To Raeleigh, the day passed as if it was a baby crawling to reach its goal. The feeling of time stretching itself was especially vivid when she had to spend time alone with Jepherson.
Fortunately, Jepherson kept his promise and made the call. In the end, Hadrian did listen to his words.
He felt a little thirsty after hanging up the phone and requested, "Can you please get me some water?"
Jepherson asked softly, his every word clear as day. They relayed no emotions, but when he looked into people's eyes, there was a touch of tenderness.
Raeleigh got up and poured a glass of water for Jepherson. Then, she turned around and handed it to him. However, he did not reach out to accept it. Raeleigh then asked, "I thought you said you were thirsty?"
"Feed me," Raeleigh was mind-blown by his words and almost dropped the glass in her hand. She may have a good temper and could deal with people teasing her, but...
Raeleigh had made a promise with him. Whatever the case was, she had to spend the entire day with him. It was going to be a long day.
Thus, she sat down and brought the glass to Jepherson's mouth. Jepherson opened his mouth and took a sip of water. Then, he shook his head to indicate that it was enough. With that, Raeleigh took the glass away and handed him some paper towels, but he did not take it. He wanted her to wipe his mouth for him.
Raeleigh held the paper towel and gave it some thought before reaching out to help him wipe his mouth.
"What would you do if you found out that we're brother and sister?" Jepherson looked up at Raeleigh. Finding it hilarious, she asked, "Why would we be brother and sister?"
Jepherson did not answer. Raeleigh sat back down on her chair and put the glass aside, asking, "Do you think I'm your sister?"
Raeleigh thought back to the time where she initially mistook Jepherson for her brother. A wave of sadness pummeled her.
Jepherson did not answer her question, nor did Raeleigh tell him how she would feel if they were siblings. In fact, the solution to this problem was simple. However, Raeleigh did not want to talk about this matter anymore because it reminded her of their dead baby.
If she had lost Jepherson, would she feel as painful as she did now?
She did not have the courage to experience loss again. Hence, she would rather continue making mistakes instead of letting him know that he was wrong.
"Answer me," Jepherson could not wait and pressed her for an answer.
"If we were siblings, then I would acknowledge you as my brother," She hoped that he would be satisfied with her answer.
Raeleigh's heart seemed to have cracked open from the lack of love and care.
"But I don't want to," Jepherson had felt nothing but regret after losing their baby. However, it was too late, and this was the reason why he was so upset.
"What are you trying to say?" Raeleigh simply dragged the topic.
"I did an investigation on the orphanage and found out that you're my sister," Jepherson said slowly. He observed Raeleigh's expression as he talked. Raeleigh's face blanched. It was as if someone had stabbed a knife into her chest.
They all had made such a low-level mistake and immediately jumped to conclusions.
Raeleigh thought back to the first time where she wanted to terminate the pregnancy because she thought that Jepherson was her brother. She hated him when he asked her to terminate the pregnancy later on. Right now, she saw herself in Jepherson. What reason did she have to resent him now?
However...
How pathetic! She was the one who had brought this pain upon herself.
"So what?" Raeleigh sneered. Jepherson felt distressed and reached out to grab her, but she moved her hand out of the way.
"I need some time alone," Raeleigh took this opportunity to stand up and sit on the other side of the room. When she sat down, she realised that she still couldn't face Jepherson. So, she stood up again and left the room.
She closed the door and sat along the corridor. She did not speak for the whole day. Instead, she leaned against the wall and quietly reflected on their unborn baby who hadn't had the chance to enter this world.
How cruel were they to have done such a thing! At first, his mother had wanted to kill him, and then his father had insisted on sacrificing him. He had done his best to hang on, but ended up dying unexpectedly because of his mother's accident.
Raeleigh wondered if the baby had chosen a merciless death because he resented his useless mother and deemed her incompetent, forever giving up his rights to have lived out his life in happiness.
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