His Precious Love

Chapter 652

Rayna ate the orange Curtis fed her. “Ella mentioned Glory Corporation's and Happy Entertainment's shares falling.

Were you the one handling things on that end?”

“Glory Corporation's shares fell horrendously.” Curtis threw the orange peel into the bin, then picked up another

from the coffee table and began peeling it. “I suspect a competitor of theirs is sabotaging them.”

“That's what I thought too.” Propping her legs on the couch, Rayna leaned her head against Curtis' shoulder and

clung onto his arm. “Do you think a person could return from the dead, Curtis?”

Though Rayna had not seen Mr. Bridge's face on Conch Island in Yartran, he had called her Belle, and his voice

sounded alarmingly like the deceased Jefferson's.

Curtis paused in his act of peeling the orange and lowered his gaze to her. “What are you saying, Rayna?”

“It's just a suspicion. I'm still unsure.” Rayna burrowed her head against his shoulder before continuing, “If Jefferson

isn't really dead, I dare not imagine...”

“Are you suspecting the identity of the person who abducted you?” Curtis brought a slice of peeled orange close to

Rayna's mouth. “Open up.”

Rayna opened her mouth as she was told to receive the sweet orange slice. “If it really is him, Curtis...”

“Jefferson is dead, Rayna.” It had been Curtis who went with Rayna to attend his cremation.

He did not think the attendant sending the body into the furnace would have made a mistake, nor did he believe

Jefferson could have returned to life. Even if Jefferson had survived that day, he would have succumbed to his

illness and died one way or another.

“That's true. The real him would not bear to hurt me.” It was not like Jefferson to refrain from seeking medical

attention for her after finding out about her injury and loss of sight.

“We'll pay him a visit this weekend.” Curtis knew nobody could replace Jefferson in Rayna's heart. During the

interval of their affair, he even disappeared from her life.

Though it still bothered him, he reasoned with himself not to hold a grudge against a dead man.

“I would also like to...” Rayna was considering bringing Xareni along to pay her respects to Jefferson but was

worried Curtis would mind.

“Xareni is too young. She may go when she's a little older.” Curtis knew what Rayna wanted to say. Xareni owed her

life to Jefferson, and it stood to reason to pay respects to him, but the cemetery was no place for a young child.

“We'll bring her when she learns to walk.”

“All right, we'll do that,” Rayna agreed upon considering the fact that her impaired vision would necessitate having

to rely on Curtis to ascend the hill, and the inclusion of a child who could not yet walk would only add to the

inconvenience.

A man clad in a black jacket pushed open the door to enter his room in a hotel in Norwal City, only to hear the

panicked voice of a woman. “Are you crazy, Jensen? How could you go to the Faymon residence alone?”

The speaker, clad in pajamas made of black silk, pointed at Jensen. “Court death if you want to, but don't drag me

down with you!”

Unbothered by her accusations, Jensen Morag removed his jacket and tossed it onto the couch before glancing at

her casually. “What are you afraid of, Ingrid?”

“Me?” The woman, Ingrid Zillman, folded her arms and scoffed. “Do you dare claim to be unafraid?”

“Whatever I feel depends on the progress of the mission.” Jensen undid the belt around his waist and turned toward

the bathroom. “I will handle my affairs on my own,” he added to Ingrid when he arrived at the door, “so stay out of

them. Aside from the mission which binds us, we leave each other alone.”

At that, the man entered the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

Ingrid remained where she was until she heard the rush of water and, with an incredulous scoff, turned to exit his

room and toward her own next door.

Jensen stood beneath the shower, feeling the warm water flow slowly past the grotesque scar on his chest as he

stroked the locket hanging around his neck with his fingertips. “Isabelle, Rayna...”

A storm descended upon Norwal City in the night. Clad in a robe, Rayna stood before the slightly cracked open

window and listened to the downpour through the gap. Then, she reached out and wrote a word on the glass.

Curtis emerged from the bathroom after his shower, naked save for a towel wrapped around his waist. He found

Rayna writing something on the window and, upon getting a closer look, realized it was the word “Bridge.”

The sound of his breathing coming from behind and the scent of his shower gel permeating the air alerted Rayna to

Curtis' presence. Her hand, about to fall to her side, leaped up again to erase the word hastily. As she could not see,

she could not tell if she was wiping at the right spot.

Studying the remnants of the word on the window, Curtis turned his thoughtful gaze to Rayna and pulled her into

his embrace. “You won't let me see it?”

“I don't want to add to your frustrations with uncertainties.” Rayna wrapped her hands around his neck, reveling in

the scent of his shower gel that intoxicated her senses. “Glory Corporation has been developing a new line of

skincare products and perfume. As I can't see for myself, I wonder how it's going.”

“Glory Corporation's research has been ongoing. It never stopped.” Curtis held her waist and pulled her close. “You

regained your memory at noon, didn't you?”

He had been wanting to ask since earlier that day.

“Yeah,” Rayna answered. “After coming back from my walk, an awful headache overwhelmed me. Feeling as if I

was going to collapse, I lay in the bedroom for a little while.”

Curtis listened closely and inferred that it must have been during lunch.

“Why didn't you let the butler in?” The butler's phone call during noon had caused Curtis great anxiety, which was

only alleviated upon his return and seeing her unharmed.

“A flood of memories came to me during the headache. I did not wish to be disturbed, so I did not let them in,”

Rayna explained, her voice meek. “Jefferson, Julian, and then you.”

The memories that had returned to Rayna felt like she had relived her entire life in a flash. Surfacing in her mind's

eye, the scenes from her past had caused her great distress.

Two of the three men she had known throughout her life were dead, with only Curtis left. Suddenly, she was deathly

afraid about failing to keep him safe.

Tactful enough to sense the unease in her heart, Curtis tightened his grip around her waist.

Fearful that he would leave her as Julian and Jefferson did, Rayna buried her face in the man's chest and listened to

his heartbeat. In the ensuing silence against the howl of the storm outside, the couple stood in each other's

embrace.

That night, Rayna dreamt that she was in the middle of a lake from which she tried to depart but was in danger of

falling as soon as she left the center. It frightened her so much that she stood rooted to the spot.

A mist surrounded the lake, preventing her from seeing anything in her vicinity except the figure of a man clad

entirely in black approaching her with an outstretched hand. “I'm here to take you away.”

Rayna looked up to see his face, but she could not get a clear look.