Ignoring Rayna, Wyatt left as soon as he received a response from Curtis.
Rayna wore a grim expression on her face, bogged down with despondency.
She then left the clubhouse with Curtis. After climbing into the car, she was silent for a while before questioning out of the blue, “Back then, did I make the wrong decision in not sending Jessie away timely after learning the truth?”
If I'd known that things would end up like this between Wyatt and Jessica, I would've advised her to go to another city after Gerald's death. Away from Wyatt, she would have no burden to shoulder and would've definitely lived happily. She wouldn't have died.
Aware of her thoughts, Curtis asserted while driving, “You didn't do anything wrong, Mrs. Faymon. Don't overthink things. Even if you had sent her away at that time, you can't predict how her life would've been.”
Rayna listened to him seriously. When she registered what she had just heard, her expression darkened. Her voice was tinged with a hint of irritation as she snapped, “Please show me some respect, Mr. Faymon. Can't you address me by my name?”
“Nope. Calling you by your name makes us seem distant. Choose one between Mrs. Faymon and Darling. Otherwise, I'll pick for you.” Curtis glanced at her through the rearview mirror, a faint smile hovering over his lips.
At once, Rayna retorted, “Is there any use asking me when you've already picked?”
Chuckling lowly, Curtis hummed in affirmation. “Got it, Mrs. Faymon.”
Belatedly realizing that she had been tricked, Rayna saw red to the point that she couldn't even hold the orange steady.
She hurled the orange peel at the man, hissing through gritted teeth, “I've never seen someone as shameless as you, Mr. Faymon!”
“It's okay. You've now seen one, Mrs. Faymon.”
Rayna was rendered utterly speechless.
Upon arriving at the condominium, Rayna made to alight from the car, but Curtis had already circled around and opened the car door for her.
Deliberately pretending not to see it, she climbed out of the car straight away without thanking him.
The instant she saw the man carrying the box of oranges out of the car, she was afraid that he would make an excuse to enter her house later. She hurriedly suggested, “Why don't you return to the office, Mr. Faymon? They need you there. Just put the oranges on the ground. I'll have my brother come and transport them.”
“It's just a box of oranges. I'll take it upstairs for you.” Carrying the box with one hand, he locked the car.
When he glanced over his shoulder to see Rayna standing there motionlessly, his gaze darkened a shade. “Why, are you hiding a man in your house? Is that why you don't want me to follow you upstairs, Mrs. Faymon?”
“Nonsense! I'm presently pregnant, so how could I possibly... You're simply depraved!” Rayna castigated.
Nodding, Curtis arched a brow and declared, “Since you've got no man in your house, let's go.”
“Even so, I can't allow a stranger into my house.” Having learned from previous experiences and being cognizant of how shameless the man had gotten recently, Rayna was afraid that he would refuse to leave after gaining entry into her house. For that reason, she turned him down with a chilly expression on her face.
As she stood rooted to the spot, Curtis automatically walked over and wrapped an arm around her waist.
His arm was exceedingly long, and he seized the opportunity to caress her stomach.
Propelling her along, he chortled lowly. “I'm not a stranger but the babies' father.”
“The babies are yours, but I'm not!” Her face flushing in annoyance, Rayna wanted to slap his hand away, but she was worried that she would cause him to drop the box of oranges by doing so.
Instead of arguing with her, Curtis said with a gentle voice, “Okay, sure. Whatever you say, Mrs. Faymon. I'll leave after delivering the oranges to your house and seeing my dog. It'll only take five minutes.”
Since he had said as much, it would be unreasonable of Rayna to continue kicking up a fuss. Hence, she said nothing further, entering the condominium building with him while wearing a dark expression.
As soon as Rayna opened the door, Lucky sprinted to the entrance, its tail wagging away. It rubbed his head against her calf. A few seconds later, Happy raced over as well.
However, Happy didn't approach Rayna. When it saw Curtis, it tilted its body and fell onto the man's slippers.
