Jenna held her son's hand. "Santiago, Mommy's tired. Don't you want to open your eyes and cheer me up? Aren't you tired after staying quiet for so long?" Hansen clearly heard everything she said in between tears through the door. He turned to look for the key to the door. Before he could, however, Jenna was already up by the room's entrance. She had stopped crying as she stood by the closed door and told Hansen from inside. "If you come in, I'll go out." Hansen had barely held the keys for more than a few seconds before he put them back. A few minutes later, Jenna returned to her youngest son's side. After he heard her retreating footsteps, Hansen sat back down on the couch. He recalled those days when they were young, the memories strung back together again. Perhaps as they got older, they began to do nothing. Hansen did not shut his eyes for the whole night. It was only when morning arrived that he unconsciously fell into slumber. He dreamt of the moment
"Uncle, you want to hurt my Dad?" Shaney straightened up from Austin's back and blinked her big eyes up at him. He tilted his head back to look at her, "If I do, what would you do?" "Then I'll be angry. I only have one Dad." "What about me?" "I don't want to lose Uncle either." Shaney murmured into Austin's shoulder. Raeleigh shook her head. This child of hers had so many tricks up her sleeves, that sometimes she felt that even she was being cheated by her. Moreover, she thought with each passing day that her child had become more like Santiago. Shaney was a girl. If she really had Santiago's temperament, she wouldn't know what to do. How did her child turn out this way? With that being said, Raeleigh needed to get right down to business. "I'll talk to him and tell him to yield to you, okay?" Raeleigh persuaded. Austin smiled drily, an unperturbed look on his handsome face, "What I want is his frustration. If I let you talk to him, it would und
"I know you're doing this for me, but I hope that he's creating a fruitful outcome rather than a worst case scenario." Looking at the people inside, Raeleigh was seized by a feeling of emptiness. Everyone else knew about it, but he just could not grasp it. He didn't understand the importance of giving. Even Austin could understand it, but he could not wrap his head around it at all. Raeleigh wanted to say something, but she was speechless in the end. He did not intend to beseech her to stay. In his eyes, it was undeniable that she was his woman. Therefore, when he heard that she had already become Austin's wife, he never considered letting her go or giving her a choice despite his fury and sorrow. Disregarding such views, he wanted to force her to stay by his side, making it impossible for her to go anywhere else. Raeleigh was aware that it was a sign of love. However, what she didn't know was that his love was like a shackle that locked her up, restrictin
In light of Jepherson's arrival, a vacant private room had been reserved for him in the hospital's underground cafeteria. He sat in the host's seat with Raeleigh sitting beside him. Austin, who was holding her daughter, sat in front of them. Deanna and the others were also present, all watching Jepherson, Austin, and the strange atmosphere between them. Deanna was particularly joyful that day. She had her eyes fixed on Raeleigh's child. "Shaney, how about I play with you?" Deanna sat next to Shaney and Shaney was having fun with a toy plane and tank. She even said that she wanted to serve the country after she had grown up because her uncle was an army for the country. The girl was sharp-witted. Deanna was all smiles. "That's ambitious of you." "Auntie, you're really pretty." Shaney grinned at her, entertaining herself with her toy tank. "Shaney, can I play with you?" Deanna tried her best to butter up Shaney since she liked her very much. How
By the time Raeleigh stirred, it was already late into the night. Just when she was about to move, Jepherson, who was behind her, held her tightly. "What did you have for dinner?" Baffled, Raeleigh turned to look at Jepherson dazedly. In the dark, Jepherson seemed to be asleep. However, he was secretly waiting for Raeleigh to be awake. "What are you talking about?" Raeleigh didn't quite understand. She wanted to move, but his hands wrapped around her waist in an instant. Raeleigh tried to move about. Since she couldn't get up, she could only stay down. When Jepherson leaned his face in, Raeleigh gasped. "Jepherson, I'm very tired." "Yeah, I can sense it. I asked you, what did you had for dinner?" Raeleigh inquired, "What do you mean?" "You didn't take anything, you're fertile and I didn't do anything wrong, so why aren't you pregnant yet?" Jepherson opened his eyes, got up, and rested his chin on his palm to stare at Raeleigh. Although it
Whether Jepherson gave her permission or not, Raeleigh had already made up her mind to leave. Jepherson blocked the doorway. "Don't go." "Regarding our daughter's matter, it's out of my hands. I still have some other affairs to attend to. I'm going to meet my parents and send them back. As for those two boys, I'll try my best to bring them back here." "I don't want to hear any of that. I just want you to stay." Holding her hand, Jepherson forbade her from leaving. Raeleigh could only shake her head. "Not this time. I won't tolerate you anymore. The wound will heal slowly, but I can't stand your temper." Raeleigh cast a glance at Shaney. "Bid dad a farewell." "Goodbye, dad." The little girl waved her hand and opened the door behind Jepherson, pulling Raeleigh away. Jepherson tried to grab her from behind, but he failed. Just like that, Raeleigh left. When he turned around, Austin picked up Shaney and exited with Raeleigh. Jepherson s
Raeleigh took the letter over, unfolded it, and read it. "First of all, let me make it clear. I've taken the three children away with me, and I don't know how long it will take for me to return. I've sent your parents back. With regard to Stuart, he's going to come out later. If anything happens, I'll contact you. If I don't come back within two years, take it as an opportunity for you and him. If he turns over a new leaf and treats you better, I'll return the child to him. If he doesn't, I can only take you away. My heart is with you, and you know it." Raeleigh wanted to keep the letter in the pocket, but Jepherson snatched it over, opened it, and read it. After that, he simply tore it up. Lenold furrowed his eyebrow and said, "With a short temper like this, it's no wonder that Mr. Quirk looks down on you. It makes sense to me that you can't get yourself a wife." Raeleigh shot a glance at Lenold, who rubbed it in. It seemed that he would have a toug
When Stuart was leaving, Raeleigh was the only one who saw him off. The members of the Wagner family stood outside the house and burst into tears. Seeing Stuart depart into the distance, they were afraid that he would not return. Melinda asked Chirsen to chase after Stuart. Raeleigh stopped the car and Stuart got out of it to say a few words to Chirsen. Only then did he leave. It took Raeleigh several days before she came back alone. "Where is Stuart?" Meeting her, Jepherson asked. Raeleigh answered, "Stuart told me not to reveal it. He wants to live his own life." Jepherson was not in a good mood. He turned around and went back to sit down. There were other people in the living room, including Alvin, Hansen and Jenna. Jenna wanted to ask Raeleigh about Shaney as Jepherson didn't tell her after she inquired, but the matter concerning Stuart had left her heartbroken. For a time, she couldn't speak out the words stuck in her throat. Without saying anyt
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