“A place I want to go to…” Rayna stared at him in confusion when she registered his question. “Nardor?”

“Mm.” Jefferson smiled and nodded. After knocking the egg against the table, he slowly peeled the shell. “I said I was going to buy an island for you to enjoy yourself there.”

Rayna blinked.

It was then she realized what was amiss.

“So we’re the only ones on the island? Did you do something to the car last night?” Rayna rubbed her temples as she tried her best to recall what had happened the night before. “I remember feeling sleepy after smelling the faint scent of violets.”

Jefferson did not answer her as he continued peeling the hard-boiled eggs.

Noticing that, Rayna found her heart sinking. Still, she clung to the last bit of hope in her. “Were you… lying to me about Jessie too?”

“Eat first.” Jefferson put the peeled egg onto her plate. “We’ll talk once you’re done eating.”

“Tell me!”

At her insistence, Jefferson pushed his glasses higher and whispered, “Sorry, Belle.”

“You’re too much! How could you lie to me about Jessie?” Rayna could not maintain her cool at all. “So you were lying about telling Curtis, weren’t you? You just wanted to avoid him and take me here, right?”

“Yes,” he answered reluctantly.

“Why—” Rayna wanted to lose her temper, but she could not because she owed the man. “I told you I’ll leave with you after giving birth to the children. Jefferson, you didn’t need to do this.”

Jefferson curled his lips. When he spoke again, his voice was tinged with loneliness. “Belle, haven’t you realized? You’ve been biased toward Curtis. When you give birth to the babies, you’ll still stay by his side. Why would you still think about me by then?”

Rayna froze. She could not find the words to refute that.

can’t stand watching you with another man.” Jefferson took her hand and held her hand

at him in

of her hand with his

only one

not the only one by your side.” Rayna could not bring herself to be cruel to him. As she reached out to ruffle his hair, she said, “You have your father, Mr. Faymon, and Ms.

she said to me when I sent her off from the hospital

“What did she say?”

phone and played an audio recording for

later, Sandy’s voice came out

listened to the entirety of Sandy’s conversation with Jefferson, she slowly covered her mouth with her hand as

Jefferson because Sandy had started accepting him as

was not what

herself, Jefferson muttered, “Belle,

cried out in a panic. “Didn’t you take the

didn’t. I’ve been keeping the med

told me he had done a checkup for you.” Rayna’s hand was shaking. “He said you were doing fine and could live for

scared that you wouldn’t want me, so I didn’t take it. I was thinking about how pointless it would be to

your side,” Rayna promised. “Did you bring

“It’s gone.”

widened. “What do you mean,

figured that Mr. Nicholson would not let the matter go so easily. However, he’s a man of connections, so he wouldn’t be easy to deal with. Theodore was still in a coma. He did not have any relevant strings to pull, and neither did I. We could only seek help from others, but you know how hefty the price would be to seek help from others for something like this.” Jefferson picked up the bowl and brought a spoon of soup to her lips. “Drink some while I continue telling you

Rayna lowered her head, her

tears away and continued feeding her the soup. “We went to Mr. Winton, and Mr. Winton asked for the ivory chess set. But that’s an item in the museum, so Curtis gave Aoba Project to

Project… was with

it was a gift for you. Belle, I’m such a failure, right? I couldn’t even give

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