Dear Sweetheart novel

After that, Rayna drove to the market to purchase some fruits and crabs before heading to Linda’s

house.

She had given Linda advance notice of their visit in the morning. Thus, the latter had already boiled her

special duck broth. However, surprised that James was coming back too, she swiftly whipped up a few

more dishes.

Due to her bad back, she would feel sore after bending it for a long time. Hence, Rayna helped her to the

couch to rest before returning to the kitchen to take over. However, she walked in to find James already

at the helm.

He had finished up the smorgasbord of food, including the duck broth and steamed crabs.

Upon tasting the food, Rayna realized her brother was a significantly better cook than she was. She

commented saltily, “Both of us learned how to cook from Mom, so why does your cooking taste better

than mine?”

“I practiced a lot when I was bored in school,” James explained, as the school food wasn’t up to his taste.

Fortunately, his excellent academic results provided him the privilege of staying in a single room where

he could do so.

His response triggered a look of concern from Linda. Pinching him all over, she was concerned that he

wasn’t eating well enough. “Why don’t I pack some pickled food for you to bring back there? You can

snack on them when you’re hungry.”

“There’s really no need,” James rejected her, for he wasn’t allowed to bring them in even if he wanted to.

“Good. Mom, you can give them all to me.” Worried that James would want to fight her for it, Rayna

added, “Your pickled vegetables are really appetizing. Even my flatmate loves it!”

“All right. I’ve also prepared some sweet soup which you can bring back with you.”

After lunch, Linda proceeded to pack the sweet soup for her children. While sending them off, she even

reminded James to behave and not get into fights in school.

Nonetheless, James remained silent, with Linda nagging in the background.

It wasn’t until they were back in the car that James suggested, “Rayna, the scholarship I received this

year is pretty generous. As Mom’s house is becoming run down and far from where you are, why don’t

we find her someplace nearer?”

As a scholarship recipient in the past, Rayna was cognizant that it would not amount to much. Hence,

she inquired with a smile, “How much did you receive?”

“More than two million.”

“Have you made a mistake?” She—almost choking on her own saliva—gave him a look of shock. “How

can that broke boarding school of yours afford such a generous scholarship?”

In truth, their school wasn’t poor, just stingy. Nevertheless, his money came from his “part-time” job.

Grunting in acknowledgment, James explained, “That’s because I was placed top five in school and won

an award for a research project. That’s why they gave me so much.”

“Well done! You’re doing better than I did back then,” Rayna lamented. It wasn’t lost upon her how smart

James was when he was young, especially compared to Roxanne.

From the looks of it, all three of them were reasonably successful. At the very least, none turned out to

be a failure.

Given that she had millions in assets which included the two houses from Simon and Gavin alongside a

stake in Gavin’s company, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to call her rich.

Therefore, faced with how filial James was, she didn’t object to his idea as she drove him to the city to go

property hunting together.

At most, she would cover the difference if he came up short.

Coincidentally, there was an event going on at the property developer’s office. Crowds thronged its lobby

since it was also the weekend, while the development scale model was surrounded by people on all

sides.

When one of the salespersons saw Rayna and James enter, she came forward to greet them. “Hello,

how may I help you?”

“We’re looking for a property.”

After checking with Rayna about her requirements, the salesperson ushered both of them to the western

corner of the scale model and began recommending one of the residential areas there.

The floor and layout of the unit were acceptable, whereas the development was located close to where

Rayna was staying.

Satisfied with the unit, Rayna asked, “James, what do you think?”

“Looks good. There’s a library and movie theater within the neighborhood too. Mom won’t be bored living

there.” As the place had a lot of privacy, James, too, was happy with it, leading him to inquire about the

price.

“Nine million eight hundred and sixty thousand as of now.”

James was bereft of words.

What does she mean by “as of now?” Is the price still going to change?

A sudden sense of disappointment crept into James when he realized the two million he had didn’t even

come close to the amount needed.

“For such a big space that contains four bedrooms, three halls, and four bathrooms, I can’t complain

about the price.” Rayna wasn’t surprised. Since it was a smart development located in the city center,

there was no way it was going to be cheap.

James scratched his nose in response. “Rayna, why don’t we take a look someplace else? I’m sure there

are other developments around this area.”

“Sure, whatever you say.” Rayna broke into a gentle smile, cognizant that James found the unit too

expensive and was reluctant to accept her help. Since it was the weekend and they had nothing better to

do, she was happy to spend their day property hunting.

Little did she expect Curtis and Kristie to also be present.

Curtis was there to buy property, while Kristie insisted on tagging along out of curiosity. More importantly,

she was frustrated by Curtis’ refusal to tell her the reason for his purchase despite her asking.

Ever since he returned from Tyrandas, Curtis’ attitude toward her drastically dampened. Whenever she

invited him out for a meal, he would decline and urge her to focus on her acting, as if he was trying to

avoid her.

I’ve already admitted my mistake and been punished accordingly, so why is he giving me the cold

shoulder still?

With frustration welling up inside her, Kristie whipped out her phone to make a call. When it was

unsurprisingly ended again, she stomped her feet and felt the urge to scream.

Ever since Gray Wolf quit, he refused to take my calls no matter what. This is ridiculous! Does he think

I’m not paying him enough? How can he leave just like that?

“I think this is a decent unit…”

Suddenly, Kristie heard a faint yet familiar voice rings out behind her. She subsequently realized that it

was Rayna who was also checking out the property development. Standing beside her was a tall young

man.

Rayna was dressed in a gray knitted skirt and walking in a pair of black Nike shoes. The youth beside

her was wearing a short sleeve shirt of a similar color. With him being two heads taller than her, both of

them could’ve been easily mistaken for a couple.

However, when the young man turned his head, allowing his side profile to come into view, her eyes

widened in surprise.

Gray Wolf!