After making the arrangements, Santiago pushed the door open and entered. Scarlette watched the door close before she slumped in dejection once again. Once Santiago had entered the ward, he walked to Raeleigh's side, sat down, and looked at her. Her face was white as snow. This is how a woman was like when she lost her child through miscarriage. Other than that, she was covered in sweat. Santiago slipped his hand under the quilt and held her hand. It was so cold, just like the hand of a dead person. After a while, he put her hand back. Gradually, the sky darkened. Santiago got up and went to stand by the window for a moment before he came back to sit beside her. After that, he stood up again. After enduring one such restless spell throughout the night, he finally sat still. Soon, it was dawn. Raeleigh also rose at the break of dawn. She opened her eyes slowly and stared into space. Everything felt like a dream, as if they had travelled light-years previous
Cynthia found it unnecessary. They had already known each other, therefore there was no need for them to get to know each other again. She didn't extend her hand to shake Xanthus', whereas the latter didn't withdraw his hand but just stared at her. Several times, Cynthia helplessly swept her eyes over Santiago, who showed no sign of waking up. Later, she called out his name. Only then did Santiago open his eyes. Santiago sat up and stared at the two people, who were confronting each other. Cynthia walked over. "You're awake?" "Didn't you wake me up?" Santiago gave her a sideways glance while she lowered her head slightly. Xanthus turned to look at them without saying anything. Santiago shot a glance at him. "Why are you here?" "Raeleigh called me," Xanthus said while he sat next to Raeleigh, much to the displeasure of Cynthia. Her general impression of him was getting worse. Raeleigh was Jepherson's girlfriend, and they had been living together. She wonder
Jepherson, who was lying on the sickbed, opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings. There was not a single person beside him. Stuart was standing at the door. He ran over when he saw Jepherson waking up. "Where's Raeleigh?" Jepherson asked right away as soon as he saw Stuart. Stuart bowed his head. "Miss Raeleigh is fine. She's recuperating in her own ward, but she might not be in the mood to see you." It was the first time in his life to have lied to Jepherson, who then picked up the things around him and smashed them all. Stuart did not dare to dodge them, and his head was injured in the wake of everything. Jepherson put down his hand and lay on the bed. He told Stuart to bandage the wound, and the latter complied, retreating from the ward. Stuart found someone to guard Jepherson for the time being. Jepherson lay on the bed alone, waiting until Stuart bandaged himself up and came back. He felt that he had no strength. His body was feeble, and he seemed to
For the past few days of Raeleigh hospitalization, Jepherson hadn't shown up. At first, Santiago didn't pay attention to it. Later, he went to look for Jepherson, only to find that he was out of the country. Santiago called him, but the one who answered the call was always Stuart, and Santiago gave him a good scolding. In the end, Stuart no longer dared to pick up his call again. When the day came for Raeleigh to be discharged, Jepherson seemed to have disappeared off the face of the Earth. Scarlette sat sullenly in the front passenger seat while Hadrian drove the car. Raeleigh and Cynthia sat in the back. Knowing that it was time for Raeleigh to be discharged from the hospital, Deanna also came, although Zorion did not. Deanna turned up with the protection of bodyguards. Scarlette finally understood what it meant to have survived a traumatic experience. Arriving at her home, Raeleigh got out of the car. Cynthia took away all the things from he
Downstairs, Deanna kept inundating Jepherson with calls. She wanted to ask why he neither visited Raeleigh nor picked her up when she was discharged from the hospital. She was so indignant that she channeled her fury through the calls. Scarlette had tried to stop her at first, but she gave up eventually. There existed in this world a sort of people who couldn't be reasoned with. The more the advice given to them, the more obstinate they would be. They insisted on going their own ways. Deanna was a typical example of this species. Scarlette, for one, wanted to see if her attempts would be fruitful at last. But later, it turned out that Jepherson neither picked up her calls, nor did he reply to them, even until her phone was out of battery. Deanna found a charger to charge her phone, sitting aside, containing the anger within her. Looking at how she behaved, Cynthia gradually understood why Santiago had searched for Deanna instantly the moment he heard
"Yeah, now." Hanging up, Santiago raced his car to Raeleigh's house. Upon arrival, he got out of the car and went in to find Cynthia, who had yet to change her clothes. "Get changed and let's go," Santiago said decisively. Cynthia chewed on it for a moment before she turned to take her coat and went out with Santiago. While she was in the car, she said, "I don't think it's the right time for us to hang out." "There is nothing right or wrong about it. Look, you've been busy for a week, and you owe this timeout to yourself." Santiago cracked a smile. At first, Cynthia wanted to tell him that she hadn't done much, but the words remained unspoken. He sped to a jewelry shop, got out of the car, and went in to purchase a diamond bracelet for Cynthia. She said that she did not want it as it was too lavish a gift. Notwithstanding her objection, he still made the payment and let her put it on before he turned around and left the shop. Cynthia chas
