"You... Why did you yell at her?" Xanthus growled. Santiago let out a sigh and asked, "How much did you take?" Santiago was done making Xanthus talk at this point. Since Xanthus was conscious, he could probably make it through. However, Xanthus was upset, refusing to speak. Raeleigh moved to sit beside Xanthus and squeezed his hand. "Say it." "Sixty grams," Xanthus replied weakly. Santiago looked at Jacky. Then, Jacky said, "Meth cannot be consumed directly but with water. Did you swallow directly?" Xanthus nodded, and Jacky continued, "Thirty grams can already cause poisoning, and even enough to cause a fatal overdose, let alone to ingest sixty and to swallow directly at that." "What should we do?" "I can make it through." Xanthus gripped Raeleigh's hand tightly. She looked at him, holding back her tears. Santiago stood up. "Let's go to the hospital." Xanthus shook his head. "I can't. I'm a doctor; ingesting meth is against t
"I didn't know this would happen," Jepherson explained when he saw Raeleigh. It wasn't that she didn't believe him, but she couldn't bring herself to make any response at all under that given moment. Looking at Jepherson, she asked, "Have you eaten yet?" Raeleigh didn't want to hear any explanations; they were all useless to her now. She couldn't even manage a smile now, looking at Xanthus's current condition. Jepherson shook his head. Raeleigh took a look at the two servants who came in; they were here to deliver food to them. Raeleigh said, "You can put the food there. Or on the coffee table." The servants busied themselves, following Raeleigh's instructions. She went forward and helped, completely ignoring Jepherson. His gaze lingered at Raeleigh before turning to Xanthus's pale face. He walked over and asked, "How are you feeling?" Xanthus slowly opened his eyes. "I'm alright now." "I will get to the bottom of this." Before Xant
Raeleigh didn't sleep a wink. Xanthus's rapid breathing finally soothed, and he had fallen asleep late at night. Seeing so, she sat up from the sofa, her gaze turning to Animal World playing softly on TV. Raeleigh had loved watching the program ever since she was a child. Although it was the same few episodes, there were no complex relationships or ugly lies and deceits. Everything seemed so pure and simple. Because of that, she was drawn to it without hesitation. Before meeting Jepherson, she had never thought about marriage, let alone falling in love. She longed for a simple life. The sort that she could go home to watch TV alone when she was tired, accompany her grandmother, take her to see the world, or try new food. That was all. She had experienced death once, and she was afraid of going through it once more. However, the current situation had escalated way beyond her control. So much so that she didn't know what to do. Her eyes traveled throug
Seeing that Raeleigh was finally eating, Jepherson put the apron aside and walked out. Xanthus was still lying on the sofa, but his condition was visibly better now, while Santiago was the opposite. "Go back to the hospital." Jepherson was serious about it, looking grim. Santiago was not afraid of him, but he did not refute either. "You stay with Santiago. I'll take care of things here." Jepherson said to Jacky, even dismissing the doctor. When Raeleigh came out of the kitchen, Santiago, Jacky, and the doctor had already left. Even the servants had gone back to the manor. It was quiet in the living room; the TV was on, and Jepherson was watching it with Xanthus. Raeleigh walked to the middle of the hall and glanced at the living room before turning to the door. At the door, several pairs of shoes have disappeared. "Santiago's gone?" Raeleigh came back and asked Jepherson. He looked up at her, answering, "Yes." Raeleigh sat down and
Xanthus was silent the entire time. Jepherson continued, "Not to mention, Stella almost lost her life saving me. I will never forget that." "So you'll betray your conscience?" Xanthus asked, amused. Jepherson did not refute but said, "I am very clear about the feelings in my heart. I pour my heart and soul into all my relationships, just as my love for Raeleigh." "Although what Stella did was wrong, I did not side with her, nor am I blindly being partial. I need to get to the bottom of this and measure the interests involved as well." "The Doyle family is no ordinary family. If I make a move on Stella, I would have to consider the Richards family's future." "The Capital City is full of dangers, and I don't have the confidence to secure the situation. Flynt is in no condition to lead the Moore family, and Colston has taken over. Colston is no simple man; he would negotiate before resolving in brute force. I don't want to just jump to conclusions." "Yo
"This is Colston's wife, Louisa," Santiago said. Jacky also went to take a look at the picture. Raeleigh took the photo and sat on the couch, taking a good look at it, asking, "She's the one that was in the same fire?" "That's her." Santiago had only just gotten the photo from Jepherson. Puzzled, Raeleigh asked, "She does look a bit familiar. Are they deliberately using her to test us?" With one leg over his knee, Santiago said, "It's hard to say. If someone knows your past, they will make an issue about this matter. If this is only the Moore family's doing, it would be easy to deal with. But what's troubling is that if the Doyle family is involved as well." Unable to comprehend, Raeleigh asked, "What does it have to do with the Doyle family?" "The Doyle family is a jewelry merchant. They dabbled in various businesses years ago, and one of them involved antique porcelain. Jepherson suspects your parents had offended the Doyle family back then."
With that in mind, Raeleigh refused Jepherson. Xanthus said, "If you're not going to the company, what are your plans?" Raeleigh shook her head. "No plans." "Since you're free, let's go out for lunch," Xanthus said as he glanced at the time. Jacky had been here for some time. Seeing they were heading out for a meal, he glanced at Santiago. "Are you going back with me or staying?" "I'm staying," Santiago said as he lay on the sofa. He was also a patient; it didn't matter where he went. And just like that, Jacky left. After he was gone, Santiago stood up and looked at Xanthus. "I want to take a shower." Xanthus looked at him. "And you want me to help?" "Am I supposed to ask Raeleigh then?" Santiago said, amused. He took off his clothes as he went to the bathroom downstairs, not forgetting to tell Raeleigh, "I need a change of clothes." And off she went. With that, Xanthus could only follow Santiago to the bathroom and assist him. As Raeleig
Johan said, "It pains my heart to see Flynt like this. But now that things had come to this, have him look after our businesses in the countryside. He can recuperate there in the meantime. Tell him to come back when he recovers; I have other arrangements for him." Elina was stunned for a moment before she thanked him, "Thank you for thinking of Flynt, Old Master. Our businesses in the countryside are never passed to outsiders; I'm sure Flynt will manage them well and not disappoint you further." "Good that you know. You may leave." Johan waved his hand, and Elina left. With a murderous look hidden in her eyes as she walked. That old man, was he getting rid of Flynt now that he was useless to him? Elina was eager for the old man's death. However, Elina did not hate Colston. The world was competitive; one would rise when the other had fallen. But she hadn't expected this to be the outcome when she had not only lost her own family, but misfortune even f
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