River slept peacefully next to Ranon. Surprisingly, she slept for eighteen hours! Aside from eating and the need to use a bathroom, she slept throughout the day.
But whenever she opened her eyes, Ranon was there. He stayed with her the whole ti. He didn’t even take a step out of the room, and all of the orders he gave to his people, he did through the phone, even when they were in the sa house buildings.
Lucian and Ares couldn’t even see him when they dropped by to give him a report about the company.
It was the next day when River finally woke up and was sober enough to stay awake and learn what had happened when she was sleeping.
She snuggled against Ranon’s chest with her eyes closed, while Ranon played with her hair.
"My man spotted Michael entering the Barlowe family’s house early this morning." Ranon glanced at the clock on the wall; it was lunchti. "He has been there for five hours."
The Barlowe family’s house was surrounded by reporters, but they couldn’t enter the property as they pleased because the place was under bank foreclosure since their company was declared bankrupt.
However, Michael could enter his own house without trouble without drawing unnecessary attention.
"Is he alone?"
"Yes."
River opened her eyes and looked at Ranon; he knew what she wanted to do. "I want to do this," River said, and she hugged him tighter, as if she could feel his reluctance to let her go.
"I know."
"Don’t you want to stop ?" River scrunched her nose. Sotis, she simply wanted to go against him, only to have an argunt with him.
"You are going to do it anyway." Ranon pecked her lips.
"You are no fun." River lted when Ranon kissed her; she pulled him down to kiss her a little bit longer. She craved the closeness even when he was next to her.
"Do you want to tie you up on the bed?" Ranon asked playfully as he gathered her arms above her head and held them with one hand.
"Promise?"
Ranon smirked to hear the challenge in her words. They made love slowly, savored each other’s presence, and shared the comfort of their loved ones’ existence.
Life wouldn’t be easy from now on, and it would never be, but they had gone through a lot, and as long as they had each other and their little family, everything would be fine again in the end...
***
It was two days later when River finally ca to the Barlowe family’s house. The people out there had dispersed, and when she arrived, the reporters had gone to make other sensational news.
It felt like it was a lifeti ago since River ca to this house.
There was a ti when she felt this place was her second ho. She was more comfortable being here than in her own ho because there was Arlo and... Michael.
River always thought of Michael as her little brother; she loved him and had never wished they would end up this way.
Even when she was Hazel, she tried not to get Michael involved in any of this, but then it would be very naïve for her to think that way. Whether they liked it or not, Michael would get involved eventually; the Barlowes were still his family after all.
Ranon had his people surround the place, and he was sure Michael was alone there.
However, in Ranon’s opinion, it was still too risky for her to go alone; they still didn’t know for sure whether or not Michael was ard.
Yet, River insisted.
’I know him, Ranon.’
’People changed.’
That was a valid reason, but River still ca, and when it was midnight on the third day since she killed Arlo, she arrived at the Barlowe family’s house.
She knew this place like the back of her hand.
And it didn’t take a long ti for her to finally find Michael. From the look of it, he didn’t even try to hide; he was waiting for her.
"You shouldn’t have eaten instant noodles raw," River said when she found him in the backyard, staring at the garden that used to be so beautiful, but now tall grass covered the place.
"There are no gas and electricity here; can’t cook anything." Michael lifted his head; he stared at River for a long mont, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. She was really alive. "I miss your cooking."
River sat down on the ground next to him, hugging his legs like Michael did, staring at the distance. "You should have told ; I may bring sothing for you to eat."
"I don’t know how to contact you without getting shot before I can talk to you."
That was true; the Lozens’ n might have shot him when he got closer.
"Leave, Michael. Leave and never co back." River stared at the dark sky. She would rather not look at Michael. She couldn’t forgive him because he had put Ashlyn’s life in danger, but her heart felt so heavy if she had to take his life.
She had killed so many people and seen death more than a handful of tis, but recent deaths affected her more than she had ever felt.
"No. This is my ho. I am not going anywhere..." Michael tilted his head to look at River. "Do whatever you need to do; I will not hold it against you. After all, this is how our lives are, right?"
Michael grinned; he looked like his younger, carefree self.
"But before that, can you tell how you could survive? People thought you were dead."
River grinned back at him. "This is a crazy story."
"You know that I love all of your crazy stories, right?"
River prayed things would end differently, but she knew that was impossible, so she could only take joy in the mont with him.
"Listen closely..." River said, and she told him the whole thing.
At the end of her story and the beginning of her new life, it was the end of his life...
***
River approached the familiar car, parked across the street. She got inside and found Ranon had been waiting for her.
He unscrewed a bottle of water and gave it to her. As River drank the water, Ranon made a phone call to clean up the area.
"I want him to be buried with his family," River said as she put away the empty bottle of water. She was exhausted and sleepy. It was a long night, and she wanted nothing but to sleep for a long ti...
Ranon granted her wish and ordered his man to do exactly that before he turned on the engine and they drove away.
The silence was suffocating, so River turned on the music, and a llow song filled the car.
"Is there a place that you want to visit?" Ranon asked gently. He held her hand with one hand while driving with the other.
River thought about it for a while, and there was only one place that she wanted to be. "I want to go ho." She wanted to be ho with her little family.
"Okay."
Their drive back ho was wrapped in a comfortable silence as the sun went up and the clear sky revealed its beauty...
***
Once they arrived, River didn’t want to do anything else. She only wanted to sleep next to her daughter. But it was afternoon when they arrived, and Ashlyn didn’t want to sleep. Instead, she asked for River to play with her, though she didn’t speak a single word.
"I am going to take a bath first, okay?"
Ashlyn nodded but lifted her arms, wanting to be picked up by River. Even Ranon couldn’t persuade their little girl to let go of River.
In the end, River had to take a bath with Ashlyn sitting patiently inside the bathtub. When River was done, Ashlyn followed her to change her clothes and tug her leg. Then Ashlyn handed her stuffed bunny.
"Let’s sleep, okay?" River kissed Ashlyn’s cheeks, but she shook her head. She wanted River to play with her.
Having no other choice, River ca to Ashlyn’s bedroom and played with her for a while, but she ended up falling asleep as they played on the bed.
River might be dreaming, but she felt Ashlyn kiss her cheek a few tis and pepper her face with small kisses before she snuggled against her chest.
"Love you, Mama," Ashlyn said in a small voice as she kissed River’s chin.
River couldn’t confirm that, since she fell asleep almost imdiately with her daughter safe in her arms.
Later when she woke up, she found Ashlyn was in the kitchen with Ranon. They were preparing dinner.
"I can see you love both of them."
River almost jumped out of her skin when suddenly she heard Renna’s voice behind her. This old woman had not yet said anything related to the fact that Ranon brought back ho another woman even before a year of Hazel’s death anniversary.
"I don’t know who you are, but I trust Mr. Leighton’s judgnt. He will not put any harm around his daughter."
"Thank you," River said, and sohow, before she could think twice, she had blurted it out. "Can I hug you?" Renna had been a mother figure for Hazel, and she missed her as much.
Renna smiled and hugged River tightly. "Welco to the family. I feel as if Hazel sent you for her little family."
River hugged her back, and she breathed in relief. "Thank you..."
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