Chapter 528: Chapter 528

Gabriel frowned and thought about it. “But a person convicted of growing poppy plants will not be put behind bars for many years, Mr. Faymon. Vivi nearly killed Mrs. Faymon. You won’t let that evil woman off easily, right?”

Curtis lifted his head and stared at him icily. “Are you telling me to teach that woman a lesson? If I’m going to do it myself, why did I hire you in the first place?”

“Oh...” Gabriel immediately understood what he was implying. He could not help but think of himself as an all-rounder. “Mr.

Faymon, I might not be able to give birth to your child, but for everything else, you can count on me.”

Curtis’ face darkened when he heard what his assistant said.

Upon noticing that, Gabriel chuckled to conceal his embarrassment. “I was just kidding, Mr. Faymon.”

“Shut up and drive!” Curtis roared.

Gabriel instantly paid full attention to the road, as he did not dare to step on the man’s toes again.

Sitting in the back passenger seat, Curtis scrolled through his phone and seemed to have come across a piece of information.

Two minutes later, he asked Gabriel, “Where did the money Jessica gave to Vivi come from?”

“Oh, the money.” Gabriel investigated that this morning. He replied, “She has Mr. Lopez’s credit card with her, so she made an online transaction to Vivi’s account. But Mr. Faymon, Mrs. Faymon has sent Jessica out of the country.”

“Where did she send her to?” Curtis asked.

“Based on my investigation, her flight was bound for Yartran. But I don’t know if she’d transit to other places.”

Curtis lowered his eyes and went deep in thought.

He did not pay much attention to Wyatt and Jessica because he felt they should take care of their own business. Nonetheless, he knew Rayna made this arrangement to keep Wyatt away from Jessica.

Gabriel added, “Mr. Faymon, Mr. Lopez wanted me to inform him about Ms. Marsh if I have updates about her.”

“Don’t you have enough things to do? Do you want me to give you more assignments?” Curtis threatened him.

“No, no, no. I have enough assignments to work on!” Gabriel instantly knew what Curtis was implying. He responded with a bitter smile and said, “Please have mercy on me, Mr. Faymon. I won’t be able to spend time with my girlfriend if you give me additional work...”

Curtis’ eyes darkened. He said calmly, “Don’t bother about Wyatt. He has gone overboard lately.”

He owed Jessica a favor. Had Jessica not negotiated with Vivi and made the latter withdraw the lawsuit, Rayna would still be in dire straits.

Moreover, he had yet to reconcile with Rayna. It’ll be disastrous if I still side with Wyatt.

Rayna was a little lost when she woke up and found herself in her condominium.

She could not believe last night’s dreamlike incident was real.

After lazing around on the bed for a few more minutes, Rayna freshened up, changed into a new pair of clothes, and went to knock on Carl’s door.

“Carl, are you still asleep?”

“No!” Carl’s voice came through the door.

About ten seconds later, the little boy opened the door while rubbing his eyes. “Yes, Ms. Rayna?”

“Go and wash your face. We’re going to Aunt Kristie’s for breakfast.” Rayna realized her pregnancy had worn her out. She decided to eat at Kristie’s since she had run out of energy to prepare breakfast.

Upon noticing a smell from his room, she knitted her brows. “Did you sneak food into the room last night?”

Feeling nervous, Carl stammered, “N-No...”

“Don’t try to fool my nose. I can smell crawfish in the room.” Rayna gently hit the back of his head. “Why didn’t you open the window? How could you sleep with the smell in the room?”

Carl rubbed his head and chuckled. “I didn’t eat my fill during dinner, so...”

“All right, all right. Go freshen up right now!”

Once Carl had cleaned himself up, Rayna brought him to Kristie’s for breakfast.

Rayna was taken aback when an older man came to answer the door instead of Larissa. After freezing for a moment, she asked, “James? What are you doing here?”

“Ms. Rayna, you know this man?” Carl tilted his head and gave Rayna a puzzled look. “I thought his name was Samson? Mr.

Curtis hired him to be Aunt Kristie’s bodyguard.”

Rayna was bewildered. “C-Curtis sent you here?”

Unlike the stunned Rayna, James, on the other hand, looked exceptionally calm. He ushered them into the house. “What would you like for breakfast?”

“Crawfish burger!” Carl suggested. “The last time I was here, I saw some crawfish patties in the freezer. You won’t be as selfish as Mr. Curtis, who would only keep all the goodies for Aunt Kristie, right?

“Of course not. She doesn’t like crawfish anyway,” James replied.

Words eluded Carl. The person who likes grilled chicken refuses to share it with me, and the person who doesn’t like crawfish burgers just gave them to me. How can they be so mean to me? I’m just a kid!

Meanwhile, Rayna was still in shock. Frustration kicked in when James ignored her and went straight to the kitchen. She stormed into the kitchen and confronted him.

“The man I bumped into downstairs when I went to Mom’s place for dinner was you! I remember everything now!” Rayna gritted her teeth. “You recognized me, too, didn’t you? Why didn’t you call me?”

James explained, “I wanted to, but you were with someone at that time. I can’t risk it.”

“Who—” Rayna initially wanted to give it to him, but after thinking about what he said, she could somehow understand where he was coming from.

Had he greeted her and revealed his identity that day, Jefferson would have learned that he was still alive. Arnaud, too, would receive the news in no time.

Despite knowing he had his difficulties, Rayna still pounded hard on his chest. “You’re just as cruel as that Faymon guy. I’m your sister! How could you play me like this?”

“Look at you now. I should be glad that you didn’t know the truth.” James sighed. “Had you found out about our plan, I bet you’ll be the first to spill the bean.”

“You rascal. How dare you judge me? Do you know how many tears I’d shed when I thought you were dead?”

“All right, all right. It’s my fault.” He decided not to add fuel to the fire. One thing he learned after spending so much time with Kristie was that men could never outtalk women. “What would you like to have for breakfast?”

“I don’t want to eat!” the grim-faced Rayna roared, “I lost all my appetite when I thought of what you and Curtis did!”

“Didn’t I just apologize to you?”

Rayna responded icily, “Yes, you did, but not Curtis! How dare he barge into the church and take me to the hospital? Have he no shame?”

James was rendered speechless. “Then you should vent your frustration at Mr. Faymon. Why come at me?”

“So I can’t be mad at you know, huh?”

“T-That’s not what I meant...” James replied sheepishly.

“You heartless rascal!” Rayna gave him a murderous glare. “You’re such a handful—much worse than Roxanne!”

James decided not to say anything to agitate her further. He lowered his head and focused on his work.

In just a blink of an eye, he whipped a sumptuous breakfast. When he finished laying all the dishes on the table, Kristie had woken up.

Kristie was disinterested in the breakfast. She ran up to Rayna, sat beside her, and asked about her conversation with Curtis last night. Rayna could not help but opine Kristie was even chattier than Carl.

Fury surged through Rayna when she heard Curtis’ name. To all Kristie’s questions, she just gave cursory answers.

Throughout the small talk, Rayna learned that they had fainted at the airport. It was James who carried her to the hospital.

She also learned that James had been back for a while now after assuming a new identity and staying by Kristie’s side. So many things happened when I thought he had died.

After breakfast, Rayna dragged James aside. With conflicting emotions in her eyes, she asked, “He told you to stay here?”

James bobbed his head in response. “Mr. Curtis took really good care of me, Rayna. You should put aside your prejudice against him. I wouldn’t be able to stay close to Kristie had he not given me another chance.”