“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.
“I can wait forever, but I can’t stand watching you with another man.” Jefferson took her hand and held her hand to his cheek. “Belle, I’m a living human. I get jealous too.”
Rayna continued staring at him in silence.
When he started kissing the back of her hand with his cold lips, she couldn’t help shuddering.
“Belle, you’re the only one I have.”
“Jefferson, I’m 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. Sandy. We all love you.”
Jefferson chuckled and lifted his head to look at her. “You don’t know what she said to me when I sent her off from the hospital that day, do you?”
“What did she say?”
Jefferson took out his phone and played an audio recording for her.
A few seconds later, Sandy’s voice came out of the speakers.
Rayna could not understand what he was doing at first, but once she listened to the entirety of Sandy’s conversation with Jefferson, she slowly covered her mouth with her hand as tears sprang to her eyes.
She had thought Sandy was friendlier to Jefferson because Sandy had started accepting him as her son.
Yet the reality was not what it seemed to be.
Before Rayna could recompose herself, Jefferson muttered, “Belle, I’m dying.”
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