Dear Sweetheart novel

“A place I want to go to…” Rayna stared at him in confusion when she registered his question. “Nardor?”

“Mm.” Jefferson smiled and nodded. After knocking the egg against the table, he slowly peeled the shell. “I said I

was going to buy an island for you to enjoy yourself there.”

Rayna blinked.

It was then she realized what was amiss.

“So we’re the only ones on the island? Did you do something to the car last night?” Rayna rubbed her temples as

she tried her best to recall what had happened the night before. “I remember feeling sleepy after smelling the faint

scent of violets.”

Jefferson did not answer her as he continued peeling the hard-boiled eggs.

Noticing that, Rayna found her heart sinking. Still, she clung to the last bit of hope in her. “Were you… lying to me

about Jessie too?”

“Eat first.” Jefferson put the peeled egg onto her plate. “We’ll talk once you’re done eating.”

“Tell me!”

At her insistence, Jefferson pushed his glasses higher and whispered, “Sorry, Belle.”

“You’re too much! How could you lie to me about Jessie?” Rayna could not maintain her cool at all. “So you were

lying about telling Curtis, weren’t you? You just wanted to avoid him and take me here, right?”

“Yes,” he answered reluctantly.

“Why—” Rayna wanted to lose her temper, but she could not because she owed the man. “I told you I’ll leave with

you after giving birth to the children. Jefferson, you didn’t need to do this.”

Jefferson curled his lips. When he spoke again, his voice was tinged with loneliness. “Belle, haven’t you realized?

You’ve been biased toward Curtis. When you give birth to the babies, you’ll still stay by his side. Why would you still

think about me by then?”

Rayna froze. She could not find the words to refute that.

“I can wait forever, but I can’t stand watching you with another man.” Jefferson took her hand and held her hand to

his cheek. “Belle, I’m a living human. I get jealous too.”

Rayna continued staring at him in silence.

When he started kissing the back of her hand with his cold lips, she couldn’t help shuddering.

“Belle, you’re the only one I have.”

“Jefferson, I’m not the only one by your side.” Rayna could not bring herself to be cruel to him. As she reached out

to ruffle his hair, she said, “You have your father, Mr. Faymon, and Ms. Sandy. We all love you.”

Jefferson chuckled and lifted his head to look at her. “You don’t know what she said to me when I sent her off from

the hospital that day, do you?”

“What did she say?”

Jefferson took out his phone and played an audio recording for her.

A few seconds later, Sandy’s voice came out of the speakers.

Rayna could not understand what he was doing at first, but once she listened to the entirety of Sandy’s

conversation with Jefferson, she slowly covered her mouth with her hand as tears sprang to her eyes.

She had thought Sandy was friendlier to Jefferson because Sandy had started accepting him as her son.

Yet the reality was not what it seemed to be.

Before Rayna could recompose herself, Jefferson muttered, “Belle, I’m dying.”

“What?” Rayna cried out in a panic. “Didn’t you take the med? Why—”

Jefferson shook his head. “I didn’t. I’ve been keeping the med instead.”

“I asked Mr. York about it. He told me he had done a checkup for you.” Rayna’s hand was shaking. “He said you

were doing fine and could live for more than thirty years.”

“I asked him to tell you all that.” Jefferson smiled and held her trembling hands. “I was scared that you wouldn’t

want me, so I didn’t take it. I was thinking about how pointless it would be to live that long if you didn’t want me.”

“No. I’ll always be by your side,” Rayna promised. “Did you bring the med with you? Take it now!”

“It’s gone.”

Rayna’s eyes widened. “What do you mean, it’s gone?”

Jefferson stopped hiding it from her. “After Selena died, Curtis and I figured that Mr. Nicholson would not let the

matter go so easily. However, he’s a man of connections, so he wouldn’t be easy to deal with. Theodore was still in

a coma. He did not have any relevant strings to pull, and neither did I. We could only seek help from others, but you

know how hefty the price would be to seek help from others for something like this.” Jefferson picked up the bowl

and brought a spoon of soup to her lips. “Drink some while I continue telling you about it, okay?”

When Rayna lowered her head, her tears fell into the bowl.

“Don’t cry.” Jefferson wiped her tears away and continued feeding her the soup. “We went to Mr. Winton, and Mr.

Winton asked for the ivory chess set. But that’s an item in the museum, so Curtis gave Aoba Project to Mr. Winton’s

son instead.”

Rayna stiffened. “Aoba Project… was with Curtis?”

“I only found out about that later on,” Jefferson said. “He said it was a gift for you. Belle, I’m such a failure, right? I

couldn’t even give you anything decent.”

Rayna shook her head and quickly lifted her arm. “You did. This pink diamond is a good example. I like it very—”

It was then she noticed that there was nothing on her finger.

“Curtis was the one who ordered the pink diamond. He wanted to give it to you, and in the end, he was the one who

paid for it too.” Jefferson used a tissue to wipe the soup from the corners of her lips. “He… is such a sly man.”

Rayna’s mouth went dry, but she still asked, “Then what happened?”

Jefferson gave her a small smile before continuing, “That gift isn’t enough if we wanted to get rid of Mr. Nicholson’s

men for good. So, I later went to Mr. Winton and gave him that medicine.”

“Why are you so dumb?” Rayna snapped at him as tears rolled down her cheeks. “We’ll go to Mr. Winton right now.

We’ll beg him to give us the medicine back. He can have anything he—”

“Money and power don’t matter to someone of his position.” Jefferson wiped her tears away. “But that medicine,

which can prolong his life for a few more years, is what he’ll want.”

Rayna wailed, “You can’t do this! You promised me… You promised me you’ll do your best to keep living…”

“Don’t cry. Don’t cry.” Rayna’s bloodshot eyes pained him, and he kissed the end of her eyes. “Everything’s fine as

long as you’re fine. I didn’t lose here, and neither did Curtis win.”

“We’ll go to Mr. York now,” Rayna choked out, begging. “Let’s go back, okay? I’m sure Mr. York can find a way to

deal with this. I won’t leave you.”

Jefferson shook his head. “The bad cells are spreading fast. There’s nothing he can do too.”

“Please… Please don’t do this to me…” Rayna’s teardrops fell onto the man’s arm. “If I didn’t go out with Carl, we

wouldn’t have bumped into Selena…”

When Rayna saw Noel’s fall from grace, she guessed that Curtis and Jefferson were behind it.

But she never knew that they had paid such a huge price for it.

“She wanted to kill you. Even if you didn’t head out at that time, she would’ve still targeted you the next time you

went out,” Jefferson said. “Honestly, both Curtis and I feel more at ease after her death.”

Jefferson’s warm thumb caressed her cheek. “I know I don’t have long to live. I wish to compensate for everything I

couldn’t give you back then—to bring you to places you like. I’ve hired men to build a mansion on this island

according to your preferences because I hope that you’ll be happy here. This place is warm, and it’s a good place

for you to stay before giving birth to the babies.”