Alvin looked at her back and felt somewhat surprised. This figure in front of him was very familiar. He turned his head and caught sight of the flickers in Hansen's deep eyes, the dimming eyes as dark as paint. She said as if deep in thought, "Mr. Richards, the conditions here are too harsh. It's likely that the children buried in the ruins have little hope of surviving. Now that there's freezing rain outside and the children's bodies are in very bad shape, it's difficult for them to pull through." There was a loud cry coming from the tent. Amy and the more sensible child began to cry. Hansen fastened his gaze at the woman. Her head was even lowered now, and her face was still obstructed from view. However, even without thinking, he could tell that she was heartbroken. Hansen's heart sank. Taking out his mobile phone, he called the director of the Public Security Department in S City directly. The director attached great importance to this. He responded im
After thinking for a while, Alvin started to comfort him. "Mr. Richards, it's very likely that the woman isn't Young Madam at all. Though her back may resemble her a little, we can't get any clue from her voice." When she had said those words that day, Alvin was there. At that time, her voice was ragged, probably due to all the screaming she'd exerted during the earthquake. It was true that he could not recognize her voice, but for Hansen, his intuition firmly believed it was her. Lacking any concrete evidence, time was a luxury he couldn't squander. Hence, he made a decision. He summoned Connor and Amy, and then left them with his contact number, reminding them to call him as soon as they received any news of that woman. His mobile phone kept ringing these past two days. It was supposed to be a temporary ordeal, coming here. There was a pile of paperwork waiting in the Richards Group, for him to attend to. At that moment, he made a phone call, and a helic
Spring had arrived in Wullen Town in Jenova City. The town was filled with flowers, spring rain, gondolas, white walls, and stone bridges. It was as beautiful as a dream. In a small alley, on the stone steps, a graceful figure was holding a red umbrella and moving rapidly forwards in the rain. The people in the Jenova City were conversing with each other, and the rain was flowing down along the tiles. It was a portrait of human warmth and serenity. However, she was in a hurry and in no mood to drink in the beautiful scenery. When she passed by an old man's stall, she turned her head and saw that the old man was carefully spinning cotton candy. That wonderful smell put a smile on her face. She reached in her pocket to take out some money, bought two cotton candies, and held them in her hand. Then, she strode forwards quickly. In front of her was a place with a picturesque scenery. The courtyard was so thick that various flowers were planted all around it, and the pinki
Hearing Jenna's words, Sara's eyes surged with anger again. "I didn't expect Hansen to be such a b*stard and hid the fact that you've both divorced from each other. Since that's the case, he shouldn't ever lay his hands on my daughter anymore. Now, you're forced to contend with the role of a single mother. How despicable." Sara's eyes were bristling when she said this. "Jenna, you have to find a man, and a good man at that. Only in this way can I live a peaceful life, and only then can I be more at ease." Sara's words made Jenna's heart twinge. Would she still love someone else in this life? Would she be able to love again? Even an outstanding man like Rayan could not pry open her heart. Was there any man in this world who could make her fall in love with him? She sat there blankly, her eyes empty. After a long time, she said in a low voice, "Mom, it's not entirely his fault." Jenna saw the wrath in Sara's eyes. Sara was insanely angry with Hansen, a
"Good morning, Miss Murphy." Mr. Koch greeted Jenna warmly and instructed the children to self-study. "Good morning, Mr. Koch." Jenna nodded back at him politely with a smile on his face. "Miss Murphy, I have something to talk about with you today," Mr. Koch mumbled sheepishly as he led Jenna to the staff room. It seemed that he seldom interacted with women. He was stuttering when he spoke to Jenna, his cheeks tainted with a faint blush. "Oh okay. What about it?" Jenna was a little amused. Nonetheless, she replied cordially, trying to ease his nervousness. "It has come to my attention that several children have been missing school over the past two days. I don't know what the reasons are, and I couldn't seem to get in touch with the parents. Therefore, the school has come to a consensus to conduct a home visit. I'd like to ask you to come with me," Mr. Koch explained earnestly. Jenna realized that this matter was truly pressing. If a child was absent
Jenna listened in silence. These children were skipping school because the factory couldn't pay their parents' wages, hence the loss of their main source of income. Not only could they not pay for the tuition, they also had to travel far away from home and search for another job. The children would be left to fend for themselves now! Such a family was likely to be poor. If the adults didn't have any skills, they probably wouldn't be able to secure a job outside. What's more, there were both the elderly and the young living under the same roof, and some families even raised more than one child! If the children were unwilling to go to school, it wouldn't matter to them anyway. Of course, there were some children who were not willing to go to school, and since they lacked guidance from the adults, they regarded attending classes as something optional, coming and going as they pleased. After thinking for a while, Jenna asked, "Mr. Koch, can you tell me how many factories
"Mr. Richards." Alvin sidled up to him and called in a soft voice towards Hansen, who had been standing with his mind empty. Hansen's eyes darkened. Although he was in a daze, he had picked up each and every of the old man's words. The pieces of the puzzle had all fit together now. "Do you want to go in and ask?" Alvin glanced at the direction of the courtyard and asked in a low voice. "There's no need for that. Let's head back to the cottage first." Awoken from his stupor, Hansen quickly led Alvin out of the alley and back to the cottage. Bemused, Alvin couldn't wrap his head around Hansen's intention! He had been dying to see her, yet he retreated after finally stumbling upon her tracks. "Alvin, tomorrow, go and visit and research things as usual. There is no rush with the chemical plant. I have something to do for the next few days." After returning to the cottage, Hansen softly said to Alvin, "Oh, and call Jose and tell him that I may postpone my
Two days later. Jenna was teaching English to the children. Her accurate English pronunciation always managed to boost the interest of the children. Ever since she had taken charge of the English class, there were less and less children who skipped class. Her soft and gentle English pronunciation could be heard even from a distance. Holding the English textbook, Jenna was reading it with all her attention. A group of people gradually marched close towards the class. It wasn't until the children were all looking around at the outside that Jenna came to her senses and also looked out. Mr. Koch was politely and modestly greeting a tall, rotund man, who was followed by four or five men and women. They were all wearing uniforms, with smiles plastered on their faces. "Kyrie Gambon in the flesh. To what do I owe this honor?" Mr. Koch personally greeted the group of people and asked in a polite manner. "Mr. Koch, isn't there a Miss Murphy h
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