Dear Sweetheart

Chapter 9

Not Easy Rayna stilled briefly as she realized why he had looked at her stomach like that. “It’s not what you think, Mr. Faymon,” she explained, feeling her cheeks warm. “I just had a little too much for breakfast, so my stomach isn’t feeling so well.” Curtis lowered his head, finally having the time to observe her. The woman looked completely different from when they had met at the bar. That night, she had an alluring slip dress on and had boldly thrown herself into his arms in a drunken stupor. This time, she was wearing a grey suit that accentuated her perfect figure. Not only that, but with her thin, pale-colored high heels along with her hair tied in a ponytail, she looked like a lady boss. Rayna kept her head especially low, as though she was afraid of meeting his gaze, and the fragrance she wore wafted into Curtis’ nostrils. The man felt his abdomen tighten. Thanks to their encounter in the hotel room that night, he knew how seductive the woman could be. “Julian is my nephew, so shouldn’t you be referring to me as Uncle Curtis?”

he asked while leaning closer with a smirk. “Just like what you called me at the bar that day, no?” Rayna’s mind went blank. She had only decided to visit the bar out of spite that night because of what Julian and his mother had done to her. Still, she regretted it, and she certainly had no intention of getting herself involved with Curtis. It’s been half a month. I thought he’d have forgotten all about that by now! “Oh, s-sorry, Uncle Curtis.” Rayna took a few steps back as her legs quivered slightly. “I really wasn’t entirely sure if that was you. I just sort of lost myself after seeing how handsome you looked.” The man stared at her in silence. Rayna couldn’t help but feel unsettled as the atmosphere grew tense. She then sighed with relief only after Curtis retracted his finger. “I heard you’ve been married to Julian for over a year,” he mentioned out of the blue. Rayna knew what he was implying. How did you remain a virgin even after a year of marriage? Thinking about Julian, Rayna merely nodded and smiled forcefully before trying to change the subject. “I have something for you, Mr. Faymon.” She began to rummage through her purse to return the man’s cufflink, only for her phone to ring at that very moment. It was her younger sister, Roxanne Griffith.

Rayna apologized to Curtis before stepping aside to take the call. “What’s up?” she asked softly. “Rayna! I called you so many times. Why didn’t you answer me sooner?” “I have some work to do, so I muted my phone. What do you need?” “Don’t you know that Mom’s broken her leg?” Roxanne grumbled over the phone. “I was supposed to audition for a super important role, but I had to give it up and look after Mom instead!” She then told Rayna to rush over to the hospital with some extra cash. The latter hung up after a few more exchanges. “I’m sorry, Mr. Faymon. Something came up. I have to go now,” she remarked anxiously, worried about her mother. “A family member’s gotten into a bit of an accident.” Curtis had vaguely heard the phone conversation. Seeing how frantic the woman looked, he decided not to question her further. “Go ahead.” “Thank you.” Then she left in a hurry, forgetting to give his cufflink back. Being the efficient worker he was, Gabriel had already sent the Sumanthovean representatives off by the time Curtis came out. “We’ve received the lab reports on that plant, Mr. Faymon,” the assistant announced in a slightly excited tone while handing a document over to Curtis. “It’s exactly as you predicted.” Curtis flipped the first page and glanced through the details. Yet, he didn’t appear as thrilled as Gabriel upon noticing some important digits.

“If we manage to find it, that means other teams will too. Get an interpreter to head out with me right away before someone else signs the contract.” Gabriel fell silent as a troubled expression appeared on his face. Curtis shot him a glance and frowned. “What? Is this not something that can be easily done?” “It really isn’t, Mr. Faymon. The people of that village can only speak Uronian, but it’s such a rarely used language that pretty much no outsider speaks it.” Curtis’ face fell. It had completely slipped his mind that if it weren’t for the language barrier, someone else would have already snatched that plant away long ago. After remaining quiet for a moment, the man responded, “Make a secret trip to a translation academy. Talk to the teachers and students there. If such a language exists, there has to at least be something about it written in books.” “Sure. I’ll do that right away.” Gabriel nodded. Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org