Chapter 157 Heartache
Seeing that Naomi was making her way toward the conference room, Curtis trailed behind her. However, he did not go in and only caught a glimpse of Rayna through the half-open door. She was standing before the desk, pointing at the screen behind her as she spoke.
He observed the slender figure in silence.
The woman was wearing a flax-colored knitted dress that day, and her hair was tied neatly into a ponytail, making her look professional. Moreover, she had exquisite facial features and exuded a cold, elegant aura that commanded respect.
Unlike her previous mild-mannered self, she carried herself with confidence and pride as of then.
That was the result of his training.
Looking at the all-powerful Rayna, Curtis felt a sense of indescribable satisfaction. A hint of joy surfaced in his eyes, and after observing her for a little longer, he left the place quietly.
It ended up being a long meeting that lasted well past seven o’clock at night. All of the executives looked exhausted as they emerged from the conference room.
“Oh my goodness, how could the meeting last all day? I’m so tired!”
“Me too.”
“Did you guys notice that Ms. Garland is far scarier than Mr. Faymon during meetings? She seems to have absolutely no concept of time.”
The executives chattered among themselves while making their way downstairs. Soon enough, they had the shock of their lives when they noticed the subject of their discussion—Curtis—was sitting in the living room.
Why is Mr. Faymon here? Could it be that he has some sort of relationship with Ms. Garland?
They began speculating as soon as they saw Curtis, but none of them dared to utter their thoughts aloud. Wearing smiles, the executives greeted him and got out of the mansion right away.
About five minutes later, Rayna finally came downstairs, rubbing her shoulders as she went down the steps.
“Being a CEO is much more tiring than being an employee,” she mumbled. Only when she saw Curtis in the living room did she recall that she was in his mansion.
Rayna smacked her forehead, frustration written all over her face. “I’m sorry, Mr. Faymon. The meeting ran longer than I expected. I’ll go cook right away.”
“No need. Let’s just order takeout.” His heart ached at the sight of her weary expression.
“It’s all right. I can cook up a quick meal.” As she spoke, she was already dashing into the kitchen. Standing from a distance, she began to fill him in on the contents of their meeting that day.
Meanwhile, Curtis poured some milk into a cup, thinking of heating it for Rayna so that she could have a good night’s sleep later.
Right then, a dull thud sounded in his ears.
He scanned his surroundings and noticed a person lying on the ground when his gaze landed on the kitchen. A cloud passed over his face, and he instantly went to the kitchen in his wheelchair. At the same time, he dialed the doctor’s number with his other hand.
“Rayna!”
Curtis mustered his strength to bend over and gently tapped Rayna’s face to wake her up. At that moment, he was overwhelmed with anxiety.
Alas, the woman showed no response.
Seeing that her face still had some color, he placed his hand on her forehead to check her temperature. Rayna was not running a fever. It appeared that she had fallen asleep, as indicated by her steady breathing.
Curtis’ gaze lingered on her for a few seconds, after which he finally heaved a sigh of relief.
The doctor, who had hurried over, gave Rayna a checkup and found that there was nothing wrong with her. She had merely overworked herself.
Nonetheless, the doctor advised, “She’s probably under great stress, so it’s best if she doesn’t stay up late and sleep earlier instead. If she continues overworking herself, it may affect her menstrual cycle.”
Curtis nodded in understanding. “Thank you.”
Once he sent the doctor away, he opened a bottle of liquid medicine and poured some of its content into a spoon before feeding it to Rayna.
The medicine emanated a pungent smell and was bitter to taste. Thus, she spat it out right after he fed her, and a frown formed on her beautiful face.
Curtis was helpless. How can she recover if she refuses to take her medicine?
He gave it another try, and that time around, the spoon was almost knocked to the ground. Left with no other choice, he could only resort to his previous method. Curtis held the medicine in his mouth and brought his lips toward hers, forcing her to drink it.
He could smell the faint scent of coffee in her mouth and assumed she must have had plenty during the meeting. It was a bittersweet taste.
As such, after busying herself for over half a month, Rayna could finally relax.
Her daily routine consisted of watering the flowers, cooking, and sunbathing in the garden when the weather was just right. Occasionally, she would deal with some documents she had previously compiled.
The reason Rayna promised Curtis she would be the manager of the Department of Regulators was to uncover the truth behind Jonathan’s death. A long time had passed since then, but she had yet to obtain a single clue.
Is Mr. Lawson’s death really a coincidence?
Just then, her phone vibrated. It was a WhatsApp message from Curtis that read: Can we have ravioli today?
Rayna could not stop a smile from spreading across her face. It was hard to imagine him messaging her a question in such a humble tone.
Rayna: Okay. I’ll decide the stuffing!
Although Curtis was not repulsed by the stew of pork innards, he still would not consume much of the dishes that contained pork. According to his words, pork was not nutritious, so it was best to eat less of it.
Oh, please! How dare you dislike pork when it has fed so many families?
At that thought, Rayna decided to serve pork ravioli with mushrooms.
When she was about to make the dish, she noticed there was barely any flour left. Thus, she ordered it through her phone while adjusting the fire. At the same time, she blasted some music through the Bluetooth speaker in the living room.
“Oh, her eyes, her eyes, make the stars look like they’re not shining…” she sang.
Taking advantage of the fact that she was alone downstairs, Rayna began to dance as she kneaded the dough. Her movements were exaggerated as she sang off-tune to the music.
Nonetheless, she looked extremely happy at the moment. In fact, she even failed to notice that Curtis had made his way downstairs.
Her voice was raspy from belting out the song. When she turned around to grab something, she caught a glimpse of a silhouette from the corner of her eye. It gave her such a great shock that she almost hurled the dough into the air.
“Did I interrupt your singing?” asked Curtis in amusement.
Indeed, he heard everything.
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