Chapter 533: Chapter 533

“I did all this for your benefit, Sir,” Stella said as she held Arnaud’s gaze. “Besides, didn’t you approach me because you knew I was clever?”

Before Stella could say any more, Arnaud interrupted, “I’ve told my father about Jefferson and Rayna getting married. I think he’d be making a trip down to Norwal City. After all, their wedding was ruined by Curtis.”

Stunned, Stella stared silently at the man’s handsome, defined face.

Not only was he calm and collected, but he also had a smile tugging at his lips. The more Stella looked into Arnaud’s gentle blue eyes, the more she felt chills running down her back.

All of a sudden, she burst into laughter. “Sir, you say I’m ruthless, but you’re way worse.”

After downing her brandy, Stella set her glass down and stood from the couch.

“Once the plans between Ocean International and Faymon Group are leaked, there’s no doubt the latter will be in disarray. I hope you’ll take secret action when that time comes, Sir,” she added as she approached Arnaud and stuck her hand out. “I’ll do whatever you want me to do. As for me, my target is Faymon Group.”

Arnaud gazed at the woman’s svelte hand and grinned. “You have a big appetite, Ms. Zink.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re the first woman I’ve met to be so ambitious and goal-oriented,” he replied as he shook her hand to solidify their deal. “I have no complaints about that.”

Stella nodded with a smile. “Well, it’s getting late. I should head back to the hotel. I hope to taste your wines again, Sir.”

With that, Arnaud ordered his subordinate to send Stella back.

Now that he was alone in the private room, Arnaud slowly poured himself another brandy and thought back to his conversation with Stella.

Before long, a smile crept across his face. “Ha. It’s easy to carve one’s empire, but it’s difficult to guard it.”

I may not have confronted Curtis head-on before, but I know how formidable he is. He got rid of his uncle and aunt without much fuss and gained complete control of the Faymon Group. Even I must admit that’s impressive. Therefore, why would he give away Faymon Group just because their plans were leaked? Stella Zink is, without a doubt, devious and clever. However, she lacks experience in the business world and naively believes that everything will go her way. Ah... Forget it. After all, she has proven herself useful by doing what I told her to, thus allowing me to take over the Terblanc family.

Meanwhile, Wyatt had arrived in Yartran and went straight to the address provided by Rayna. To his dismay, the place was completely empty.

Undeterred, he stopped a resident nearby and began asking questions.

As luck would have it, the resident lived right next to the unit. “Ah, yes. A Chanaean woman used to live there. She’d occasionally head out for a walk with a housekeeper. However, she just upped and left after the shooting incident. I have no idea where she went.”

After asking the resident for the woman’s appearance and confirming that it was indeed Jessica, Wyatt became even more panicked. He was deathly afraid that something untoward might have happened to her.

Without further ado, he called up his subordinates in Yartran and ordered them to look around for Jessica. Then, he rushed to the nearest police station to obtain the surveillance footage. Alas, by the time he managed to pull strings to access the surveillance cameras, he realized they were all out of order.

Argh! Rayna must’ve known about this a while ago! Why else would she give me this address to help search for Jessica?

Wyatt had half a mind to call and scold Rayna, but he also knew there was a chance the latter might mock him for being useless.

Eventually, he gave up on that thought and continued his frantic search for Jessica.

Back in Chanaea, Jacob had just gotten home from work when Hazel asked him sarcastically if he had forgotten about his pregnant wife.

It was only then that Jacob suddenly remembered how he had inadvertently rescued Jessica in Yartran and even worked with her to fool his mother.

Afraid of being reprimanded by Hazel, Jacob coaxed her and immediately bought a flight ticket to Yartran for the following day.

Thankfully, he still remembered where he had arranged for Jessica to stay.

When the housekeeper opened the door, her surprise was quickly replaced with a polite smile. “Ah, Mr. Valentine, have you come to see your wife? Mrs. Valentine is in the pink of health. The doctor comes over regularly to give her checkups too.”

“Wife?” Jacob muttered before the housekeeper’s perplexed look snapped him out of his daze. “Oh! Yes, yes! I’ve come to see her after finishing up my work.”

The housekeeper merely held her tongue and led Jacob into the house.

To the latter’s surprise, Jessica was nowhere to be seen. “Where is she?”

“Oh, Mrs. Valentine told me to buy her some paints and drawing boards this afternoon. I think she’s painting in the study,” the housekeeper replied as she walked to the laundry room. “I’ll do the washing first, Mr. Valentine.”

“Ah! Does that mean the doctor I found has dropped by and treated her eyes?”

Hmm... When I first called the doctor, he said the laboratory was too busy and that he could only find time for Jessica after three months. Has he swung by already?

“No, but Mrs. Valentine said she felt like drawing.”

“Huh? How is she supposed to draw if she can’t even see?” Jacob muttered under his breath as he made his way up the stairs.

The study was at the end of the hallway, and by the time Jacob got there, he saw that the door was wide open.

A shelf had been set up beside the floor-to-ceiling windows, and a young woman sat in front of an easel, occasionally dabbing her paintbrush on the drawing board.

Dressed simply in a brown knitted dress, she was a picture of obedience and poise.

Jacob slowed his steps as he admired the scene before him. The evening sun had shone aslant through the windows, casting a warm glow over Jessica that accentuated her beautiful features.

One thing was for sure—she was as pretty as a picture.

Enraptured by the woman’s beauty, Jacob was in such a daze that he hit his face against the door frame and yelped in pain.

Having heard the noise, Jessica turned around and blinked. Alas, there was still no pupil response in her eyes.

“Mr. Valentine?”

“Yes. It’s me,” Jacob said as he rubbed his forehead and let out a dry laugh. “I was texting someone and accidentally hit my head on the door. How embarrassing, huh?”

“Oh, that’s careless of you. I’ll tell the housekeeper to bring you some ointment later.”

By then, Jacob had already walked up to Jessica. “No, no. Don’t trouble her for something so trivial. You know, it’s good that you have hobbies, but how can you draw with your current lack of sight? The paints have gotten—”

Just then, Jacob caught a glimpse of the drawing board and gasped.

“Oh, d*mn!”

As it turned out, he was staring at a sunflower.

Even though the leaves were a little crooked, there was no denying it was a beautifully painted sunflower. In fact, one might even think it was an abstract painting.

On top of that, the hand caressing the sunflower had been painted perfectly, thus making the artwork so much more stunning.

Jacob quickly turned to look at Jessica. “Have you regained your sight?”

The latter shook her head.

“H-How did you draw this, then?” Jacob stuttered as he pointed at the painting. “You can paint so well despite not being able to see. If you continue working on it, you’ll be a master artist in no time!”

A smile slowly spread across Jessica’s face. “Not at all. I asked the housekeeper previously what color to use for each square and committed that to memory. I was only painting for fun. Does it look good?”

“It’s very good!”

Upon seeing the smile on Jessica’s face, Jacob suddenly realized how different she was from the first time he met her. Not only had her mental state done a one-eighty, but she also looked much healthier.

“You look pretty when you smile,” Jacob added. “You should smile more in the future.”

“Okay,” Jessica said sincerely with a nod. “Thank you for saving me and going the extra mile to care for my baby and me.”

“Oh, don’t mention it. We’re partners, remember? I helped you, but you’ve also helped me in return. By the way, what did you and my mother talk about when she was here the last time?”

“Ah... Your mother was easy to deal with,” Jessica remarked as she tried to stifle a giggle. “She kept grumbling about you and said you finally made something of yourself when you got a wife. Otherwise, she’d have severed ties with you.”