Raeleigh awoke the next morning to find Cynthia and Xanthus leaning against each other as they slept on the couch in the living room. The television was still turned on but it was muted. She noticed that there were a couple of empty takeaway containers on the table and suddenly remembered that she had fallen asleep while waiting for them to come home with dinner. Then, she stood up and began clearing the table. Cynthia woke up while Raeleigh was cleaning the table, dismayed as she realised that she had spent the entire night on the couch with Xanthus. Raeleigh then asked, "Well, I thought you guys went out to have dinner?" "Umm..." Cynthia did not know how to explain it to Raeleigh. She anxiously held her hands and waited for Xanthus to clarify things, which even after an interminable stretch of time, he never did. Cynthia was forced to take matters into her own hands. She said, "We did go out to have dinner and even brought back some porridge for you. By
It had been a long time since Raeleigh went to class alone. It was rare for her not to see Jepherson or have Santiago by her side. Not only that, she also did not see Deanna, Zorion nor Jacky. She felt very relaxed after her first class. Hence, she remained in class and waited for her next class to start. During lunch, Raeleigh received a call from Xanthus asking her where she was. She immediately told him her exact location. At noon, Xanthus brought Cynthia to meet up with Raeleigh. The three of them had lunch together. After lunch, they went their separate ways. Cynthia went to learn some massage techniques from Xanthus, while Raeleigh went back to class. Raeleigh watched as Xanthus and Cynthia walked away, and couldn't help thinking about how life was very hard to predict. After Cynthia and Xanthus left, instead of heading back to class like she had originally planned, Raeleigh decided to wander around the campus. At this time of the year, it was cold w
Raeleigh decided to skip dinner and entered her room. Meanwhile, Cynthia and Xanthus were still chatting at the dining table, the topic revolving around Cynthia's aspiration to be a doctor. "I also want to be a doctor. I'm wondering how long it'll take," Cynthia was highly interested in Xanthus' job and was planning to follow him to the university again the next day. Raeleigh returned to her room after sitting on the balcony for a while. Life was indeed full of surprises, just like Cynthia's. She wondered how Cynthia's life would be had she not met Santiago. Would she still be interested in being a doctor if she had not met Xanthus? Raeleigh was lying on the bed as she thought about her own life. Perhaps, life was predestined. If it weren't for those people's revenge on her parents, she wouldn't have met her grandmother, and that orphanage would not have been burnt down by the fire. Therefore, she felt that fate had already planned her life out for her.
To Raeleigh, the day passed as if it was a baby crawling to reach its goal. The feeling of time stretching itself was especially vivid when she had to spend time alone with Jepherson. Fortunately, Jepherson kept his promise and made the call. In the end, Hadrian did listen to his words. He felt a little thirsty after hanging up the phone and requested, "Can you please get me some water?" Jepherson asked softly, his every word clear as day. They relayed no emotions, but when he looked into people's eyes, there was a touch of tenderness. Raeleigh got up and poured a glass of water for Jepherson. Then, she turned around and handed it to him. However, he did not reach out to accept it. Raeleigh then asked, "I thought you said you were thirsty?" "Feed me," Raeleigh was mind-blown by his words and almost dropped the glass in her hand. She may have a good temper and could deal with people teasing her, but... Raeleigh had made a promise with him. Whatever th
"You do realize that he could've misconstrued your actions, right?" Xanthus continued as Raeleigh remained uncommunicative. Xanthus also knew that Raeleigh had been through a rough time recently and that she refused to let any advice sink in. There was no point in trying to talk her out of it. Raeleigh stepped out of the car as soon as Xanthus pulled into a parking lot. Xanthus knew that everything was feasible as long as Jepherson was not mentioned in the process. Their arrival at the campus saw them branching off into their separate ways. Xanthus reminded her to be careful. Lowering her head, Raeleigh bore her gaze through the notebook in her hand. Then, she made her way to the lecture hall and knocked before entering. As soon as the lecturer gave her permission, she strolled in as naturally as possible. Her body almost seized up the moment she set foot in the hall. Was that Jepherson Richards? At that moment, Jepherson was sporting a pair of
Raeleigh was rankled, but she was not angry. The way Jepherson had been acting was the same as she did previously. She really did not know how she could have been so stupid then. And she felt a little distressed because of this. However, there was nothing she could do about it. The baby was gone, and the snow globe that used to hold their mutual dreams had shattered. There was no way she could make peace with this. After leaving Jepherson's office, Raeleigh did not know where to go, so she simply went to find Xanthus. When Xanthus saw Raeleigh, he froze for a moment. He roughly knew what had happened. Raeleigh went inside and found a place to sit, saying, "I want to stay here for a while." Xanthus poured a glass of water for Raeleigh. He sat beside her and asked, "He's here, isn't he?" "He's been insisting that I am his sister. He's been digging up old memories, trying to reopen my old wounds. I can understand his feelings, but it is precisely becaus
Raeleigh and Cynthia spent the whole night in a tete-a-tete. They talked until Cynthia ended up crying. "Raeleigh, if I leave and never come back again, will you miss me?" Raeleigh thought for a long time before answering her question, "I will definitely miss you. You are one of my besties, aside from Scarlette." "What about Deanna? Isn't she your best friend too?" Cynthia asked as she brushed her tears away. Raeleigh shook her head and said, "You don't understand Deanna. She's very naive and doesn't know what love is. Sometimes, I feel like she's still a kid. She is willful and self-centered, but she's also very kind-hearted." "Deanna would never befriend someone like me. Of course, I do treat her as my friend, but she's still very immature. You have to treat her like a kid." "Deanna is indeed a little immature, but I feel that she's changed after meeting Jacky. Though she still seems a little out of it and knows nothing," Cynthia laughed. She had already
In the end, Raeleigh followed Jepherson out of the airport. Just then, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. Stuart lowered his head and tried to convince Raeleigh, "Miss Raeleigh, Mr. Jepherson does not have any bad intentions. He's just jealous. If you can keep your distance from Xanthus, he will stop acting this way." Raeleigh did not say anything because she did not know whether it was true. Since she was his subordinate, he had every reason to make things difficult for her. Meanwhile, Jepherson waited in his car, his patience running thin. Then, he turned around to look at Raeleigh. Stuart gasped and immediately said, "Miss Raeleigh, after you." Raeleigh then entered the car and followed Jepherson to the company. She remained silent during the entire journey. For more than once Jepherson stole glances at her from the rearview mirror, but she did not even look at him once. Jepherson felt a flicker of irritation. The more Raeleigh did not respond to him,
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