Chapter 202: HAPPINESS
Ranon was right; Hazel started to make her move. The first thing she did was gather information. She needed to update her grasp of the current situation.
And the easiest way to do it was to come to Rize.
But the information Hazel got from him was the same as she managed to get from Ranon, with the additional information about Arthur Lozen’s whereabouts.
"One of my men saw him two days ago in the harbor; he bought a ticket to the neighboring country, under a different name, obviously." Rize shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as he counted the money from Hazel. "I don’t have many men in North Drustan. But I can track him down if you want."
"Do it."
"But the price will be..."
"Money is not a problem." Hazel had more than enough to cover it. She had known Rize for a long time; she knew his price.
"Good. I like it." Rize tilted his head. "I might be crazy, but whenever I talk with you, I feel as if I were talking to River Lozen." He raised both of his arms. "I mean no offense. Just a weird feeling. May her soul rest in peace."
"Her soul will never be at peace."
Rize raised his brows. That was a bold statement. "You can’t disrespect the dead."
Yet, Hazel didn’t reply to him; she reminded him once again about the information that she needed and to inform her right away.
"Make it fast."
After that, Hazel left the secret room while Rize pondered over his thoughts. "Even the way you give me orders is just like River’s. Did River undergo surgery and change her face to become Hazel Rose?" He clicked his tongue in frustration. "Nah, she is dead. What a pity. I liked her."
This might have been one of the reasons why Rize agreed to Hazel’s demands pretty easily—she reminded him of River.
***
Laurel was surprised when she saw who visited her. It was Wena Starling, James’s mother. She came with her younger daughter. Willa. She was around the same age as Laurel.
"Don’t you want to let us in?" Willa asked with a frown when Laurel just stood there, staring at them with a frown. "You are still the same."
Laurel snapped out of it, and her expression turned very cold. "Yes, I think most people don’t change," she replied. "Let’s talk outside."
Instead of letting them in, Laurel preferred to have them outside the house. Currently, she was occupying one of her family’s summer vacation houses.
No one should know she was here, but if her father was the one who informed them, it was no surprise that they managed to find her.
"You could be less obvious about not welcoming us here." Willa shot her a glare, but Laurel could not care less. This was not the first time Willa had treated her this way.
Instead, she led them to sit on the benches in the yard. She called Ramona, the maid that she brought with her, to serve drinks for her guests.
"The air is fresh. It will be good for Mother to be here," Laurel said calmly.
The benches were made of wood, a set of four seats and a round table in the middle. They were placed under a magnolia tree, which offered them some pleasant shade.
Overall, it was not improper; actually, it was a fine spot to have a conversation, but Willa had been very hostile towards Laurel ever since she was introduced into the family years ago by James.
Therefore, Laurel was rather curious about what they wanted by coming here. These two were the people who were against her relationship with James the most.
And they had finally gotten what they wanted.
"I will spare us the pleasantries," Wena said. She didn’t mind sitting here because this was not her main reason for coming. It was not like she was going to stay for hours.
Not like her hot-headed daughter, Wena was always calm, but she was sharp with her words. Sometimes, her words could be very subtle, to the point that you wouldn’t notice she mocked you until you thought about it later.
"I came here to ask you to get back together with James. He is not doing well with the whole divorce proceeding."
Wena’s hair had turned grey, and she didn’t bother to dye it. She was not an exceptional beauty, but there was something within her that demanded respect. It worked well when she had to be the head of the family when her husband died a decade ago.
Ever since then, she had been the center of the Starling family, because all the decisions came from her.
In fact, it was extremely challenging for Laurel to gain acceptance from the family when a prominent family member was against her.
"I will not do that." Laurel’s answer was firm.
Willa wanted to interrupt, but Wena put her hand on her thigh to stop her. "What does it take for you to return to the family?"
"That’s not my family anymore."
"I know you are hurt," Wena said with a sickly-sweet understanding tone, but Laurel didn’t buy it. "But, think of the pros and cons of this situation for you."
"What are the cons of this situation?" Laurel crossed her arms. She met the old woman’s eyes. "I don’t see why divorcing my cheating husband will not benefit me."
"Laurel, that’s men’s nature. Nobody is perfect. You need to learn how to forgive and forget."
Wena took Laurel’s hand, and the latter had this urge to swat it away. She didn’t want to be touched by her, but she endured it because she didn’t want to make a scene.
"You are no longer young; as a woman, you have passed your prime. It will be difficult for you to find a partner. Even if you find someone, can you guarantee they will be loyal to you?" Wena shook her head. "Don’t you think it will be better to stay with someone who has already learned their lesson?"
She came from the old generation, where women had to endure and understand their husbands’ mistakes. Accepting them back with open arms and being grateful that they chose them back.
Because at the end of the day, the men would stop with their adventure and go home to their wives.
"You don’t have any idea how many times I forgave James’s father for all the mistakes he made, but at the end of the day, he came back home to me, to his family. That’s what family is for."
"Right for you, but it’s not the same for me."
"You need to understand..."
"No offense, Wena," Laurel cut her off coldly. She retracted her hand from her grip. "You chose to stay with your cheating husband because you believed that’s the right thing to do, but I don’t believe that."
"You are full of bitterness, Laurel. Unless you learn how to forgive or forget, you will never find happiness in your life."
"Are you happy?"
Laurel leaned her body forward; her words were very cold right now as she spoke the truth.
"Are you happy when you know that your husband went outside, telling you that he had a meeting, but actually he fucked his secretary?
Are you happy when your husband returned home with stains of lipstick on his collar, and you had to pretend you didn’t see that?
Are you happy when he only returned to you because no one wanted to play nurse for him, and you are his last option?"
James told her all of this, and he hated his father, but he turned out exactly like him.
***
"Oh, we seemed to run into each other often, Mrs. Leighton," Rafael greeted Hazel when she came out from the secret room to the candy shop.
Hazel was surprised to see Rafael there, but then she saw Ariel, his niece. She remembered she loved sweet things. They met a handful of times, and every time, the little girl always had candies with her.
Rafael needed to stop spoiling her. Too many sweet things were not good for an eight-year-old child.
"Good evening, Mr. Scar," Hazel said casually. "Your daughter?" She played dumb as she smiled at Ariel.
"This is my niece. Say hi to my friend, sweet pie."
Hazel grimaced. He still used that tacky nickname for his niece.
"Hi."
The little girl waved her hand at Hazel, and she mimicked the gesture with the same harmless smile. It must be a coincidence meeting with Rafael here.
But even if it was not, she had nothing to do with whatever information that Rafael needed.
"I will take my leave; nice to meet you both." Nolu and Yara had been waiting for her outside. Obviously, Ranon wouldn’t let her go alone, but she didn’t mind. She became less secretive now with her movement, since they were going to be separated.
All this time, Ranon proved to her that he minded his own business. He didn’t force an answer from her, even though she knew he was desperate to figure her out.
"Oh, congratulations on giving birth to a beautiful baby girl."
What lip service. He had not yet seen Ashlyn, and he knew the baby was beautiful? "Thank you," Hazel replied with a smile and then stepped outside.
"You don’t buy anything?" Yara noticed Hazel’s empty hands. She insisted on coming here because there was a flavor of candy that she wanted, but she returned without buying anything.
"The flavor that I want is sold out."