Right then, Rayna was playing with Lucky. Fortunately, Kristie came over every day and took Lucky out for a walk while I was hospitalized. Otherwise, it would've been depressed after being locked up in the house for two weeks.
When she turned and saw Happy lying on Curtis' slippers, she was instantly annoyed. “Why is it so clingy with you when it's my cat? Hadn't I been feeding it usually? What an ingrate!”
“It's unnecessary to be jealous over such a thing. Isn't my dog clingy with you?” Smiling, Curtis swept his gaze over Lucky.
The moment Rayna turned her gaze back to Lucky, who was rubbing against her, she suddenly felt much better.
Although Curtis once reared Happy for a time, he was still averse to furry pets. Worse still, Happy was in the phase of changing fur then. Cat fur littered his slippers, and the sight made his temples throb.
If it weren't for Rayna's presence beside him, he would've tossed the cat into the bedroom and locked it up.
Rayna's waist ached after she stood for a while. She went over to the couch and lay down, sending Kristie a WhatsApp message as she wanted to go to her place for lunch.
Unexpectedly, Kristie sent her a request for a video call directly.
When she pressed the answer button, Kristie appeared on the screen, appearing to be on a cruise ship. “Rayna, I've gone out to have fun with my boyfriend. Why don't you give Mdm. Lovett a call and have her come and cook for you?”
“Huh?” Rayna was stunned to hear that. In the next heartbeat, she asked, “Who's your boyfriend? And where did you both go?”
“You know him.” Sticking out her tongue, Kristie hooked her finger at the side, motioning a man over as she elaborated, “I've been cooped up at home for too long. I was bored, so I borrowed a cruise ship from Curt to circle the whole country!”
The middle-aged man on the screen flashed Rayna a helpless smile. “Ms. Garland.”
Speech eluded Rayna.
Her vision went black, and she almost passed out.
Struggling to get up from the couch, she jerked her head to the side and cast her gaze at Curtis, who was doing something or other in the kitchen. “Curtis, do you know that Kristie has gone out for a vacation?”
“Yeah. Do you also want to go?” Curtis didn't even bother to look at her, his voice calm and unruffled.
That isn't the point!
Rolling her eyes at him, Rayna massaged her throbbing temples.
Despite knowing that James' countenance only looked aged because of the drug, she still couldn't get used to it after so long.
She pondered how she should breach the subject, stammering, “Kristie... w-why do you like him?”
Nestled in James' embrace, Kristie studied his face and replied beamingly, “I just like him. Although he's a bit old, he makes a good match for me in all other aspects besides age.”
“What about that boyfriend of yours, then?”
“I've never seen him anyway, so let's regard it as us having broken up. Furthermore, I don't like him,” Kristie answered.
Rayna was promptly at a loss for words.
She took a look at the “middle-aged” version of James, not quite knowing what to say. Subsequently, she heaved a long sigh.
After leaving some advice for Kristie, she hung up the phone.
Curtis had washed some fruits. He carried them to the living room and sat down on the couch adjacent to hers. “How did it go?”
“Couldn't you tell when I placed the call on loudspeaker? I initially planned on going over to Kristie's place to eat these few days, but I can't do that anymore,” Rayna huffed, snagging a few black grapes from the fruit plater.
“What do you want to eat? I'll cook.”
Recalling that Curtis' cooking skills were only mediocre, Rayna didn't dare hedge her bets. She sighed while eating the black grapes. “Say, how did Kristie fall for James, considering his current look?”
Abruptly lifting her head, she pinned her ebony eyes on the man.
Mistakenly assuming that she took an interest in the apple in his hand, he cut a slice and handed it to her.
“I don't want your apple!” Leaning against the couch's armrest, Rayna closed the distance between them and ventured, “How about you introduce the hypnotist who sealed Kristie's memories to me?”
Curtis quirked a brow, not quite grasping her intention. “What do you want with him?”
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