Silence descended upon Raeleigh. She turned around and went back to the villa. Never again did she give her actions and emotions away, nor did she bring up again the subject of leaving Richards Group. On that same note, however, she didn't produce any pieces of work, and Richards Group didn't bother her either. Raeleigh rested for two days and was ready to attend the lectures in the university. "Raeleigh, are you really going to attend the lectures?" Deanna had bought a lot of delicious food for Raeleigh early in the morning. Recently, Deanna had been spending her time in leisure and hadn't been attending any lectures. Rossie came to her house, and her brother no longer stayed by her side every day. Sometimes, she felt that she had fallen out of her brother's favor. Nevertheless, she was still quite happy that her brother had taken a liking to someone. It was just that she couldn't put up with his behavior of overstaying his welcome in Rossie's room. After all, Rossie
"Is Raeleigh dying?" Looking at Raeleigh's back from a distance, Deanna pouted and felt weepy. At first, Scarlette wanted to admonish Deanna, but her words were stuck in her throat when she saw Deanna's doleful expression. Seeing how Raeleigh lived like a zombie, Scarlette couldn't be cheerful either. It was just that Jepherson had disappeared without leaving a message. She could neither understand it, nor could she accept it. Raeleigh sauntered for a short time before she found a secluded spot and sat under a tree. In fact, it was pretty quiet that season. Yet, Raeleigh felt that only a place out of everyone's sight could offer the real quiet and tranquility she yearned for. The moment she sat down on the ground, Santiago took off his jacket and threw it to her. "Sit on this." Raeleigh took a look at the clothes on her lap but didn't heed his words. She didn't think it was a good idea to sit on a man's clothes. She gave only the slightest glance bef
Santiago went home once more to retrieve Jepherson's sperm from the sperm bank. After that, Raeleigh got pregnant through medical procedures. However, when Raeleigh was only three days pregnant, the doctor made a major discovery. He informed her that he made progress with Shaney's illness , and that he might have misdiagnosed her condition. At that time, Raeleigh had been so overjoyed that Shaney was fine, and she only remembered that she was pregnant after half a month since learning about Shaney. By the time she remembered that she was with child, she wanted to stop her pregnancy. However, Santiago persuaded her to give the baby to him. Raeleigh pondered about it for a long time before finally agreeing. ...... Time passed in a blink of an eye, and Raeleigh had never expected for things to turn out the way it did. She gave birth to her second child, and Shaney had made a full recovery. Santiago had told her that the baby was the will of God, and he
When Raeleigh got out of the car, she began staring at the Richards family's courtyard. Although the Richards family had already buried Marissa's body, Raeleigh was still unwilling to go back. However, as she gazed at Carsten's precious little face that was looking at her expectantly, she had no choice but to follow Jepherson inside. At that moment, Santigo and the other children were in the yard. When Santiago saw Raeleigh and Jepherson, he smiled and gestured at Jepherson. "What are you doing?" Raeleigh asked when she saw Santiago. "Nothing." Though Raeleigh did not believe Jepherson, she decided not to ask further. When Carsten saw Forden and Shaney, he immediately tried to break away from Jepherson's arms, wanting to get to them. The children were all gathered in the Richards family manor that day. Coupled with the four other children of the Whalen family, there were ten children altogether, and they almost occupied the entire courtyard. Ra
Raeleigh said nothing as Carsten continued sinking his teeth into Jepherson's neck. She stared in shock as blood seeped out of his wound. Jepherson raised his hand and patted Carsten gently, then walked to the bed and sat down. After a while, Carsten finally fell asleep. He closed his eyes as he dozed off in Jepherson's arms. Meanwhile, Raeleigh had rushed out of the room to ask the hotel staff to prepare disinfectants before going back into the room to help Jepherson clean his wound. Jepherson leaned against the wall, still holding Carsten in his arms and unwilling to let go. Raeleigh frowned. "What should we do?" Jepherson's voice was a little hoarse. He had been busy for the past two days entertaining guests. "He got scared because of the crowd. He thought that you didn't want him anymore since he couldn't find you, and probably thinks that I'm the one who forced him to stay there." After bandaging Jepherson's wound, Raeleigh helped wipe Carsten's mouth. Sudd
After Raeleigh and the others left, Santiago walked to Zorion's car and stopped him. Zorion casted a glance outside. "Rossie, you should go first. He won't show any mercy once I get off." "You knew he wouldn't show you mercy, so why didn't you think of that before you caused trouble?" "I was just kidding! Who knew he'd have such a bad temper? I didn't expect him to take it seriously." Rossie sighed and gave in. Glancing at Zorion, she finally understood that he was only using her as an excuse to escape whenever he got into trouble. She got out of the car and looked at Santiago who stood opposite her. "Long time no see." "Where's Zorion?" "He's so afraid of you that he doesn't even dare to come out," said Rossie. "It's too late to be scared." He walked up to Zorion's car with the rod in his hand, then raised the stick and smashed it against the car until it was completely wrecked. When he was done, he tossed the stick aside, turned to pick
After leaving the kindergarten, Raeleigh followed Santiago to the Richards family manor. It had been four years since she returned, so she was no longer familiar with the place. Santiago went in, put Carsten down and asked the children to keep themselves entertained. He then looked at Raeleigh and said, "I came back this time because Mrs. Richards is dying. She has been unconscious for a while now. I came back to see her for the last time." Raeleigh asked, "Mrs. Richards?" "Yes. Jepherson hasn't been home these couple of days because he has gone to visit her. He didn't tell you about it because Mrs. Richards doesn't want to see you. While she was still herself, she did say that she would never let you into the family, and that she didn't want to see you ever again. Jepherson went to take care of her but was worried about you. So, he asked me to come home to take a look and it was only then did I find out that Carsten is autistic. This is on your plate now."
