Raeleigh pulled a long face. "This is between you and me; why are you dragging her into this?" "If it's only me and you, I can't stop you from leaving." Jepherson stood up as he spoke and checked the time. "Hungry?" Raeleigh shook her head. "No." Humored, Jepherson said, "I like that about you; giving me straight answers. Even if you're smart, you won't use it on me." Jepherson pulled Raeleigh toward the door, taking his coat and his keys, leaving the hotel with her. When they reached the lobby, Jepherson asked the valet to bring his sports car over. Raeleigh asked where they were heading that required him to drive his sports car. Jepherson got into the car. He had withdrawn enough money and also brought some clothes, including Raeleigh's, for the journey. "If my grandmother asks, tell her I'm in a bad mood, and I won't be going home for a while." Stuart glanced toward Raeleigh. Could he interpret it as she was the so-called mood?
Looking at the time of death carved on the tombstone, Raeleigh then drifted her gaze to Jepherson and said, "That time, you asked me to help take care of Santiago because you wanted to deal with Lamarre's funeral?" Jepherson lowered his eyes and produced a small notebook from his pocket to Raeleigh. "He left you this." Raeleigh took it and opened the notebook. The first page was blank, but the rest of the book was scribbled with some words that Lamarre had wanted to say. ...... "Raeleigh, I'm leaving. Please forgive me for leaving without saying goodbye. I had nothing to be proud of in my life. I had people that I loved, but I had no choice but to leave them behind with my weak body. Still, the process was very painful. Time isn't something terrifying. Compared to loving someone, it would become insignificant. I've been where you are, so I know well the pain of being unable to be with the one you love, but I don't like forced love either.
After packing up, they grabbed something to eat and hit the road that evening. Jepherson drove while Raeleigh slept. She was dead asleep the first half of the night; later, they took a break at the rest stop, and Raeleigh took over the wheel after she had some water. In the car, Raeleigh reminded Jepherson, "Fasten your seat belt. We will arrive in the morning." "Go slow. I'm still here." Jepherson wasn't afraid of death but worried that she didn't want to live. Raeleigh was amused but said nothing, feeling confident. Stumped, Jepherson adjusted his seat and put his hand on Raeleigh's thigh, leading her to look at it. "I feel more at ease like this. Otherwise, I wouldn't know what you're doing," Jepherson said. Raeleigh started the car and continued their journey. Jepherson slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep comfortably. Raeleigh's driving speed was not what one would call slow. There weren't many cars on the road late at night. As lo
Jepherson slowly turned to Raeleigh and asked, "Is it that funny?" Stumped, she turned to him. "A little." "Right." After putting some meat into Raeleigh's plate, Jepherson continued to eat and watch TV. Raeleigh wasn't a big fan of meat, but she ate it still. After dinner, Stuart came in and cleared the table. Raeleigh went to brush her teeth then lay in bed. Raeleigh had already fallen asleep when Stuart came in for the second time, an unprecedented calmness on her face. Somewhat lost in thought, Stuart thought if Raeleigh could stay forever, Jepherson would be happier. "Anything else?" Jepherson asked Stuart rather upsettingly as he came out of the bathroom. Panicking, Stuart turned to Jepherson and said, his head bowed, "Something came up in the company; you'll have to see to it." Jepherson took a look at Raeleigh and asked, "What happened?" "A car from our company self-ignited. This is the third time this year that
A guest approached Raeleigh, caught by her beauty, but Stuart immediately stepped in. "Sorry, this seat is taken." After the admirer left, a server came to their table with some refreshments. Raeleigh was indeed hungry, so she began to eat, and so did the other reporters. It was a no-brainer that most of them hadn't eaten, given the early timing. Leave it to Jepherson to be thoughtful. Soon, the press conference began. Jepherson first showed a few authoritative QC reports; they've always had them, but there had never been a need to put them to use. Showing it right then meant nobody could overthrow any of his statements later. In addition, Jepherson specifically mentioned the issue of the car when the reporter asked questions. But no one asked why there were three accidents in the car in such a short time, so Raeleigh raised her hand. Seeing it, Jepherson gave the floor to her. Raeleigh asked, "Mr. Richards, if I may ask, why were t
Raeleigh put the lanyard aside. "Humans are blind and cannot stand any scrutiny; we're no different." Jepherson said, "I'm hungry." "Let's go and eat then." "Eat here. I don't want to go out." Jepherson went to the door and told Stuart to bring some food over. After lunch, they headed to the company. When Raeleigh went into Jepherson's office, she saw Lamarre's sketch on his table. She sat down and stared at it, spacing out. "Why is there only half of it?" "It's his assignment for you; he wants to give you a hand after his passing." Jepherson had thought of developing Lamarre's sketch but decided otherwise after looking at it. Lamarre left it for Raeleigh; it wasn't his to use, choosing to respect Lamarre's decision. Although Lamarre had resigned, the unilateral severance was not feasible. Raeleigh looked at Jepherson for a while and fixed her eyes on his face again. "What would you say if I expressed my interest in collaborat
"I've fallen from heaven to hell. This is nothing to me. I didn't force you; you came back by yourself." "Shall I go back then?" "No way. You can't leave unless he comes!" Jepherson shackled Raeleigh in his arms like a child while she shoved him away with all her might but only to fail. They stayed so for quite some time until Jepherson snaked his hand into her shirt. This time of the year was rather pleasant, so Raeleigh only had on a thin layer of a shirt. As for underneath that... Raeleigh suddenly pushed him away and stepped back. "Don't do this." "Are you trying to tease me?" "I'm not." Raeleigh went back to roll up the sketch when Jepherson went to her and hugged her from behind. She put the sketch down and tried to pull his hands away, only for him to kiss her from behind. "Raeleigh... Let me kiss you, please. I won't do anything, just a kiss." "No, Jepherson, you can't do this. If you do this... Mm..." Jeph
Before she left, Raeleigh took a look at Lucy and thought that she looked rather comely. Downstairs, Raeleigh asked Jepherson, "How long has Lucy been working for you?" "Going on two years." "She has a thing for Stuart?" "Not sure." "Then why are you trying to set them up?" Jepherson pulled Raeleigh over. "Shouldn't I? Stuart and I are the same age, but there has never been a girl around him. He'll be thirty in another two years. If it were in the sixties, he would've already been a father to a group of children." Raeleigh said nothing in response. Feeling rather speechless. Who said that he'd have to get hitched and start a family before he was thirty? Jepherson took this too lightly. Love wasn't something the onlookers could simply meddle in. Raeleigh found it hard to imagine the kind of journey someone like Stuart would have in his love life. ...... "Where's Mr. Jepherson?" Stuart returned to see the door
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