Perhaps, Zorion could be saved. They were not sure if they should inform Old Master Whalen. Santiago glanced at him and walked up the stairs. Deanna followed behind closely, tugging and pulling, preventing him from entering Zorion's room. However, it was all in vain as her strength was as weak as that of a chick's. Zorion refused to eat, as he was on a hunger strike. Deanna was worried, and she couldn't remember the last time she had a proper meal either, or else she wouldn't have lost so much weight. Deanna couldn't stop Santiago, so she shouted at him, but she shut up when they arrived at Zorion's door. Santiago turned his head to look at Deanna before pushing the door open and walking in. When he entered the room, he saw Zorion putting his palms on his chest. He frowned and walked over to Zorion. Looking down at him, he asked, "Are you dead?" Zorion opened his eyes slowly when he heard Santiago's voice. Only then did he slowly move his hand aside.
Raeleigh stepped in, put on her shoes, and looked inside. She saw an unexpected person, stopping in her tracks in confusion. "Dr. Osteen?" Raeleigh had never expected that Xanthus would appear at her home. Xanthus sat on the couch, talking to Novalie, who was somewhat surprised to see Raeleigh. "Oh, you're back?" Raeleigh did not answer Novalie's question immediately. Instead, she looked at Xanthus, who replied, "I came here for work. I didn't expect this place to be your home." Raeleigh looked at Xanthus in disbelief. "You came here for work?" "Yes, I'm a volunteer who's responsible for the health of the elderly residents here," he answered. Raeleigh reluctantly accepted his explanation, but she didn't think that was the case. She was reminded of Xanthus searching for a person surrounding the orphanage and inquiring about it. Raeleigh turned around and took a look at Jepherson, who followed her into the room. "This is Dr. Osteen. He's the university
Jepherson followed her into the house, changed into house slippers, and greeted Novalie before walking into the kitchen, washing his hands, and helping to prepare lunch. It was sunny at noon, but the lighting in Raeleigh's kitchen was not bright enough. They stayed quietly in the kitchen. No one spoke as they focused on their own tasks. Novalie closed her eyes, sitting cross-legged on the couch. She narrowed her eyes and pressed her hands against her legs. She was not curious about what was going on in the kitchen. She was thinking about Xanthus. She was afraid that he had malicious intentions! Soon, lunch was served. Raeleigh and Jepherson took turns serving the food on the table. Raeleigh called Novalie over while Jepherson washed his hands and followed them to the dining table, sitting down one after another. Jepherson set up Novalie's cutlery, acting as if he was at home. He treated her like how he treated Marissa. Raeleigh looked at Jepherson. It was
Jepherson returned to Richards Manor. Marissa immediately stopped him as soon as he entered. "You still remember the way back home?" Since what happened to Deanna, Marissa had not seen her grandson, Jepherson. She didn't know where he went and couldn't find him. Deanna was in an awful state right then. She didn't answer the phone and hadn't come back since. It seemed that there was a huge misunderstanding since the last incident. Marissa couldn't see Deanna, so she was worried, but Jepherson didn't take it seriously and only returned by then. "Grandma." Jepherson walked up to Marissa, lifting his hands to hold her. Marissa was frustrated, but when she saw Jepherson smiling at her, every bad feeling evaporated. She turned around, heading towards Ink Garden. While walking, she said, "Your parents are not here, and I'm worried sick of you. What's more, you pissed Deanna off without an explanation. Where have you been?" "I was out of the city, and
Jepherson got some rest after comforting Marissa. He lay down but he couldn't fall asleep, so he called Raeleigh. Raeleigh was still awake. She took a quick look at her phone to check who called but decided against picking up. She sent a text message to Jepherson, telling him that it was very late, and she wanted to rest. Jepherson replied immediately, telling her that it wasn't time to go to bed yet. Raeleigh got up from the bed, and video-called him for a while. Novalie looked at Raeleigh and said, "You should have attended school today." Raeleigh said nothing. She wanted to spend more time with her grandmother. "You're not in good health. I want to stay and take care of you. I can't take care of you if I'm in school all day." "What's wrong with that? It's not like you never took care of me. I'm in such good health right now. I couldn't bear to see you neglect your studies to take care of me." Novalie was considerate. She had not done anything mean
Jepherson walked towards Raeleigh and took the car keys out of his pocket. "This is your reward, given by the company." Raeleigh looked at the keys in front of her but she did not take it. "I don't want the car. I'd like to have it exchanged for cash." Raeleigh thought that since it was a reward from the company, then she would be an idiot to reject it. However, she preferred the reward to be paid in another form. She would not be able to use the car as she didn't have a driver's license. Moreover, she'd have to maintain the car and pay for gas fees, which were additional expenses in her opinion. It was better to ask for money. Jepherson kept the keys and turned to look at the car. He turned back to look at her and said, "This is a first car to be manufactured. It's a limited edition worldwide. If you choose to accept it, then the value could go even higher. If you insist on a cash reward, then we would only pay eighty percent of the value of the car." Rae
In the villa, Santiago's birthday preparation was in full swing. In the kitchen, the servants had already prepared the ingredients they needed. Jepherson had called to inform earlier regarding Santino's birthday celebration. The servants awaited their arrival. The villa started bustling with life when Santiago and the others arrived. Stuart walked out and greeted Raeleigh immediately upon seeing her. Raeleigh smiled in response. Stuart asked, "Everything is ready. Shall we begin?" "Please get ready. We will sit and wait for a while more." Jepherson ordered Stuart to settle the preparations while Santiago sat at one side watching TV. Before long, the dinner table was ready. Scarlette said excitedly, "Raeleigh, you should eat more when we have dinner later." Raeleigh took a look at Scarlette. "You must have known about this. That's why you ate so little earlier." Scarlette didn't feel embarrassed and said confidently, "Every year on Mr. Santiago's birt
They waited for more than an hour before Santiago came back with the phone in his hand. He told Jepherson, "Dad said that it was wise to strike while the iron is hot. We shouldn't waste time." Jepherson put away his phone and glanced at Santiago. "Keep your mouth shut." "I will, but I can't say for the others." Santiago glanced at Stuart. Stuart was so frightened that he broke out in cold sweat and replied quickly, "Mr. Jepherson, I didn't say anything." Santiago raised his head with an evil look on his face. "Why do you look so scared if you had not done anything? It looks like your soul has left your body." Raeleigh was impressed by Santiago's ability to dissect others with words. He didn't even pause nor hesitate. Stuart, who was sitting on the opposite end, became even more frightened. "Mr. Jepherson, I really am innocent." "Did I accuse you of anything?" Jepherson's expression darkened. He looked at Santiago and said, "I'll handle the issue of t
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