When the time came, Raeleigh enrolled Carsten into a kindergarten. On the first day of school, Carsten was bullied. Raeleigh felt sorry for him as she gently touched his swollen face. He had been beaten because he could not speak. She wanted to confront the bully, but Jepherson stopped her. He told her that Carsten should resolve this matter by himself. That year, Raeleigh could not sleep well at night. Hair loss became an issue, and she was exhausted all the time. But after half a month, the children stopped bullying Carsten. Instead, their parents came to Raeleigh's home. "Just take a look at your child..." The parents pointed to their child, and Raeleigh was confused when she saw a boy about the same height as Carsten. The boy seemed to have taken a serious beating, but when Carsten had gotten beaten up like this, Raeleigh hadn't gone to look for trouble with the bully's parents, did she? Raeleigh retorted, "And? It's normal for
The snow was falling heavily. Jepherson put away the phone and took Raeleigh back into the house. The two stood inside and watched the snow. Meanwhile, Hadrian and Scarlette were busy in the kitchen, not daring to make a sound. The Richards family manor remained quiet when winter was approaching. None of the family members returned even on New Year's Day. Raeleigh went to the yard and waited for them in advance, but no one came back. After New Year's Day, Raeleigh returned to her home with Jepherson. Her family members were all surprised to see her pregnant when she got home. They did not expect Raeleigh to be pregnant after being missing for several months. Moreover, she was almost due. Everyone in the Osteen family knew that Raeleigh stayed because of the baby inside her belly. Undoubtedly, the baby was Jepherson's. However, they wondered where Santiago went. Since Raeleigh said nothing, no one dared to ask about it. They all ignored the incident and sil
Raeleigh was stopped by Jepherson's men at the entrance of the village. 'I knew it wouldn't be easy for me to run away.' "Madam Raeleigh, Mr. Richards is waiting for you." Raeleigh had no choice but to go back with them. At the same time, Jepherson sat on his wheelchair outside the village with a blanket on his lap and upon seeing Raeleigh, he breathed a sigh of relief. Raeleigh walked up to him, "Don't be complacent. I'll leave one day." Shifting his gaze to Raeleigh's belly, Jepherson stretched out his hand and pulled her to him. Despite being too weak to walk, he had a firm grip. Raeleigh lost her balance and fell onto his lap. She tried to escape, but he said immediately, "Don't move." Although his voice sounded terrifying to others, he was trying to negotiate. Everyone turned around to look at them, and Raeleigh blushed. Jepherson covered her body with the blanket, then placed his hand onto her belly. Raeleigh tensed up immediately. She ra
Raeleigh had been depressed for a while after Santiago's departure. After a few days, she finally calmed down a little. Jepherson's health had not improved during this period of time. Whenever he was free, he would stare at Shaney's photo in a daze. Deanna and Jacky had helped take care of Jepherson when Raeleigh fell ill. After Raeleigh recovered, she returned to taking care of him herself. However, Jepherson had been in such poor health that he couldn't even go downstairs. It took Raeleigh a lot of effort to help him get down, especially when he was unwilling to go downstairs. "Autumn is coming. I don't want to go down." He was saying that it was cold downstairs. Raeleigh replied, "I can't take care of you all the time. Are you going to exhaust me to death? Your parents left you alone and ignored you. Santiago abandoned you too. What do you want me to do? I have to work. I also have to take care of you..." "Then stop working. Take care of me." Rael