***

Lyle felt there was something not right with Olivia. He knew his sister very well since they were so close with each other, even after she was disowned by their family.

Therefore, he knew there was something that she hid from him, and he hoped it was not what he expected.

Unfortunately, his worst nightmare happened when Marcus opened the door for him.

Judging from his appearance, Lyle knew that he had been staying at this apartment. The sleepiness in Marcus’s eyes disappeared when he saw Lyle, especially when a punch landed on his face.

The sound of the fight erupted and disturbed the peaceful morning.

Marcus asked Lyle to stop, but Lyle looked very callous when he punched and kicked him repeatedly. His eyes darkened, and the killing intent emitted from him.

"Stop, Lyle!" Marcus groaned as he tried to dodge the attack, but he didn’t fight him back.

The commotion finally woke Olivia up; she immediately rushed to the living room, where the fight was happening. She shrieked and immediately stepped in between the two men. freeweɓnovel~cѳm

"What the fuck is this, Lyle?!" Olivia pushed Lyle away from Marcus. "Stop this! Are you crazy?!"

Lyle stopped; he shifted his attention towards Olivia now, and he threw a dagger look at his sister. "I am crazy?" He scoffed derisively. "I should ask that question to you. Are you losing your mind? How can this trash be here, Olivia?"

He didn’t raise his tone, but his voice was shaking with anger. He couldn’t believe that Olivia had fallen into the same trap again.

Lyle was unable to understand why Olivia gave Marcus another chance, especially after everything that he had put her through.

The weight of Lyle’s disapproval hung heavily in the air as he confronted his sister about her stupid decision.

"Don’t tell me you take back this trash." His eyes blazed with anger.

"I..." Olivia stuttered. She couldn’t meet him in the eyes, and this only enraged Lyle even more. "No, this is not what you think..." She tried to talk her way out of this situation.

But even she knew how wrong and pathetic she was.

"You can’t be serious, Olivia! After everything he has done to you, are you willing to forgive and forget?" Lyle’s voice dripped with frustration.

"No... I..." Her mind tried to find the right words to say to defend Marcus, but deep down, she knew there was no justification for that. Only a fool would take their abusive ex back.

And Olivia was walking on that path...

Seeing her response, Lyle’s anger reached a boiling point, and without thinking, he pushed Olivia to the side and swung his fist at Marcus, landing a hard punch on his jaw.

Olivia screamed; she immediately scrambled to her feet and tried to pull her brother away. "Stop this! Stop!"

The different strengths between them were very clear.

Marcus didn’t retaliate, absorbing the blow, which further infuriated Lyle, and it became more difficult for Olivia to stop her brother.

Lyle was a fighter, and he fought to kill; thus, if she didn’t stop him and let it continue, the end of it was expected. Lyle wouldn’t stop until he got his target, and his goal right now was to get rid of Marcus.

"He is trying to change! Stop!"

Knowing it wouldn’t be enough, Olivia resorted to the only crazy thing that she could think of. She grabbed a broken glass and pressed the sharp shard against her neck.

"Stop it, Lyle!"

Blood trickled down from the opened wound on her neck.

***

It had never been like this before.

Carl dreaded the time when he went home. He had gone for three days, and what he hoped was a way for him to get Laurel’s attention was a wrong move.

There was no call; there was no text from Laurel. She didn’t care.

"Mother...?" Carl’s heart was racing with a mix of apprehension and dread as he headed straight for the guest bedroom, where Laurel had been staying for the last few days.

There was no other way; he had to apologize, and this time, he was determined to get the response out of her. All he wanted was for his stepmother to forgive him so they could go back to their normal situation.

"Mother? Can we talk?" Carl knocked on the door, but there was no answer, which Carl had expected.

But when he tried to twist the handle, the door was open. Laurel apparently didn’t lock the door, and Carl entered.

"Mother?" He looked around and found Laurel was talking to someone on the phone; she was on the balcony.

From the look of it, she had a serious conversation; thus, she didn’t realize that Carl was there.

More so, at this time, Carl was supposed to be at school and James was at the office. She must not expect anyone to be at home.

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