He silently took in Sandy's gentle demeanor as she chatted with Rayna. He yearned for her love, but when he thought about the aggressive way she had acted back at the restaurant, he looked away and out of the window while clenching his fists.
He knew Sandy did not want to acknowledge who he was. She was only pleasant because Rayna was around.
He knew that because she had never once spared a glance at him from the very second she entered the room.
After a while of chatting with Rayna, Sandy thought it was late and time to leave.
“Rest well, Rayna. I'll come and visit you again if I'm free tomorrow.” Then, when she saw Rayna's protruding stomach, she gasped. “Did your stomach grow larger?”
“Mm-hmm. The babies are getting bigger very quickly.”
“It must be tough on you.” Sandy held Rayna's hand before rising to her feet.
However, instead of hastily leaving the room, Sandy looked at Jefferson, who was by the windowsill, and said, “Rayna needs to rest, so I doubt she'll need any company now. Why don't you send me off instead?”
Rayna blinked in surprise, but she came back to her senses a second later. “Yes, I'm a little tired, and I'd like to take a nap. Jefferson, send Ms. Sandy off, will you?”
Rayna would be delighted if the relationship between Jefferson and Sandy improved.
Like Rayna, Jefferson was not expecting Sandy to say that to him. He was taken aback for a second, but he soon bobbed his head in agreement and said something to Rayna before leaving with Sandy.
The two of them walked down the corridor and headed toward the elevator.
The gentle expression on Sandy's face was gone. What replaced it was a look of indifference. “Let's find a place and take a seat.”
Jefferson answered, “Okay.”
After exiting the hospital, Jefferson surveyed his surroundings before leading Sandy to the café beside the hospital.
Once they found a table and sat down, he asked politely, “What would you like to drink?”
“A cup of lemon water. Thank you,” Sandy said to the server instead.
Her actions made it awkward for Jefferson, but he only adjusted his glasses in silence.
After putting her bag aside, Sandy started, “Rayna was the one who told me that you weren't at fault, and she also told me not to hate you when I see you in the future. I'm only doing this because of her.”
Disappointment bloomed in Jefferson's chest when he heard that, and his heart ached.
I see. She still doesn't want to accept me. She's only pleasant with me because Rayna talked to her.
Jefferson swallowed. “If you don't want to see me, why did you invite me here?”
Right then, the server brought a cup of coffee and a glass of lemon water to them.
Sandy lifted her glass and sipped on her lemon water. There were no expressions on her face, and her tone was downright frigid.
“You know that Rayna's stomach will get bigger as time passes. She needs someone to take care of her, and you know whose children she's pregnant with. It's difficult to avoid fights in life between a couple, but things will work out well in the end.” Sandy lifted her head to look at him. “Leave Norwal City. The further you go, the better.”
Jefferson tightened his grip on the cup at that, and he did not even notice the burning sensation in his palm.
After a moment of silence, he suddenly started laughing.
“I was the one who was about to marry Belle, and Curtis was the one who sabotaged my wedding. If someone is the homewrecker here, it's none other than Curtis, who's trying to separate me and Belle. Why should I leave Norwal City? I know you hate me, and it's fine even if you don't acknowledge me as your son. It doesn't matter to me...” He paused and gripped his cup. “But you can't be this selfish.”
I'm not the one in the wrong. Why must I be the one who gives up now?
Sandy sneered and said without reservation, “I'm not being selfish. It's because there's no chance between you and Rayna. I don't want to see you pestering my daughter-in-law forever!”
Jefferson asked, “Am I such a revolting person to you?”
“You can think whatever you like,” Sandy muttered in a graceful tone.
Yet, Jefferson could not help but think of her as merely an apathetic woman.
Sandy opened her bag to take out a document before handing it to Jefferson. “I know you don't need money, but this is a gift from me. You can choose not to take it.”
“If you leave Norwal City—if you stay far away from Rayna and Curtis—I'll acknowledge that you're my son, and I'll let you call me your mother.”
A mocking smile formed on Jefferson's lips. “You really can bring yourself to do anything, huh?”
Knowing what he meant, Sandy frowned.
By then, she was already running out of patience. In a grimmer voice, she said, “Regardless of everything, Curtis is your brother. Are you going to take your brother's woman away from him?”
Jefferson fell silent.
Sandy took her bag and stood up. “I've said everything I wanted to say. Think about this carefully. I hope you won't be as enraging as your father.”
Jefferson remained still in the same position even after Sandy was long gone.
The patrons in the café came and went, and the coffee in the cup before him had turned cold. Finally, Jefferson flipped the pages of the contract and started reading it expressionlessly.
At the end of it, he curled his lips and started laughing. The more he laughed, the louder he was.
Even the neighboring patrons could not help but turn their heads toward him.
Slowly, Jefferson hunched over to curl into himself and stopped moving.
“I don't blame you for being biased toward him...” he mumbled, the pain is audible in his voice. “But I have nothing else left. She's the last ray of light in my life, so why can't you just let me be with her...”
Without that ray of light, my life is in complete darkness. How am I supposed to keep living?
Jefferson continued to sit in the café until the sun went down. Only after he received a call did he pay the bill and leave.
When he walked out of the café, someone came in.
The two of them bumped into each other, and the newcomer—a woman—recognized Jefferson first. She smiled and said, “Mr. Hamilton? What a coincidence.”
The young woman was in a black suit, and the suit made her look tall and smart.
Jefferson only needed a glance at her to realize who she was. She was the new manager of the Department of Regulators, and she had once used Curtis to make herself more popular.
Jefferson had never interacted with Stella, nor was he interested in getting to know her better.
Nevertheless, she had greeted him, so, for courtesy's sake, Jefferson nodded his head at her.
Right as he was about to step out, Stella said, “Mr. Hamilton, I still remember everything about your wedding with Ms. Garland. It was such a romantic thing to have a wedding in the church. I was watching the live broadcast and waiting for you to exchange your rings, but who knew that...” She sighed as if lamenting about the moment. “How terrible it is for that to have happened.”
Jefferson clenched his fists but revealed none of what he felt on his face. With a polite but cold smile, he said, “Don't worry about it. Our relationship is still fine, and I can give her another wedding like that.”
“I always hear from others about how you dote on Ms. Garland. Hearing your response makes me sure that they were right.” Stella curled her red lips. “Honestly, I think Ms. Garland and you are a match made in heaven.”
In a deliberately nonchalant tone, she continued, “I heard from the people within the industry about how Ms. Garland is pregnant with Mr. Faymon's children. I'm always afraid that Ms. Garland will get back together with Mr. Faymon and give up on you because of the kids.”
Jefferson did not reply to that.
“Mr. Hamilton, you should learn to be more selfish if you like Ms. Garland.” Stella walked past Jefferson, seemingly about to enter the café. “If you're too magnanimous, you may end up with nothing.”
Before Stella could push the glass door open, Jefferson grasped her wrist.
Stella inhaled sharply when the pang of pain traveled up her arm from her wrist.
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